Sewickley Legion to Host Fundraiser to Save the Historic Post

Members of Post 450 hope to raise enough money with a fundraiser Saturday. The event features home-cooked meals and music from the Red Velvet Jazz Band.

In the 1920s and '30s, when Harlem landlords began charging higher rents, tenants would often have parties to help raise enough money. Rent parties, popular during the Great Depression, typically involved live jazz or blues music, alcoholic drinks and plenty of home-cooked food — all in exchange for a small contribution. Organizers at the Walter Robinson American Legion Post 450 in Sewickley, a longtime gathering place for many black veterans, are planning their own kind of rent party on Saturday at the historic landmark. Faced with hard times in a down economy, Saturday's fundraiser will include a home-cooked meal, a live jazz band, and hope, said James Fisher, post commander, that enough money can be raised to save the post. “I’m not …

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American Legion Post 450 Files for Bankruptcy, Averts Sheriff's Sale

The Walter Robinson Post on Chadwick Street, the gathering spot for many black veterans, had until Dec. 5 to raise $109,000 for back mortgage payments or risk having the building sold at a sheriff's sale.