Pollard: Beyond Football

In 1918, Fritz served as Physical Director of the YMCA unit at Camp Meade, Maryland.

After retiring from football, Pollard became involved in the entertainment industry in the 1950s and 1960s. As a theatrical agent, Pollard booked black talent in white clubs in New York.

An amateur musician himself, Fritz Pollard was attracted to the Harlem nightclub scene and was active in the Cotton Club. He soon put his promotional skills to work as a booking agent for Black musicians, and helped to launch the careers of many talented African-American artists.

As a principal in Suntan Studios, Pollard created “soundies” to showcase Black musicians. The film he is most remembered for today is “Rockin’ the Blues” (1957) a low budget “race movie” that featured performances by F. E. Miller, Connie Carroll, the Wanderers, the Harptones, the Hurricanes and other groups, interspersed with comic sequences by Mantan Moreland.

Pollard in his New York office (March 1959).

During the 1950s, Fritz reconnoitered the field of politics with fellow Brown alum John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (1897), and was a supporter of Nelson Rockefeller and other Republican stalwarts, including Richard Nixon. By virtue of Pollard’s intercession, these politicians were able to make important connections within the African American community.