Haltnorth Theatre was located on East 55th Street just north of Woodland Avenue. In the early to mid 1930s, the Haltnorth, which hired only white workers above the rank of janitor and refused to show films with Black casts, tried to prevent a growing number of nearby Black theaters from obtaining first-run films. In 1936, the Future Outlook League picketed the theater along with the nearby Globe, both of which were owned by Moses B. Horwitz, leading to the hiring of African Americans at both theaters. By 1944, as the once largely Jewish 55th-Woodland commercial district became more and more a hub for the Cedar-Central area’s expanding Black community, the Haltnorth began to show movies with “all-Negro casts.”
Additional information coming soon
Resources
- “Haltnorth, Globe To Show Movies With Negro Cast.” Call & Post. October 28, 1944.
- “Haltnorth Owners Are Fighting Theaters Using Negro Employees.” Call & Post. August 11, 1934.
- “Horwitz Says He Will Hire 2 More At The Haltnorth.” Call & Post. August 20, 1936.