Re-remembering the Royal Theater: Public History, Place, and Urban History

Abstract

The Royal Theater was a public space which happened to be located in the path of the proposed Crosstown Expressway. From preliminary research, including interviews, it is clear the community feared displacement. During the early twentieth-century, before the invention of television, the theater existed as a place of entertainment for the entire community. Children as well as adults attended the theater as a form of escapism and during the days of segregation, The Royal Theater provided an entertainment space for African Americans which could not be found at White theaters. This thesis will attempt to explore what role The Royal Theater, a significant public space in the heart of this community, played in the tumultuous time of the proposed Crosstown Expressway.