Virginia

As a center for Black commerce, Henry Street was also the center of a vibrant entertainment district featuring live performances and film. It was a center for not only the enjoyment of the arts but of creativity. The Strand Theatre served as a corporate base for prominent Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux from 1922 to 1925. The Virginia Theatre, with its colorful marquee featured in this image, was owned by Mr. Neighbors, who also owned a grocery store. “Mr. Neighbors,” writes David Ramey in The Times and Life of Henry Street, “owned a grocery store and the black theatre on High Street. They called it the Virginia Theatre.”