The History Department's Annual Low Lecture

Michelle R. Scott

Professor, UMBC Department of History
Affiliate Faculty in the GWST, LLC, and Africana Studies Departments

T.O.B.A. Time: Black Show Business and the
Theater Owners Booking Association in 1920s America

This talk centers on Michelle Scott’s new monograph, T.O.B.A. Time: Black Vaudeville and the Theater Owners Booking Association in Jazz Age America. T.O.B.A. Time is an intriguing account of black entertainment and black business during the 1920 and 30s. It details origins of artists and entrepreneurs like S.H. Dudley, Bessie Smith, Butterbeans & Susie, and Cab Calloway, and the theater circuit that made them famous in segregated America.

Following the lecture, there will be a book sale and signing, and a reception.  

Organized by the Department of History and cosponsored by the Center for Social Science Scholarship.

Photo provided by M. Scott