we needed some young blood in there—thus his
GOLD: Do you think that even though the Pyramid
invitation for me to join. I was then twenty-six,
Club wasn’t an arts institution, it was nonetheless
going on twenty-seven.
significant for artists to have shown their work
GOLD: So there weren’t as many opportunities for
those kinds of activities when the Pyramid Club was flourishing. SUMPTER: Absolutely not, and you’ve got to
remember too that Philadelphia was under the blue laws then, you know? Nothing was open on Sundays. If you wanted recreation that included music, booze, and dancing, you had to go over to New Jersey, to Lawnside! GOLD: Or have a private club.
there—in a place that you describe as being associated with so much pride? Do you think that having had such experiences and associations helped them as they moved forward in their artistic careers? SUMPTER: Oh, gosh yes. I do, because when the
exhibitions opened, they were by invitation, and the invitations went far and wide in the community of Philadelphia. And they were not limited to the art community—political people of importance would attend. The club was the place to be. These exhibitions were nights to socialize and interact. There were artists you didn’t know two days ago.
Samuel L. Evans (second from left), Dox Thrash (right), and others at the Pyramid Club, 1940s. (John W. Mosley Photograph Collection, Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA) Photograph by John W. Mosley
Asa Philip Randolph, former president of the International Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, pioneer labor leader and organizer of the March on Washington, at the Pyramid Club, 1944. (John W. Mosley Photograph Collection, Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA) Photograph by John W. Mosley
SUMPTER: Or have a private club, yes. Besides,
Now you know them, you know? And you not only
the booze and the food at the Pyramid Club cost
know them, but you see their work. Both white and
more than it did at an outside bar, and of course,
black artists would attend, of course, because the
the appreciation of the food decreased as blacks
work on view was not just by black artists. These
ate out more. In short, the general environment
were great, healthy exchanges. I think it did a lot to
just started to slip away, and the Pyramid Club saw
open up art to young people who didn’t know what
its demise. Sam kept it going for a while when he
it was about.
bought the building, but by then it had gotten to the point where it was like “Auld Lang Syne.” The last club meeting that we had up in the game room
what were called the “coffee concerts” at the
around for black people in Philadelphia. White
ended with a turn of the key in the door, and that
Academy of Music, with the support of a number of
establishments, including restaurants, were opening
was the end of it. The club officially closed in 1963.
benefactors. When I joined the Pyramid Club, there
up to blacks, so Jim Crow was run out of the city.
It was sad. That particular place went with a lot of
was some internal fighting among the professionals
You began to have black people either buying
pride, and I don’t think that people quite realized
about the ownership of the club building. When it
into, or buying outright, drinking establishments,
what its impact on society had been.
came time to put up or shut up, Sam certainly did put
so going to bars and restaurants became the new
up, with a blank check, again from some important
thing to do. On Saturdays and Sundays people who
benefactors, and he bought the place outright
wanted to do things socially could meet downtown
GOLD: Did that allow the club to remain active?
club anymore. So the Pyramid Club slowly began deteriorating—its membership was falling off with
important part of the history of the Pyramid
this new competition in Center City. The club had
Club. Toward the late 1950s, things were turning
begun to attract fewer members, and as Sam said,
WOODMERE ART MUSEUM
GOLD: This has been a wonderful conversation.
and come out. You didn’t have to go to a private
SUMPTER: Well, this internal struggle is a very
172
MCCAY: Thank you, Phil.
WE SPEAK: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s–1970s
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