According to interviewee Charlene Boston, the Tommy Tucker Five & Dime Store at 1707 Pennsylvania Avenue was owned by the Samuelson family. The store sold almost everything, except clothing. During the 1930s, Tommy Tucker was one of numerous Pennsylvania Avenue businesses that were boycotted during the “Buy Where You Can Work” campaign. The campaign targeted businesses that refused to hire blacks, although a large portion of their patrons were Black.

Maryland Center for History & Culture (Henderson Collection):

exterior of Tommy Tucker Five & Dime Store on the left

Tommy Tucker Five and Dime Store 

Founded in 1986, Everyones Place provides books, clothing and cultural products to the community. 

 Mon - Sat 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., Sun 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.


Everyone's Place

The Musician’s Protective Union Local No. 543, located at 1514 Pennsylvania Avenue, was an African American music union organized in Baltimore in 1918 because of exclusion from white music unions. James “Bubby” Johnson, leader of Bubby Johnson’s Plantation Orchestra, was vice president of the union at one point. Each member was given a copy of the constitution and by-laws and was required to pay union dues. Musicians within the union could only play with those who were also union members.The union also negotiated contracts for musicians, like this 1946 contract for Bubby Johnson’s Plantation Orchestra which played at Baltimore’s Rennert Hotel, located at Saratoga and Liberty Streets, for $85.

The Musician's Protective Union Local No. 543 

Capital Lounge & Restaurant sits right in the heart of Baltimore's historic Black arts and entertainment district on Pennsylvania Ave. After servicing the surrounding community for a little over a decade with a lounge and club atmosphere, Capital has taken on a new adventure, transitioning from a bar and lounge to a multi-level lounge and restaurant. Located 7 minutes from downtown Baltimore and 10 minutes from Interstate 95, we are always eager to see new faces. As we make this amazing transition, we are still operating as a fully functioning lounge, with a full operating kitchen and packaged goods store to serve you. Stay tuned for all that we have in store for this gem.

Capital Lounge

Victorine Q. Adams, daughter of the prominent Quille family and wife of noted entrepreneur William “Little Willie” Adams was the owner of The Charm Centre, a ladies’ apparel shop opened in 1948 at 1811 Pennsylvania Avenue. Victorine was the only woman to serve on the Pennsylvania Avenue Lafayette Market Association Committee. She also became the first Black woman to serve on the Baltimore City Council. This April 1962 letter on CharmCentre stationery and signed by Victorine, was addressed to a Mr. Cushner, thanking him for serving refreshments at a political event held at Baltimore’s historic St. Peter Claver Catholic Church.

Telegram from Victorine Adams to African American city councilman Walter Dixon

Maryland Center of History and Culture (Henderson Collection):

Victorine Q. Adams- The Charm Centre 

The Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was founded by political activist and entrepreneur Marcus Garvey in 1914 and had chapters nationwide. In June 1922, Black attorney James Steward Davis filed the incorporation papers for the Baltimore Chapter No. 72 of the UNIA. Liberty Hall, the name used for UNIA meeting halls, was located at 1430-1434 Pennsylvania Avenue. This July 1922 UNIA certificate was for Black attorney William Norman Bishop, a former law partner of Davis’ and was signed by the chapter president, James R.L. Diggs, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church. In the 1920s, Baltimore had 3,000 disciples of Marcus Garvey.

Real photo postcard of William Norman Bishop

UNIA Certificate for William Norman Bishop

Marcus Garvey UNIA - Liberty Hall 

This 1935 ticket was for the Regent Theatre, one of several theaters that catered to African American audiences, located at 1627 Pennsylvania Avenue. The theatre was operated by Louis Hornstein and his sons Simon and Issac, a Jewish family. It was the largest theater on the avenue, with over 2,000 seats, and had its own orchestra. Hornstein only employed Blacks and refused to show racist movies. Musicians Cab Calloway, Eubie Blake, and Noble Sissle performed at the Regent. Black heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson gave an exhibition at the theater on one of his many visits to Baltimore.

Center for Maryland History and Culture (Henderson Collection):

Regent Theatre 

Brochure and image of Peters: The Baltimore Branch of the Cortez W. Peters Business School was co-founded in 1935 by Cortez W. Peters, the all-time world speed champion typist, and future city councilman Walter T. Dixon, who served as the dean. Originally established at 2000 Druid Hill Avenue, it eventually moved to 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue due to its rapid growth. The school also had a location at 529 Gold Street. The school trained African Americans for clerical and professional work and offered courses in shorthand, accounting, commercial law, and journalism. According to one of its bulletins, it was considered one of “America’s finest privately owned Negro schools.”

Graduating Class: This Cortez W. Peters 1942 graduating class was photographed by noted African American photographer Paul Henderson. In the first row, sixth from left, is Olivia “Chinky” Pierce, who later married Walter T. Dixon.

Diploma: This 1941 Cortez W. Peters diploma was presented to Olivia Pierce and signed by Walter T. Dixon.

Nanny Jack & Co Archives: Brochure, Graduating Class Photo, and Diploma

Maryland Center for History & Culture: photo of Cortez W. Peters typing blindfolded (from the Henderson collection)

Cortez W. Peters Business School 

Joe's Pool Parlor was located at 1303 Pennsylvania Avenue. It was flanked on one side by the Black photography studio, Lincoln Studio. In 1952, the parlor was raided by police hoping to capture persons involved in running numbers, based on a tip given to police by a jailed bookie. Note the posters in the window advertising a basketball tournament, a concert to be given by Ella Fitzgerald, and 5 cent Coca-Cola. 

