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 The Savoy was always about much more than its music and dancing, despite those two aspects being central to its character and achievement. Through turning into a location that celebrated the new mass popular spirit of Harlem and becoming a focal point for so many other Americans and visitors from overseas all kinds of new artistic associations developed.
At the same time the owners, managers and staff who made sure all of these many forms of creativity worked together and thus didn’t conflict with each other can be easily overlooked. Amongst the many reasons why its finally closure was mourned in 1958 was the loss of a 100 regular jobs for local Harlemites. Although nothing like the full range of people who worked there will probably ever be known now, some of their identities are being established. As more information becomes available it will be included.
Thus this section might seem at first sight to be an odd collection of information about the people who owned or worked at the Savoy and various artistic activities associated with the ballroom. However a broader look should be taken of this mixture. All the different aspects of this “mixture” in fact compromise the “background” to the music and dance, but not in a passive sense. Whether it was big burly bouncers checking on how dancers behaved themselves, or artists busily sketching away to get the necessary visual information together to paint yet another picture of the Savoy in their studios, these “other” activities combined to give the ballroom’s dancers and musicians a real sense of their importance. It didn’t matter that outside the Savoy Ballroom seldom got the recognition it deserved, because the world came to the Savoy in many shapes and guises, and the Savoy regulars knew it!
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