Located in the Harlem district of New York City, a historically African-American community, the Apollo is widely considered one of the most influential theaters in American culture. Throughout it's history, the Apollo offered opportunities for African-Americans unavailable elsewhere.

In 1914, Benjamin Hurtig and Harry Seamon opened Hurtig and Seamon's New Burlesque Theater in this location. Due to campaigns against burlesque theaters it was closed in the 1930s.

Sidney Cohen reopened the building as the 125th Apollo Street Theater and turned its shows to the growing African-American community.

During the height of the depression, the Apollo was the largest employer of African-American theatrical workers in the country. During the thirties, Ralph Cooper developed Amateur Night at the Apollo.

At one early show, a fifteen-year-old Ella Fitzgerald won the Amateur Night Competition. During Amateur Night performers rubbed a stump from the Tree of Hope, which performers believed would bestow luck. The Tree symbolized opportunities Harlem offered for millions of African-Americans.

A year after the reopening, Frank Schiffman and Leo Brecher took control of the theater. Their families operated the theater for the next forty years.

In the 1980s, Percy Sutton, the owner of Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, furnished the theater with television equipment and launched Showtime at the Apollo that featured live performances of famous and up-and-coming artists.

Recently, the Apollo underwent a renovation that maintains the 1940s era style but, includes new seats, stage and marquee.

In 2009, the Apollo Theater celebrated its 75th anniversary and as many years of providing opportunities to the African-Americans in Harlem, New York.

Today, the Apollo continues to host amateur nights and celebrity performances.

Podcast Written and Narrated by Kelcie Lloyd, Public History Student at the University of West Florida.