25 feb 1968 & association for the preservation and presentation of the arts

#OTD Sunday 25 February 1968 Bernice Hammond, president of the Association for the Preservation and Presentation of the Arts, Inc. (APPA), awarded the Smith-Mason Gallery with a citation "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the enrichment and cultural climate of our community, Washington, the District of Columbia." The Smith-Mason Gallery was an art gallery founded by Helen Smith Mason and James C. Mason. (Read more here.) 

Bernice Hammond founded APPA in 1964. "It grew out of the Bernice Hammond School of the Dance and its Ballet Theater Box. It is a non-profit cultural group which presents music, drama, art and the dance and hopes one day to have its own theater. APPA also initiates programs of special interest to young people with grants and scholarships offered to the particularly talented."

Victoria Payton, 18 yr old McKinley HS grad (1968), and Rosemary Washington, 17 yr old Eastern HS senior, won the APPA's Fashion and Design Award in 1969. They wore full-length formal gowns that they designed and made to the APPA's Treasure Chest Ball at the America Hotel.

Please comment below. Do you remember the APPA? Did you know Bernice Hammond? Were you one of her students? Do you know Victoria Payton and Rosemary Washington? You may comment privately here.

Photo source: Courtesy Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University. 1971.  Smith-Mason Gallery Papers.
Dorothy McCardle, "Co-eds Create Winning Fashions," Washington Post 4 May 1969.