Photo courtesy Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia
Through June, the Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia is exhibiting more than 30 images of a son of Jackson Ward, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. The show, "Mr. Renaissance Man," guides visitors through the performer's career during the first decades of the 20th century.
At one time the highest paid Black performer in the country, Robinson's pairing with Shirley Temple in a series of films, with now wince-worthy plots, recorded his influential tap dancing. He died on Thanksgiving Day in 1949 at age 71. Held at New York's Abyssinian Baptist Church, the funeral drew 50,000 people. Pastor and politician Adam Clayton Powell Jr. eulogized Robinson, remarking that he had two vices: ice cream and gambling — neither of which are allowed at the BHMVA, open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday through Saturday.
