Helen K. Mason

Helen Katherine Oby Mason (December 28, 1912 – January 10, 2003) was an African-American theatre director and cultural advocate from Phoenix, Arizona. She was the founder of the Black Theatre Troupe, one of the oldest Black performing companies in the United States.

Biography Phoenix Union Colored High School, where Mason would attend and graduate from. Helen Oby was born on December 28, 1912, in Phoenix. She was reportedly a descendent of Mary Green, recognized as the first recorded Black resident of Arizona, who arrived from Arkansas in 1868.

At the time of Mason's birth, Phoenix, and the state of Arizona, was largely segregated between white and black residents. Arizona had become a state only several months earlier. Prior to statehood, Arizona school districts legally segregated African-Americans from students of other racial backgrounds. Arizona schools would remain segregated until 1953, and a majority of businesses in the state would remain segregated until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Mason graduated from Phoenix Union Colored High School (later known as the Carver High School). It was the only legally segregated high school in the state. She later moved to Los Angeles, California, to attend the Frank Wiggins Trade School where she learned cosmetology. During World War II, she returned to Arizona and married Carl Mason. The couple would share five children together.

Inspired by the Black Arts Movement, in 1969–1970, Mason founded the Black Theatre Troupe, and became the group's executive director. The troupe was one of the earliest black theater companies in the United States, and unique for its setting in the American west. It became an integral part to showcasing diversity in the state of Arizona and for providing opportunities to black actors and performers. Since its founding, the Black Theatre Troupe has featured a number of performers who would go on to wider success, including Lynda Gravátt and Rod Ambrose.

Mason died in Chula Vista, California, on January 10, 2003. At the time, many feared the theatre troupe would die with her. In 2006, the Black Theatre Troupe received a $2.5 million bond to build a performance space and incubation program for arts programs. The Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center opened in downtown Phoenix on February 1, 2013, and remains the troupe's home.

In 2015, Helen Mason was inducted into the Arizona Women's Hall of Fame for her contributions to culture and diversity in the state.