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Doc Hamilton with pheasants and hunting dogs, ca. 1926
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| Title | Doc Hamilton with pheasants and hunting dogs, ca. 1926 |
| Photographer | Unknown |
| Date | ca. 1926 |
| Caption | His name was John Henry Hamilton, but everybody called him "Doc." "Doc" came from Mississippi [...]. He was a big man, well over six feet, and had the build to match his height. He was a very ambitious person who liked what he was doing. His establishment, "The Pit, " featured barbecued ham, ribs, and chicken, and he was famous for his barbecue sauce which he later tried to market, unsuccessfully. [The "Pit" was also known as a the 908 Club.] His establishment was actually a dinner club, complete with white linen table cloths and napkins, lovely china and silver, Oriental carpets on the lounge floor, and a TALL doorman with a uniform and cap trimmed in gold braid. An awning extended from the doorway to the street where the doorman opened the door of the car to assist the guests, and "Doc" was there on hand always, to greet them at the door... with a joke, a laugh, a slap on the back. He hired the very best in the way of chefs and waiters.
This was during Prohibition, and in order to meet the demand for cocktails and liquor he got into serving and purchasing illegally. The Police Department knew this was going on, and they would protect it up to a point, and then suddenly "lower the boom." I think he was finally convicted on income tax evasion, or a similar charge.
A lot of people went to him for financial aid... for personal reasons, for organizations, and churches, and he never turned anybody down. In fact one of his failings was being too generous. - By Arline Yarbrough |
| Notes | The 1920 federal census identified his occupation as "chiropodist."
Handwritten on verso: John Henry "Doc" Hamilton ca. 1926.
Caption taken from document filed with image.
Courtesy of Department of Records & Archives, State of Washington. |
| Subjects | Game bird hunting--Washington (State)
Dogs--Washington (State)
Firearms--Washington (State)
African Americans--Washington (State)
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| Personal Names | Hamilton, John Henry |
| Location | United States--Washington (State) |
| Digital Collection | Black Heritage Society Collection |
| Image Number | 1997.17.2.54 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or inquire about permissions, contact: TheBoard@blackheritagewa.org. Please cite the Image Number. |
| Repository | The Black Heritage Society of Washington State, Inc. |
| Physical Description | 1 photographic print: b&w; 6 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. |
| Type | Image |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned as a 3000 pixel TIFF image in 8-bit grayscale, resized to 600 pixels in the longest dimension and compressed into JPEG format using Photoshop 6.0 and its JPEG quality measurement 3. |
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