HARDINGS ENJOY MUSICAL THEATRE
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On March 6, 1921, the Sunday Star reported that after a first day setting "a fast record of presidential activity," Warren G. Harding would spend a "quiet Sabbath at the White House."
According to a front page story, the President would attend Sunday services at either Calvary Baptist Church at 8th and H, NW or First Baptist Church at 16th and O. In the afternoon, a "motor ride" was on the agenda.
President Harding's first full day in office included...
sending a diplomatic note, dictating letters, shaking hands, installing a White House mascot, and...
in the evening, the President and First Lady saw a musical show performed at the Belasco Theatre*.
*Belasco Theatre, 17 Madison Place NW (now demolished) was built in 1895 as the Lafayette Square Opera House and served, along with the National Theatre, as one of the main venues for operas, plays and ballets performed in the Nation's Capital.
The Opera House was renamed the Belasco Theatre in 1906. By 1935, it was converted into a movie house. After demolition in the early 1960s, the new U.S. Court of Claims went up on the site.
SOURCE
"Belasco Theatre, Cinema Treasures, www.cinematreasures.org/
"President Spends A Busy First Day; Sets Lively Pace," The Sunday Star, Washington, D.C., March 6, 1921, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
