Monogram Theatre
3451 S. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60616
3451 S. State Street,
Chicago,
IL
60616
No one has favorited this theater yet
Additional Info
Previous Names: Merit Theatre, New Monogram Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Not to be confused with the nearby Monogram Theatre at 3026 S. State Street (1910-1915) which has its own page on Cinema Treasures. The Merit Theatre, one of several theatres and ballrooms on the old S. State Street entertainment district, opened in 1908. Like many of its neighbors, it presented both live stage acts, as well as motion pictures. It was enlarged in 1911 to seat almost 500.
In November 1913 it was renamed New Monogram Theatre. In the 1920’s, the New Monogram Theatre hosted many of Jazz’s early greats, like "Ma" Rainey, Erskine Tate, Hattie McDaniel and Ethel Waters. By 1929 it had been renamed Monogram Theatre and was closed in 1930 as a silent movie theatre.
The theatre has since been razed and the site is today a parking lot across the street from the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
Did it have any affiliation with MONOGRAM PICTURES? I never believed the film company operated any cinemas, butlike PRC and other poverty row outfits, apparently they might. It is unusual to have the Monogram Theatre as a name…….anyone? PAUL BRENNAN.
An ad in the Freeman, an African-American newspaper, circa 1917, shows the address as 3451 South State Street. The ad describes the theater as “The Home of Colored Vaudeville”.
Operators of the Grand Theatre in Tulsa agreed to an exclusive booking agreement with Grand National Pictures, in association with Monogram Studios, to exhibit only product from those two mentioned production companies. During WWII years this contract was mutually cancelled to allow the Grand to switch over to showing only newsreels.
I learned of the Monogram Theater while reading the last pages of the novel “Not Without Laughter” by Langston Hughes. I grew up in the near vicinity of the theater, some years after it was closed. My curiosity of the authenticity of this place lead me to this site and a 1928 article in the Defender newspaper that remains in print.
Below book link claims there were two Monogram Theaters. The first Old Monogram which opened about 1910 at 3026-3028 South State Street. Then the New Monogram that opened in November 1913, in the old Merit Theater building at 3453 South State Street. Much more about both Monogram’s below.
https://books.google.com/books?id=_E9fx8f0uCcC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=Monogram+Theatre+chicago+address&source=bl&ots=7a_IVNKLOp&sig=lc9Hih6kXfLGAbBWtoyndA3nm3I&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi3mObljqfJAhUBNj4KHSs1BM4Q6AEIRTAJ#v=onepage&q=Monogram%20Theatre%20chicago%20address&f=false
The New Monogram operated here and the original Monogram operated at 3028 South State Street. They had a short period of interoperation so should be listed seperately.