Nanny Jack & Co Archives: exterior of Joe’s Pool Hall

Joe's Pool Parlor 

Charles “Charlie” P. Tilghman opened the Sphinx Club in 1946 at 2107-2109 Pennsylvania Avenue as a private, members-only club. The club’s membership included judges, entertainers, policemen, politicians, doctors and community leaders. Notable people such as Jackie Robinson, George L. Russell, football player Big Daddy Lipscomb, and Walter Carr visited the club. Furman L. Templeton, the long-time head of the Baltimore Urban League, developed guidelines for the club’s operations and sat on the advisory board. This 1947 membership card was for Wilbert O. Dyson, who lived at 517 North Calhoun Street.

This August 1958 image showed Charles P. Tilghman, the club’s owner, and an unidentified woman in the front of the main club room.

Photograph of group inside The Sphinx Club, Charlie Tilghman second from right (unidentified photographer)

The Sphinx Club 

The Baltimore Urban League was founded in 1924 to help African Americans gain equal access to employment, education, health care, and housing. During its history, the Urban League was located at 2404 Pennsylvania Avenue. Furman L. Templeton was the Executive Director of the Baltimore Urban League for over 25 years, where he focused on job creation, housing, and education for the Black community.

In the May 1955 letter to African American City Councilman, Walter T. Dixon, Templeton thanked Dixon for his kind remarks about the Urban League in a presentation to the Frontiers Club, an African American service organization.

May 10, 1955 Letter from Furman L. Templeton to Walter T. Dixon

Maryland Center for History & Culture (Henderson Collection)

The Baltimore Urban League 

The goal of the Colored Young Men’s Democrat Club of the Fourteenth Ward, at 1515 Pennsylvania Avenue, was to encourage Black voters to register. Arthur M. Bragg, president of the group, was the son of Rev. George F. Bragg, the pastor of Baltimore’s St. James Episcopal Church. He was the secretary of the Maryland Negro Democratic League.

Nanny Jack & Co Archives: Letter on Colored Young Men’s Democrat Club letterhead

The Colored Young Men's Democrat Club of the Fourth Ward 

For over 20 years, Arthur Ladlier Macbeth operated a photography studio at three different locations along Pennsylvania Avenue: 1030 Pennsylvania Avenue, 1204 Pennsylvania Avenue, and 1330 Pennsylvania Avenue, opposite the Douglass Theatre, later renamed the Royal Theatre. Macbeth lived on nearby Pitcher Street, within walking distance of his studios. As a leading Black photographer, he documented all aspects of the community. He was a member of the National Negro Business League and the only colored life member of the Photographers’ Association of America. His body of work spanned Charleston, South Carolina; Norfolk, Virginia; and Baltimore, Maryland.

Arthur Ladlier Macbeth Photography Studio 

The Avenue Market, formerly known as Lafayette Market and located at 1700 Pennsylvania Avenue, opened in 1871. After a May 4, 1953 fire, merchants continued business in a makeshift shed until the new location opened across the street in 1957. Lafayette Market ended its run in 1996 when a complete renovation turned it into today’s Avenue Market.

Herman Katkow was the founder and president of PALMA, the Pennsylvania Avenue Lafayette Market Association, a business association formed in the early 1950s to support Lafayette Market merchants and other Pennsylvania Avenue businesses, both Black and white.

July 23, 1875 Lafayette Market House Receipt: This receipt for $150 of repairs for the Market House in 1875 is equivalent to $3,471.82 in 2019.

Photograph of Herman Katkow, President of the Pennsylvania Avenue Lafayette Market Association (PALMA)

Flyer promoting Lafayette Market Grand Opening Specials

Photograph of African American City Councilman Walter T. Dixon at the groundbreaking for the new Lafayette Market, October 7, 1955

PALMA Newspaper, November 21, 1957. Published by the Pennsylvania Avenue Lafayette Market Association. Announcing that PALMA members offered huge stocks to early Christmas shoppers.

Photographs from the Henderson Collection of the Maryland Center for History & Culture:

Destruction from the 1953 Lafayette Market Fire

Temporary Vendor Sheds after the 1953 Lafayette Market Fire

Lafayette Market aka "The Avenue Market"

The Southern Life Insurance Company, 1841 Pennsylvania Avenue, was established in 1906 as the People’s Benefit and Fraternal Society by Rev. Dr. William M. Alexander, civil rights activist and pastor of Baltimore’s Sharon Baptist Church. Alexander served as the company’s first president. The institution offered sick and death benefits, a safe place for investment, and an avenue of employment for numerous African American men and women. In 1916, the name changed to Southern Life Insurance Company.

-Southern Life Insurance packet for Mrs. Ida Moore, 1103 N. Carey Street, Baltimore MD

Exterior of the Southern Life Insurance building (Henderson Collection)

The Southern Life Insurance Company 

Anne Wiggins Brown was born in Baltimore to Dr. Harry F. Brown and Mary Wiggins. She was a talented singer at a young age and a student of the legendary William Llewellyn Wilson, music teacher in the Baltimore City Colored School System. She continued her musical training at Morgan College in Baltimore. Her big break came in 1935 when she sang for the part of Bess in George Gershwin’s opera 

. The Anne Wiggins Brown House at 1501 Presstman Street is on Baltimore City's Designated Landmark List. She is first on the right in the photograph of the cast of a 1929 play at Douglass High School.

Nanny Jack & Co Archives: 1929 Douglass High School image

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