Today's Articles

People, Locations, Episodes

Fri, 09.14.1928

The Dunbar Hotel, (Los Angeles) Opens

The Dunbar

*This date celebrates the opening of the Dunbar Hotel of Los Angeles in 1928. Built by John Sommerville, it stands today at 4225 S. Central Avenue in Los Angeles.

Originally called the Hotel Sommerville, it opened with an attendance of over 5,000 people. Because of the stock market crash of 1929, it was sold and renamed the Dunbar Hotel after the Poet Paul L. Dunbar. At one time, it was a very fashionable hotel and the site of the first NAACP national convention held in the western region of the United States.

The Dunbar was the most popular Jazz and Blues scene in Los Angeles for more than 20 years.

Guests such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, Langston Hughes, and W. B. Du Bois frequented it.

Reference:

LA Conservancy.org

Dunbar Hotel
4225 South Central Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90011-3000
(323) 234- 7882

New Poem Each Day

Poetry Corner

In honor of President Barack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States of America, 2008 – 2016 #44 OPENED THAT DOOR by Marjorie J. Frazier
Read More