The Keskidee Centre was founded by Guyanese born architect and cultural activist Oscar Abrams. Abrams wanted to provide both self-help and cultural activities for the local West Indian community and in 1970 he bought a rundown Victorian mission school in Islington transforming it into the Keskidee Centre. Helped by friends and local volunteers Abrams adapted the building to become a black-led arts centre. The Centre was named after a common bird native to Guyana, and the Keskidee bird was adopted as the Centre's logo as a reminder and symbol of both Caribbean roots and migration. In 1971 the Keskidee Theatre workshop was founded; a full time drama company totally dedicated to black theatre. Directors such as Rufus Collins and Howard Johnson, playwrights Lennox Brown, Derek Walcott, and Edgar White and actors like Yvonne Brewster, Anton Phillips, and T-Bone Wilson all contributed to the Centre's creative process.