Chicago Illinois, USA

Closed 2023

The Palm Tavern was a hugely significant part of the story of Chicago and the Great Migration. Located across the street from the famed Regal Theater and opened in 1933 by a Pullman porter named James Knight, the tavern was a center of Black life and culture for decades, especially after being purchased in 1956 by Knight’s manicurist Geraldine ‘Gerri’ Oliver. Gerri welcomed all to her place, including almost every performer at the Regal Theater as well as traveling jazz musicians, artists, dancers. She maintained her tavern even as the fortunes of the neighborhood fell in the subsequent decades. Despite that, in the early 2000s, the city of Chicago filed eminent domain proceedings against her. People tried to stop it and fight with her and on her behalf, but ultimately the tavern was closed, left an empty shell which was demolished in 2004. It’s my assertion that this act of wanton destruction is perhaps the greatest cultural loss Chicago has seen in decades, made worse by the fact that the city actively pursued that destruction. Gerri died in 2020 at 101 years of age. Mike M.

The painting is based on an undated photograph by Andy Pierce.

No. 305