NATIONAL THEATRE CONFERENCE

(NTC)

The organization was founded in 1925 at a conference hosted by Carnegie Tech to foster the best interests of the American theatre by bringing together distinguished members of the theatre community from academic theatres,little theatres, and commercial theatres. Early initiatives promoted theatre libraries and lobbied to protect not-for-profit theatres, led by such luminaries asGeorge Pierce Baker, Edith J. R. Isaacs, Gilmor Brown, E. C. Mabie, and Rosamond Gilder.* Gradually, the regional structure and open membership policies were found to be unworkable. A reorganizing meeting was held in December 1936, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. Under the new plan, members were elected from leaders in the field. Active membership in the NTC is today limited to 120. While the purposes and projects of the organization have varied considerably throughout its sometimes bumpy existence, one ideal emerges consistently: support of new and established American playwrights. The annual meeting has been an important forum for communication among academic, not-for-profit, and commercial theatres.