Wally’s Café opens.

Originally Wally’s Paradise, it is located initially at 428 Massachusetts Avenue. The first nightclub in Boston owned by an African-American, it is operated by Joseph Walcott, a former cab driver, who reputedly was helped in obtaining a liquor license by James Michael Curley, a frequent fare. The club features local as well as nationally-known performers that include Errol Garner, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Haynes, Ahmad Jamal, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Parker, and Oscar Peterson. Renamed Wally’s Cafe in 1960, it closes temporarily in 1978 and moves to its current location in 1979. After Walcott’s death in 1998, it is operated by his daughter Elynor and her three sons and continues today.