Page 4 - 2025 RMAC Jabberwock Scholarship Program

A Journey of Scholrarhip, Elegance and Grace
ROCKY MOUNT...WAY BACK THEN
The First Jabberwock

A new type of entertainment debuted in the Booker T. Washington High School
auditorium on February 27, 1950, when the local chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority presented its first annual JABBERWOCK. The entertainment got its name from
a mythical creature in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” that was so called because
of its many component parts. It was the custom of the Jabberwock to call together the
members of his kingdom once a year to present a colorful pageant. In a like manner, the
Sorority called together organizations from the eastern section of the state to present
original short skits. Proceeds from the Jabberwock went into a scholarship fund.

Pictured here is the planning committee for the sixth annual Jabberwock held on March
14, 1955. The theme for 1955 was “Arabian Nights”; at Booker T. Washington High
School. The committee members, seated from left to right, are Louise Slade, Edythe
Tweedy, Julia Sessoms and Jessie Pash, from left to right, Thelma Stokes, Juanita
Burnett and Merian Ricks.

4 HERSTORY: MAKING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE