Dancer Scoogie Brown at Geoffrey Holder and Carmen de Lavallade’s wedding reception in Westport, Connecticut on June 26, 1955. Ms. Brown was a dancer from Trinidad and Tobago who performed with Mr. Holder and his Trinidad Dance Group. She would gain even more notoriety during the “calypso craze” in the 1950s with her dance partner, Leo Ryers, who was also a member of Mr. Holder’s troupe. Photo: Saul Mauriber, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Ms. Brown also has a bit part in the 1956 film, “Carib Gold” which also starred Mr. Holder, Cicely Tyson, Diana Sands and the great Ethel Waters. The film is linked in the comment section.
Nat “King” Cole and Maria Cole dance at their wedding reception 65 years ago today, March 28, 1948, which happened to be Easter Sunday. The Coles were married at Harlem’s famous Abyssinian Baptist Church by Rev. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the legendary Harlem congressman. According to Michael Henry Adams, author of the beautiful coffee table book, “Harlem Lost and Found,” Ms. Cole wore a $700 ice-blue satin dress designed by none other than VBG fashion designer legend, Zelda Wynn Valdes! Photo by Lisa Larsen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images.
Dancers Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder (followed by Ms. de Lavallade’s sister, Elaine de Lavallade and Emery Lewis) on their wedding day, June 26, 1955. The wedding was hosted by theater legend Lucille Lortel at her estate in Westport, Connecticut and notables like Diahann Carroll, Josephine Premice, and Carl Van Vechten. Mr. Van Vechten’s assistant at the time, Saul Mauriber, took this photograph. Via:Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Maria Hawkins Ellington tries on one of her gifts at a party in Harlem celebrating her marriage to Nat “King” Cole in March 1948. The Coles were married at the famous Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Photo by Lisa Larsen/Time Life Pictures.
Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder on their wedding day, June 26, 1955, with theater legend Lucille Lortel, who hosted the wedding on her estate in Westport, Connecticut. Photo by Carl Van Vechten.
Leontyne Price and William Warfield on their wedding day in August, 1952.
Dorothy Dandridge and Harold Nicholas on their wedding day, September 6, 1942. Hattie McDaniel is on Harold’s left.
Josephine Baker marrying bandleader Joe Bouillon in Paris on April 6, 1947.
