Lincoln Theatre

Joe Vogel on November 19, 2019 at 9:17 pm

I’m not sure what to make of this item from Boxoffice of January 15, 1939. Perhaps the magazine conflated the Lincoln with the “New Colored Theatre,” and the item was actually about the latter house?

“The new Lincoln Theatre for colored people in Aiken, South Carolina’s winter resort city, was opened last week by I. Efron. E. A. Rosenblatt of the Sound Engineering Service Co., which installed the sound equipment, says the Lincoln is one of the most modern theatres for colored people in the Carolinas. The National Theatre Supply Co., equipped the house. A special box section is reserved for chauffeurs and other servants of tourists and resort vacationists from the north.”

In any case, find it a bit odd that the management would shift to a whites-only policy without changing the name of the theater. Lincoln is not a greatly admired name among southern whites.