Dancing around the issues The old year was about to end, and 1941 was ready to start. The big-band era was in full swing and Richmonders wanted to dance.

The Count Basie Orchestra was set to usher in the new year with the latest swing music in the basement ballroom of the Mosque, now the Landmark Theater, when the long arm of the law grew longer. Richmond building commissioner C. Stuart Duggins unexpectedly issued an order banning white patrons from the ballroom.

"The ruling that barred several hundred white people," began a Jan. 7, 1941, report in The Richmond News Leader, "has been subject to considerable criticism. It was pointed out that before the Mosque came into possession of the city, Count Basie and his band played there and there was a reserved section for the white audience."

The city had purchased the Mosque from the mortgage holder the previous May, and Duggins said that as the building commissioner he was responsible for making sure laws governing public facilities were enforced. This included segregation laws, which allowed both races to attend an event at the same time, as long as they were separated. The surest way to do that in a ballroom, Duggins said, was by restricting attendance to one race.

"Mr. Duggins," the report continued, "said that the auditorium and the ballroom in the building must not be confused." Duggins explained that enforcing separate-seating regulations in the auditorium was easier.

"Before I became building inspector I was invited to attend a dance in the Mosque ballroom," Duggins recalled. "There was a section roped off for the white people and tickets were sold to both races. The dance was hardly under way fifteen minutes before it was almost impossible to tell which was the white side." Duggins said future ticket sales for dances at the Mosque were to be restricted to one race or the other.

Leroy Wyche, a local agent who booked many of the big bands that played Richmond, voiced objections. "Mr. Duggins is attempting to do what former Mayor [J. Fulmer] Bright unsuccessfully attempted to do in his recent political campaigns -- inject racial antagonism in a situation where such a condition does not exist," Wyche said in a Jan. 13 News Leader report.

"Mr. Wyche said that the question is whether the music features of Richmond shall be governed by their own convictions and enjoy the privileges afforded by the present state laws, or whether the building inspector shall use his own interpretation of the segregation laws of Virginia," the report said.

Wyche said attendance by both races was needed to generate enough revenue to attract famous bands, such as those of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong. "If the races are segregated as Mr. Duggins has ruled, then it will be impossible to clear expenses," he said.

"Whether the ban on the Mosque be lifted or remain, there is one thing that Richmond should be proud of," Wyche added, "and that is the fact that during the past five years there has not been any form of dissension between the patrons attending these affairs. Both races seemed to have had a common interest."

In the face of mounting opposition, the commissioner softened his stance for the last public dance held at the Mosque that year. The March 11 News Leader announced that white and black patrons were to be allowed together at the ballroom that night, with dance music by the Fats Waller Orchestra. "After today the Mosque ballroom will be turned over to the Defense Council for recreational programs for soldiers," The News Leader said.

But even with the lifting of the ban, segregation stayed for the last dance: "The ballroom will be roped off tonight," the report said, "and a section reserved for white spectators, who will not be permitted to dance."