Krazy Kat Klub
"The Kat" | |
Patrons arrive at The Kat in July 1921: Kathryn Mullin (left), Inez Hogan (middle), Cleon Throckmorton (right) | |
| Address | 3 Green Court Washington, D.C. United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°54′14″N 77°01′52″W / 38.904°N 77.031°W |
| Owner | John Ledru Stiffler, Jawne Donn Allen & Cleon Throckmorton |
| Opened | January 1919 |
| Closed | 1925 |
The Krazy Kat Klub—also known as The Kat and later as Throck's Studio—was a Bohemian coffeehouse and art colony near Thomas Circle in Washington, D.C. during the Jazz Age. Founded in January 1919 by two U.S. army veterans John Ledru Stiffler and Jawne Donn Allen, the back-alley establishment functioned as a speakeasy due to the passage of the Sheppard Bone-Dry Act by the U.S. Congress that imposed a ban on alcoholic beverages in the nation's capital. Within a year of its founding by Ledru Stiffler and Donn Allen, the speakeasy became notorious for its riotous performances of hot jazz music which often degenerated into mayhem.
Located in an old livestock stable, the Krazy Kat derived its name from the androgynous title character of a popular comic strip, and this namesake communicated that the venue catered to clientele of all sexual persuasions, including homosexual and polysexual patrons. Due to this inclusivity, the venue served as a clandestine rendezvous spot for the Capitol's gay community to meet without fear of exposure. The Kat's clientele advocated the embrace of free love ("unperverted impulse") in newspaper articles, and D.C. municipal authorities publicly identified the infamous venue as a "disorderly house," a euphemism for a brothel.
Initially a gathering spot for Southern artists associated with the Provincetown Players, the Krazy Kat over time became one of the most vogue locations for D.C.'s cultural avant-garde to mingle, including atheists, aesthetes, professors, and flappers. A Washington Times writer described the venue as "a hidden haunt where one might find in comradeship those divine, congenial devils, art inspired and mad, no doubt". Other habitués included federal government employees during the second term of President Woodrow Wilson's administration.
Existing for over half a decade and surviving a number of police raids, the speakeasy closed in 1925 when the old livestock stable was demolished and replaced by an industrial building. By that time, co-proprietor Cleon Throckmorton and his wife Kathryn Mullin had relocated to New York City and taken with them many sketches and paintings from the shuttered club. Today, the speakeasy's neighborhood is the site of The Green Lantern, a D.C. gay bar.