Rockhead’s Paradise was an iconic black-owned bar and Jazz Club in Little Burgundy Montreal from the 1930s to 70s.
Rufus Rockhead, a Jamaican-born immigrant and World War One veteran, founded Rockhead’s in 1928 following eight years working as a sleeping car porter for the Canadian Pacific Railway. In the early years, Rockhead struggled against racial discrimination in order to acquire the proper permits to run his bar. According to author and historian Channon Oyeniran, it took 11 months to obtain a beer permit, and 5 more years to obtain a liquor license (Oyeniran 2018). Despite this, Rockhead’s Paradise was an intense success with many iconic musicians including Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and Oscar Peterson performing at the venue.
Not only was Rockhead’s one of the earliest black-owned bars in Montreal, but it is also known to be the earliest venue for what we know today as Drag performances. According to historian Viviane K. Namaste as early as the 1940s, Rockhead’s hosted popular performers Dick Montgomery, Malva Bolda and Billie McAllister (Namaste 2005).
Sources
Oyeniran, Channon. “Rockhead’s Paradise.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Article published October 16, 2018; Last Edited October 16, 2018. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/rockheads-paradise
Namaste, Viviane K. C’était Du Spectacle! : L’histoire Des Artistes Transsexuelles À Montréal, 1955-1985. Studies on the History of Quebec = Études D’histoire Du Québec, 17. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2005.
This listing was created by Christiane-Marie Cantwell, Assistant Archivist at the Archives Gaies du Québec and Audrey Gray, Project Officer at the National Trust for Canada.
Founded in 1983, the Quebec Gay Archives have a mandate to acquire, conserve and preserve any handwritten, printed, visual or audio material which testify to the history of the LGBTQ+ communities of Quebec. The Quebec Gay Archives play an essential role as a guardian of LGBTQ2S+ history, through its conservation of archival fonds and collections, its organization of public events and by welcoming researchers and visitors to its reading room. Researchers can consult their collections on weekdays by appointment at info@AGQ.qc.ca.”
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