Day 8: Remembering Local History during Black History Month. The Lafayette Theatre was one of three African American theatres located on the 100 block of East Fourth Street, all opened by local entrepreneur and moviemaker Williams S. Scales during the early 20th century. The Lafayette began with Vaudeville acts in the 1920s. By the 1940s, the theatre offered “westerns and action pictures as well as Saturday offerings for children.” The theatre operated until the mid-1960s… and has since been demolished. W.S. Scales was an early moviemaker and entrepreneur who contributed to the Winston-Salem African American community’s entertainment and cultural life in the early and mid–1900s. A former R.J. Reynolds Tobacco laborer, he left the factory to open a small café before opening three theatres to serve African Americans: Lincoln Theatre, Lafayette Theatre and Rex Theatre. Scales passed away in 1949. Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library, Winston-Salem, NC, Winston-Salem, NC Photograph Collection, Winston-Salem, N. C. . . . The Depot Street Renaissance mural by Leo Rucker represents the contributions of just a few of the many individuals, businesses and institutions that made the neighborhood that is now the Innovation Quarter a prestigious community and a thriving hub of Black enterprise. Visit the mural on 7th Street between Research Pkwy and Vine St: https://bit.ly/3rxFFGk #blackhistorymonth2022 #bhm #BHM2022 #blm #blackhistoryisamericanhistory #blacklivesmatter #blm #blackhistory #history