In partnership with the Camden County Cultural & Heritage Commission and the Lawnside Historical Society, the Camden County Historical Society (CCHS) will host a photo exhibit of the once-famed but now-vanished Lawnside entertainment district from February 2 through April 10, 2008.
Called "Lullaby for Dreamland," the photo exhibit in the CCHS auditorium will focus on the historic era of Evesham Avenue jazz clubs including Dreamland, the Cotton Club, Wilcox's Cafe, the Whippoorwill Club and Loretta's Hi-Hat.
Dreamland, the first club that opened along Evesham between White Horse Pike and Charleston Ave. in the 1930s, has become an icon of what was a regional center of African-American music and nightlife. The strip of nightclubs and barbeque joints was once part of a larger entertainment sprawl that included an amusement park, a boating lake and hotels, all catering to blacks who were not welcome in similar public facilities elsewhere in the county.
The photo exhibit includes a collection of 40 framed prints that are a mix of candid shots of club patrons and publicity shots of jazz and blues artists associated with the clubs and the larger jazz music scene they celebrated.
The photos have their own story. Long forgotten in the basement of the Lawnside home of Jack and Emily Brady -- the original owners of Dreamland in the 1930s -- they were uncovered by Maryann Cummings after a 1995 basement cleanout of the home. Ms. Cummings immediately realized the historical signifigance of the images and saved them from destruction.
The "Lullaby for Dreamland" exhibit opens with a catered reception in the CCHS's handicapped-accessible, second-floor auditorium on Saturday evening, February 2, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The reception will rekindle the spirit of Dreamland with a live performance by Bootsie Barnes and some of the original Dreamland Jazz All-Stars.
Both the reception and exhibit are open to the public and free of charge. For more information, please call the County Society at 856-964-3333 or visit go online at www.CHHSnj.com.
The Camden County Historical Society (CCHS) is located behind Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center on Park Blvd. between Vesper Blvd. and Euclid Ave.
