Harlem Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on February 8, 2025 at 5:31 am

Henry Meyers incorporated on April 17, 1941 as the new-build $10,000 Harlem Theatre was being built (or converted it from some element of an existing lodge - the record is a little vague). Meyers opened the venue on July 5, 1941 for African American patrons. He and Odeus Meyers also operated the Meyer Theatre that opened in 1940. The theatre was the longest-running independently owned theater in the city and arguably its most important serving Biloxi’s large African American population.

Meyers success led him to take on the A&G Theatre under B&D Theatres nameplate also operating it for African American patrons. But things took a turn for the worse with Meyers moving on from the theater in the mid-1960s and facing a suit by the major Hollywood studios for unsettled payments. Meyers settled those debts in 1965 but the B&D Theatre entity entered bankruptcy in 1966. The theatre continued operations just failing by weeks to reach its 28th year of operation. In March of 1969, operators were locked out of the facility for non-payment of rent. A sheriff’s sale of the venue and its equipment in April of 1969 did not net a new buyer with the theater closed and left vacant until demolition.