40 feet , the industrious entrepreneur was able tap into an entertainment phenomenon known as “ the Chitlin ’ Circuit ,” an informal network of Black nightclubs and performers named for an ethnic cuisine . With America healing from World War II , but Black people still not allowed in most white establishments , even the best entertainers of color needed a place to play .
The most prominent Blacksonly venues in the Mid-Atlantic were the Royal Theater in Baltimore and the Howard Theater in Washington , D . C ., which is where Duvall scored most of his main attractions . His cash offers of one or two hundred bucks per show — equivalent value to one or two thousand dollars today — were often enough to entice a performer like Little Richard , known for songs like “ Good Golly Miss Molly ” and “ Tutti Frutti ,” to drive the extra 26 miles northwest .
Though she was too young to visit the Du-Drop Inn herself , Deborah Bell Smith said she still remembers the night her mother , Barbara Ann Bell , got an urgent call to fix Little Richard ’ s shimmering high-top hairstyle .
Little Richard . Photo : Creative Commons
“ A lot of the Black performers removal ”— gave the government license to take property by eminent were fussy about their hair , especially Little Richard ,” said Smith . “ I domain in the name of rebuilding think my mother saved the show .” something that was supposed to be
Virginia historian Preston Lauterbach , author of the book titled era speak of the local government
better . Numerous articles from the
The Chitlin ’ Circuit and the Road to essentially demolishing most of the Rock ‘ n ’ Roll , said rural America was more than 40 Black neighborhoods filled with those sorts of stories that once existed across Montgomery County from the 1930s to the ’ 70s .
.
According to Lauterbach : “ The Chitlin ’ Circuit was African- Americans making something beautiful out of something ugly , whether it ’ s making cuisine out of hog intestines or making world-class entertainment despite being excluded from all of the world-class venues . For many , many years , the best music in America was being played in these clubs like the Du-Drop Inn . That ’ s literally where rock ’ n roll was born , with the Black entertainers and their audiences interacting in close proximity . I think , ultimately , there ’ s a lot of pride in it .”
The Pride of Place
“ The county reneged on most of its promises ,” said Bub Duvall in
Ricky Johnson said his father , Edward , kept a collection of photos , paper that detailed his failed effort
a 1981 article in the Sentinel news-
posters , and plaques from the to fight eviction from the Du-Drop golden nightclub era , as well as after 34 years . The government his baseball field that was believed gave him $ 141,000 for his land , but to be the first lighted sports field , nothing for his loss of livelihood , for Black or white athletes , in and the club was bulldozed later Montgomery County . Shortly after that year . Rows of townhomes Edward died of cancer in 1971 at have long since erased the physical age 61 , however , the prized possessions were loaned out and never
In January of this year , the
evidence of its existence .
returned — leaving that pride of Historic Emory Grove Rotary Club memory as virtually the only reminder of the neighborhood ’ s role United Methodist Church — that re-
and the 120-year-old Emory Grove in music history .
mains , with Johnson Park , as Emory
The concept of urban renewal Grove ’ s only links to a bygone era — that started in the late 1960s — what hosted a gathering of its members 90-year-old Emory Grove native Maurice Miles calls “ urban plans for a Du-Drop Inn
to share the old stories and begin memorial
30 plenty I spring sowing 2023