Bel Air Theatre: 2nd-floor Access Only

ID: 90 ~ Creator: Harford Civil Rights Project ~ Date: 2019
This file appears in: The Bel Air Theatre & Other Harford Movie Theatres
Bel Air Theatre: 2nd-floor Access Only
Harford Civil Rights Project: all rights reserved

The image depicts the bricked-over second floor access door of the old Bel Air Theatre building in Bel Air, Maryland. Patrons of color could only enter the theatre through this door, reached by an outside stairway. The image was visible in 2019, facing an alleyway next to the former theatre building located at 5 N. Main Street Bel Air, Maryland.

This file appears in: The Bel Air Theatre & Other Harford Movie Theatres

By James Karmel
For the first half of the twentieth century, movie theaters around Harford County were segregated by race, as was common throughout the South. There were three main movie theatres in Harford County: in Bel Air, Aberdeen, and Havre de Grace. Each of…