Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Did you know one of the biggest record labels in the world got its start thanks to a diplomatic residence in Washington, D.C.?
Matt Gregory and Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, uncover how two teenagers on Embassy Row went on to found Atlantic Records! During D.C.’s "Black Broadway" era, the teenage sons of the Turkish ambassador frequently snuck out to U Street to watch jazz legends perform. They became so immersed in the local music scene that they began hosting some of the very first integrated concerts in the country right inside the ambassador's residence.Because their diplomatic status shielded them from the strict Jim Crow era segregation laws of the time, they were able to create an environment where Black and white men and women could mix together. Those teenage brothers, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün, used their passion to eventually found Atlantic Records, which became the second largest record label in the entire world.
Did you know one of the biggest record labels in the world got its start thanks to a diplomatic residence in Washington, D.C.?
Matt Gregory and Carolyn Muraskin, founder of DC Design Tours, uncover how two teenagers on Embassy Row went on to found Atlantic Records! During D.C.’s "Black Broadway" era, the teenage sons of the Turkish ambassador frequently snuck out to U Street to watch jazz legends perform. They became so immersed in the local music scene that they began hosting some of the very first integrated concerts in the country right inside the ambassador's residence.Because their diplomatic status shielded them from the strict Jim Crow era segregation laws of the time, they were able to create an environment where Black and white men and women could mix together. Those teenage brothers, Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegün, used their passion to eventually found Atlantic Records, which became the second largest record label in the entire world.
