Savoy_Ballroom

Savoy Ballroom The Savoy Ballroom, Harlem, N.Y. The opening of the Savoy Ballroom marked a change in the social pattern. For the first time in history, status quo in America was challenged. There was no segregation in the Savoy. Blacks and whites entered through the same door, sat across from each other in the booths, and danced on the same floor. Inside the Savoy, everybody?s money was the same. The Savoy opened three years before the climax of the Great Depression. Even with Prohibition still the law, in 1926, the ballroom still was a catalyst in uptown society. The opening rocked the ideals of America of that time. Harlem was said to belong to the blacks during the a.m. hours, but to the whites at night. The Savoy, however, wasn?t a black club that entertained the white crowd who were "slummin? it," The night club circuit had it?s lingo. Anyone who?s anyone knew what to say. It was imperative to know at least these terms when venturing uptown: Kelt / Fay? white person Bolido ? the gambling game on the New York clearing house numbers Dicty ? describes a high class man or woman Sweet man savoy, dance, harlem, white, time, black, ballroom, social, buchanan, community, york, powell, new, even, blacks, police, place, lindy, ?, whites, hoppers, dancers, city, because, two, swing, protest, out, march, later, edwards, closing, after, three