Bernice Bennett Lipscomb

Bernice Bennet Lipscomb founded The Scitamard Acting Troupe, which is "dramatics" spelled backwards, in 1937 with her good friend Katherine Robinson who was inspired by the success of the play Black Mail that she had written and produced. Scitamard was the first all African-American acting troupe in the area and lasted until 1977 when its membership finally dried up completely after resisting the incorporation of new younger styles and modes of Black theater and performance.