Royal Tavern
Status: Closed
Parish: Lafayette
Location: Lafayette
From Sepia Socialite, May 1942:
Royal Tavern Is Tops In Southwest LA. Entertainment
“The pace of night life entertainment in Southwest Louisiana was set by the Royal Tavern at 615 North College Avenue, owned and operated by Mr. Roy Gathe (left at bar). Three and one-half years ago, Mr. Gathe started this business as merely a bar. He now has a dance hall and tables that will accommodate more than 300 patrons and is only Negro in the parish to sell liquor. He operates the only remote control music box in the city. There are nine employees including himself and he owns the property upon which the building is located, and a nineteen-acre farm valued at more than $5,500.
Mr. Gathe’s success in business in Lafayette is accredited to his contention for the rights of the American Negro in business, and through the confidence that the public has in him because of his fair dealings in business. He is one of the organizers and founders of the local NAACP and has led many a gallant fight in civic interest in this section.
He is married to Mrs. Olivia Girard Gathe, and they have two children, Don Lee and James Kenneth. Mr. Gathe is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Julian Gathe, pioneer planters and farmers in Lafayette Parish. He is the youngest of six children. The Gathes are members of the Immaculate Heart of Mary…Catholic Church of which Fr. Anthony Bourges is pastor. Fr. Bourges is teh first colored priest appointed in this parish and was the third colored priest ordained in the United States.
The Royal Tavern in Lafayette and the part that it plays in furnishing high-class entertainment for the community is a credit to the business ingenuity of Mr. Gathe and is the result of hard work and first-class service on his part.”
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Photo Credit: From Sepia Socialite, May 1942: