Lincoln Theatre

A group of men, members of the Norfolk and Western Veterans’ Association Colored Division, pose for a photograph in front of the Lincoln Theatre on Henry Street in Roanoke. The 700-seat venue was built in 1923 as the Strand Theatre. Serving the Black community of Gainsboro, the theatre hosted musicians and the production company of Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. The structure changed owners several times, operating as the Morocco Club from 1945–1961 and finally as the Ebony Club from 1962–1965. It closed after the Henry Street area fell victim to Roanoke’s urban renewal projects of the 1960s and 1970s. The historic structure has now been incorporated into the Claude Moore Education Complex of the Roanoke Higher Education Center.