Downtown in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky — The American South (East South Central)
Sit-In Demonstration Site
Mary Anderson Theater, 610 South Fourth Street
| | Rialto Theater, 616 South Fourth Street | |
Photographed by Shane Oliver, July 26, 2021
1. Sit-In Demonstration Site Marker
The Rialto and Mary Anderson Theaters were the sites of mass demonstrations and arrests during the Nothing New for Easter campaign.
The Rialto Theater opened in 1921 as Louisville's first grand movie palace. The first of the theaters constructed along Fourth Street, the theater offered first-run movies. It could seat 3500 people, had chandeliers of Bohemian crystal, a great marble staircase, and $30,000 pipe organ. The theater hosted name bands and shows in addition to the vaudeville type the theater had been featuring almost exclusively. One show featured a new artist, Elvis Presley in 1955.
The Mary Anderson Theater, opened in 1933 and was so named in honor of actress Mary Anderson who with her parents moved to Louisville when she was three years old. Mary was educated in Louisville and went on to enjoy a successful stage career.
Following the passage of the public accommodations ordinance in 1963, African American patrons were admitted into theaters and restaurants on Fourth Street. With the decline of Fourth Street businesses and emergence of suburbs, the once grand Rialto Theater closed in the late 1960s and in 1969 the building was demolished. The Mary Anderson site was saved and developed in the late 1970s for offices. One of its tenants is the Louisville Metro Human Relations Commission,
this page online
Erected 2013 by University of Louisville: College of Arts and Sciences and Office for International, Diversity and Outreach Programs, Louisville Metro Council, Louisville Downtown Partnership, Office of the Mayor, Kentucky Commissions on Human Rights, The Courier Journal. (Marker Number 7.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Arts, Letters, Music • Civil Rights • Entertainment. A significant historical date for this entry is January 5, 1921.
Location. 38° 14.897′ N, 85° 45.487′ W. Marker is in Louisville, Kentucky, in Jefferson County. It is in Downtown. It is on South 4th Street just south of West Chestnut Street, on the right when traveling south. The marker stands next to the front entrance of a parking garage. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 630 S 4th St, Louisville KY 40202, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Ohio River Valley. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture and also the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Mary Anderson (here, next to this marker); a different marker also named Sit-In Demonstration Site (within shouting distance of this marker); Campaign to End Racial Segregation in Louisville
Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, July 24, 2022
2. Sit-In Demonstration Site Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on February 12, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 5, 2021, by Shane Oliver of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 301 times since then and 24 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on August 5, 2021, by Shane Oliver of Richmond, Virginia. 2. submitted on August 5, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
