Aragon Ballroom

1106 W. Lawrence Ave.

Part of “The Black and Tan” Club scene (including Ellington’s and Fredi Washington’s Black and Tan Orchestra), a national network of Black music/jazz centered clubs, revues, ballrooms, etc that incubated a transgressive social subculture known, documented, and monitored for interracial and homosexual relations as well as prostitution. In 1958, Aragon closed down due to a fire but was reopened several months later and during the 1960s it transitioned in rapid succession from a ballroom to a roller rink, boxing venue, and disco owned by a series of different owners. In the ’70s Aragon became a concert and entertainment venue for rock and pop shows and a variety of other programs for Spanish, English, and Vietnamese-speaking communities. By the 1980’s and 90’s, the venue was also known for house parties with predominately Latino attendance including DJs Pumping Pete, Sly Hula Hula, and on holidays the ever popular Hot Mix 5.