Paschal's La Carousel

Paschal's La Carrousel was a jazz club in Atlanta, Georgia. Opened in 1960, it became known as Atlanta's "jazz mecca" as it featured top-name artists such as Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Gladys Knight, and Jimmy Smith. It was the only nightclub in Atlanta open to blacks in the then-segregated city. At the same time, an estimated 60 percent of its clientele were white, and the club also showed tolerance toward homosexuals. The club was owned by brothers Robert and James Paschal, who also ran the Paschal's Restaurant next door and, in 1967, a 125-room motor hotel which they added to the premises. The restaurant, lounge, and motel closed in 1996 and were sold to Clark Atlanta University for use as a student dormitory and conference centre. An event space resembling the original La Carrousel lounge was installed at Paschal's at Castleberry Hill, which opened in 2002.