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Dunbar Hotel

1928 establishments in CaliforniaAfrican-American history in Los AngelesHotel buildings completed in 1928Hotel buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Los AngelesHotels in Los Angeles
Jazz clubs in Los AngelesLos Angeles Historic-Cultural MonumentsSouth Los Angeles
Somerville Hotel, Los Angeles
Somerville Hotel, Los Angeles

The Dunbar Hotel, originally known as the Hotel Somerville, was the focal point of the Central Avenue African-American community in Los Angeles, California, during the 1930s and 1940s. Built in 1928 by John Alexander Somerville, it was known for its first year as the Hotel Somerville. Upon its opening, it hosted the first national convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to be held in the western United States. In 1930, the hotel was renamed the Dunbar, and it became the most prestigious hotel in LA's African-American community. In the early 1930s, a nightclub opened at the Dunbar, and it became the center of the Central Avenue jazz scene in the 1930s and 1940s. The Dunbar hosted Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Lena Horne, and many other jazz legends. Other noteworthy people who stayed at the Dunbar include W. E. B. Du Bois, Joe Louis, Ray Charles, and Thurgood Marshall. Former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson also ran a nightclub at the Dunbar in the 1930s. No longer a hotel, the building was renovated in the 2010s and is now part of a larger residential community named Dunbar Village.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Dunbar Hotel (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Dunbar Hotel
East 42nd Place, Los Angeles Central-Alameda

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Latitude Longitude
N 34.006944444444 ° E -118.25583333333 °
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Outdoor Stage

East 42nd Place
90011 Los Angeles, Central-Alameda
California, United States
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Somerville Hotel, Los Angeles
Somerville Hotel, Los Angeles
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28th Street YMCA
28th Street YMCA

The 28th Street YMCA is a historic YMCA building in South Los Angeles, California. It was listed as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2006 and put on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The four-story structure was built in 1926 at a cost of $200,000. The building was designed by noted African American architect Paul R. Williams in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The building is considered to be historically significant because of its association with Paul R. Williams and because it is one of two club buildings remaining in Los Angeles that were founded by and for African Americans. The 28th Street YMCA, also sometimes referred to as the "Colored YMCA", was a milestone for the city's African American community. Many recreational facilities, including public swimming pools, were racially segregated in the 1920s, and the 28th Street YMCA provided a gymnasium, swimming pool, and 52 dormitory rooms on the upper floors.The building was deemed to satisfy the registration requirement for club buildings set forth in a multiple property submission study, the African Americans in Los Angeles MPS. Other sites listed pursuant to the same African Americans in Los Angeles MPS include the Angelus Funeral Home, Lincoln Theater, Second Baptist Church, Prince Hall Masonic Temple, 52nd Place Historic District, 27th Street Historic District, and two historic all-black segregated fire stations (Fire Station No. 14 and Fire Station No. 30). In 2015 a major restoration was undertaken by non profit affordable housing developer Clifford Beers Housing and the Coalition for Responsible Community Development with design work led by the architecture firm Koning Eizenberg. The project was awarded a 2015 National AIA Honor Award for Architecture