Isabel Washington: Brief Candle of Black Broadway

May 23 was the birthday of Harlem singer, dancer and showgirl Isabel Washington (1908-2007).

The younger sister of Fredi Washington, Isabel followed her sister from Georgia up to Harlem to join her in show business in the mid ’20s. Working in nightclubs and vaudeville led to Broadway and films. Her big year was 1929, in which she was one of the stars of the Broadway show Bombola, and she appeared in three films: the Vitaphone short Dave Apollon and His Russian Stars, as well as The Letter (in which she and Fredi were dancers), and St. Louis Blues, in which she played Bessie Smith’s rival. She returned to Broadway in the 1931 in the show Singin’ the Blues alongside Fredi, Mantan Moreland,Eubie Blake and others.

While dancing at the Cotton Club in 1933 she met future Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. The two were married that year in a ceremony that drew 3,000 onlookers. In 1941 Powell became New York City’s first black City Council member. He divorced her and married Hazel Scott one year after his election to U.S. Congress three years later. Isabel Washington went on to become a special ed teacher in Harlem, and lived for over 60 more years.

For more on show business historyplease check out No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous.