The School of Drama honored the memory of Elizabeth ‘Bes’ Schrader Kimberly, “the heart and soul of the School” and the “mother of all Dramats,” on May 7, 2006. President Jared Cohon and Drama Head Elizabeth Bradley dedicated a portrait of Bes by Robert Perdziola (A'83), which is displayed near the Chosky Theatre in the lobby of the Purnell Center for the Arts. Philip Chosky(E'48), founder of the theatre, was instrumental in the establishment of this permanent memorial to a very special professor.

The portrait is accompanied by a plaque in tribute to Bes, a 1928 drama alumna and faculty member from 1928 to 1968. The full text of the tribute follows this article.

 


Bes Schrader began her drama studies at Carnegie Tech in 1926, a dozen years after the opening of the department which is renowned for conferring the first undergraduate degree in drama in the United States in 1917.

Completing her B.F.A. in 1928, Bes joined the faculty and rose to associate professor of drama. In addition to teaching costume design and history, she supervised the costuming for more than 500 plays during the next 40 years.

Bes married George B. Kimberly in the summer of 1939. Known as “Kim,” George served on the drama faculty and as technical director from 1930 until his death in 1948.

Bes added assistant head of the department to her responsibilities from 1950 to 1962. She began the Drama Newsletter in 1952, editing it for most of the rest of her life. She planned the first drama alumni reunion party at Sardi’s in New York City on December 29, 1957, and made it an annual affair.

Retiring from teaching in 1968—but not from serving the drama department and alumni—Bes became special assistant to the vice president of development for three years and then an active volunteer with the university’s Alumni Office until shortly before her death in February 1993.

Bes was instrumental in founding the West Coast Drama Clan in 1968, the Pittsburgh Drama Clan in 1978 and the New York Drama Clan in 1979. She wrote A History of the Drama Department, 1914-1981, and some of her papers are available in the University Archives.

Carnegie Mellon honored Bes with an Alumni Service Award in 1961, a Distinguished Service Award in 1973, and an honorary doctorate in fine arts in 1982. Bes is also remembered, and her work continued, by the Elizabeth Schrader Kimberly Costume Design Scholarship, begun in 1968 by drama alumnae Helen R. Henderson (A'36) and Helen L. Henderson (A'67), endowed in 1990 by drama alumnus Dr. J. Arthur Kennedy (A'36), and supported by many alumni over the years.

At a special Evening for Bes on May 9, 1979, “The Bes Years of Our Lives” was staged by the Pittsburgh Drama Clan with a cast of alumni from coast to coast. “The highlight of the past year and I might say of all my years was the fabulous ‘Evening for Bes’ which you gave me in May,” Bes wrote. “What a wonderful, never-to-be-forgotten, nostalgic, fun-filled, love fest it was!!”

ELIZABETH SCHRADER KIMBERLY

Throughout most of the 20th century Carnegie Tech or Carnegie Mellon Drama Alumni have been educated, influenced and touched in myriad ways by Elizabeth Schrader Kimberly.

Bes Kimberly began as a Drama student at Carnegie Tech in 1926, was a member of the Faculty from 1928 to 1968 and received a doctorate, honoris causa, in 1982.

With husband and fellow faculty member George Kimberly by her side, Bes was the heart and soul of the School. She made the show go on, and her show ran for more than 60 years.

Every day Bes could be found offering professional advice, rejoicing in the career advancements of her students and extending a comforting hand to all who needed one. Known as the “mother of all Dramats,” she was the School’s Ambassador-at-Large.

Although the Art of Costuming the Character was her curricular focus, her true gift was her ability to create a home-away-from-home for all Drama students.

Above all, Bes Kimberly saw the artist in every student. She believed each had something worthwhile to give to the world, and encouraged them to dream, to aspire and to flourish.

To honor these rare gifts, the School of Drama celebrates her life and lasting contributions.