‘Harlem of the West’

There was a time, 50 years ago, when Central Avenue in Los Angeles was known as the “Harlem of the West Coast,” a strip of nightclubs and hotels jumping with the energy of the young African-American entertainers of the day. Central Avenue came alive at night, when the singers, dancers and actors who spent the day struggling to be discovered in Hollywood would let loose and enjoy themselves.

The social, political and cultural lives of these performers are the focus of an exhibit that opens today at the California Afro-American Museum. Titled “Hollywood Days, Harlem Nights: African-American Entertainment in Los Angeles, 1940-1952,” the exhibit features more than 150 photographs, artifacts, oral histories and a never-before-seen video of “Show Stoppers,” a film starring the Nicholas Brothers, a famous dance team.

Visitors can listen to interviews conducted with personalities of the day, such as actress Francis E. Williams; actor, dancer and singer Babe Wallace; chorus-line standout Francis Neely, seen in the movie “Ghostbusters,” and Orin Borsten, a Universal Studios publicity editor for 20 years whose clients included Dorothy Dandridge and Hattie McDaniel.

Western star and band singer Herb Jeffries and producer, director and showman Leonard Reed are among those featured as entertainers who worked in Hollywood during the day and on Central Avenue at night.

“While there were blacks struggling to get into the motion picture industry, the majority made their living on Central Avenue,” said Nancy McKinney, a museum spokeswoman.

California Afro-American Museum, 600 State Drive, Exposition Park. Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, parking $3. Information: (213) 744-7432.