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During World War II, segregation prevented African American servicemen from enjoying most civilian restaurants and recreational facilities. In an effort to address this issue, Austin civic leaders urged the city, through its “Negro War Recreation Council,” to provide recreational sites for servicemen on leave from military posts. One such project, a gymnasium-auditorium complex in Rosewood Park, opened in April 1944 and was dedicated to Doris Miller, an African American Pearl Harbor hero. By war’s end, African American servicemen had added but limited “R&R” sites in Austin. Johnny Holmes responded to this need when he opened the original Victory Grill (a.k.a. Victory Cafe) in celebration of VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day, August 15, 1945) in a converted icehouse on East 11th Street. Holmes created a venue in East Austin which provided returning African American servicemen with both an accessible dining establishment and blues and jazz entertainment. In 1947, with support from his devoted wife, Basyle Winifred Vanzandt, Holmes built a new structure at 1104 E. 11th Street to house the new Victory Grill. The enclosed open-air patio in the rear, dubbed the Kovac Room, became a well-known stop on the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a collection of African American music venues across the west and south. The relatively small capacity of the Kovac Room and desegregation in the 1960s eventually led to the decline of the Victory Grill as African American musicians found new venues across the nation where they could perform, and the Victory Grill closed in 1973. Following Holmes’ death in 2001, his children succeeded in re-opening the beloved site. Johnny Holmes was extremely passionate about the Victory Grill being of service to the community and its patrons, and he took a special interest in making soldiers feel at home. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, the Victory Grill is a home front cultural landmark of the World War II African American experience. Texas in World War II - 2010 |
