Jenkins Orphanage - Jenkins Orphanage Bands

Jenkins Orphanage Bands

The orphanage took in donations of musical instruments. Not being a musician, Jenkins hired two local Charleston musicians — P.M. "Hatsie" Logan and Francis Eugene Mikell — to tutor the boys in music. Upon its establishment, it became the only black instrumental group organized in South Carolina. The band's debut was on the streets of Charleston with the permission of the mayor, police chief, and Chamber of Commerce. The Jenkins Orphanage Band, wearing discarded Citadel uniforms, performed throughout the United States and even toured England raising money for the support of the orphanage. It played in inaugural parades of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. It appeared at the St. Louis Exposition and the Anglo-American Exposition in 1914. It toured the USA from coast to coast, and played in Paris, Berlin, Rome, London, and Vienna. As many as five bands were on tour during the 1920s. The band ceased to exist in the 1980s.

In 2003, a 10-minute Fox Movietone News newsreel feature about the band, filmed on November 22, 1928, was entered into the United States National Film Registry as being worthy of preservation.

William “Cat” Anderson, Jabbo Smith and Freddie Green are but a few of the alumni from the Jenkins Orphanage band who made it to the big time. The orphanage was responsible for providing numerous children with another chance, which many took advantage of by going on to lead productive lives, including teachers and attorneys. Luther M. Reames Jr., Esq. is a vice-president with a major bank and an example of a Jenkins Orphanage success story.