The photo indeed shows Ella Fitzgerald in police custody in 1955 after she and other performers held a concert for a mixed-race audience at the Houston Music Hall. Afterwards, at least one documentarian described Fitzgerald’s arrest as “racially motivated,” and jazz legend Norman Granz — who was also arrested — said he believed police targeted them because of the integrated audience. On paper, however, Fitzgerald wasn’t arrested on suspicion of violating segregation laws. Rather, law enforcement officers in Houston arrested and temporarily held her and four other people at a police station because they said the entertainers had gambled illegally.
Further research reveals that the gambling charge was for a card game in the dressing room where one of the players had pair of dice.