The Morton Theatre, located in downtown Athens, Georgia

Athens, Georgia

Athens-Clarke County is a consolidated city–county in U.S. state of Georgia, in the northeastern part of the state, comprising the former City of Athens proper and Clarke County. The University of Georgia is located in this college town and is responsible for the initial growth of the city...

 at 195 West Washington Street, is one of the first vaudeville theatres

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 in the United States uniquely built, owned, and operated by an African-American. The Theatre currently operates as a rental facility that hosts a wide range of dramatic, musical, and dance performances as well as special events.

History

The Morton Building was built in 1910 by Monroe Bowers ("Pink") Morton, a prominent, local, African-American business man. He owned over 30 buildings, the Morton being the largest. At one time the Morton building formed the core of the downtown Black business district. Many of Athens' Black doctors, dentists, and pharmacists practiced in the Morton Building. Among these were Dr. Ida Mae Johnson Hiram, the first Black woman to be licensed to practice medicine (dentistry) in the State, and Dr. William H. Harris, one of the founders of the Georgia State Medical Association of Colored Physicians, Dentists and Druggists. The theatre was opened on May 18, 1910 for vaudeville acts and those of local, regional and national performers. Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

, Cab Calloway

Cab Calloway

Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....

, Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...

, Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

 and Ma Rainey

Ma Rainey

Ma Rainey was one of the earliest known American professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues....

 performed at the Morton during it’s hey day. During the 1930s, the theatre was modified to become a movie house. In 1954, a small fire broke out in the projection room. After a fire marshal's inspection, the 500-plus seat theatre was padlocked for failing to offer adequate emergency exits. Various street level businesses continued their operations. In 1980, using a combination of state and federal funds, the building was purchased by the nonprofit Morton Theatre Corporation. Local bands such as Dreams So Real

Dreams So Real

Dreams So Real were an alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia, who gained some national exposure in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They recorded three albums, including two releases on Arista Records.-History:...

, The B-52's

The B-52's

The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...

 and R.E.M.

R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...

 occasionally used the building for rehearsal space and filming music videos. In 1987, the citizens of Athens-Clarke County came to the rescue of the Morton through the passage of the special projects local option sales tax referendum that included the rehabilitation of the theatre. In 1991, ownership of the building was handed over to the Athens-Clarke Unified Government. In the fall of 1993, followed by the signing of a management agreement between the Athens-Clarke Unified Government and the Morton Theatre Corporation, the theatre was re-opened. The government provides staff and operating support to enable the theatre to function as a community performing arts space, while the non-profit Morton Theatre Corporation develops programming and manages facility rental policies and procedures.