The Imperial Hotel’s history and enjoy the music of musicians who once played the Chitlin Circuit will be celebrated Friday evening. The Jack Hadley Black History Museum sponsors “Saving the Imperial Hotel: A Celebration of Preservation,” featuring the Thomas University Jazz Band and special guest artists André Hadley Marria and  Lawrence Jones. There will be food trucks, museum exhibits, and more, on Friday, May 20, from 6-8 p.m. at the Ritz Amphitheatre, 131 South Stevens St.. The event is free and open to the public and is produced with funds from the Georgia Humanities Council.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation celebrates May as Preservation Month. This year’s theme is “People Saving Places.” James “Jack” Hadley, founder, director, and curator of the Jack Hadley Black History Museum (JHBHM), has worked over the years to acknowledge African-American sites such as Thomasville’s “the Bottom” and others such as the Imperial Hotel and adjacent shotgun house. 

The hotel is one of the few hotels still standing that accommodated Black travelers during segregation. It is an important landmark that tells the story of the African American experience in the South. 

The hotel has historical significance, as it was listed in the Green Book, which identified Black-owned hotels where African American families and Black entertainers could stop and find accommodations on trips through the South. The Imperial’s famous guests included “Alto Sax King” Earl Bostic, who stayed there in 1953 while hosting a benefit dance at Douglass High School Gym for Archbold Hospital. Also, it is rumored that B.B. King, the King Perry Band, the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, Bells of Joy, Rosetta Thorpe, and Marie Knight all came to Thomasville and most likely stayed at the Imperial Hotel. 

The JHBHM recently acquired the hotel and shotgun house and has worked to stabilize the building, such as replacing the roof and exterminating wood-destroying insects. This year, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation recognized it as one of 10 “Places in Peril.” Criteria for selection are “serious threat to their existence and a demonstrable level of community commitment and support for the site’s preservation.”    

For more information, contact the museum at (229) 226-5029. Follow this link for more information about the museum: https://jackhadleyblackhistorymuseum.com/.