Rev. Daniel Jenkins and the Jenkins Orphanage Band

Portrait of Rev. Daniel Jenkins displayed in the City Council Chamber  in Charleston City Hall, 80 Broad St.

         On a cold December day in 1891, Rev. Daniel Jenkins happened to come across four young black boys, all under the age of 12, huddled together in an abandoned warehouse. He discovered that they were all orphans and were left to fend for themselves on the streets. Rev. Jenkins immediately took them home with him and gave them a place to live and a sense of family. Unfortunately, these four boys were simply the tip of a huge iceberg that represented the hundreds of young black orphans in Charleston who had no place to live and no parents to care for them. While there were nine orphanages in South Carolina for white orphans, none existed for black orphans. Rev. Jenkins set about to change the lives of the boys he encountered and the many others they represented......and the Jenkins orphanage was born.
        In January of 1892, Rev. Jenkins petitioned the city for the use of the abandoned Marine Hospital on Franklin Street and received permission for its use and a small stipend. Robert Mills, who designed the Washington Monument, as well as other famous national, state and local buildings, was the architect. The building was built in 1834 and had once served as a hospital, but was badly damaged during the war. It was located right beside the City Jail which was, no doubt, a source of both fear and motivation for the young boys living at the orphanage. 

Site of Jenkins Orphanage, formerly Marine Hospital, 20 Franklin St.

        Rev. Jenkins' primary goal was to teach each of his young charges to become self-sufficient so that as adults they would no longer need to rely on the charity of others. To achieve this goal, he felt that farm land need to be purchased to teach the boys the skills the would need to become self-sufficient. He petitioned the City of Charleston for funds, but was denied. He could barely afford to make the orphanage livable and provide for the basic needs of the children. Funds were not readily available for South Carolina's only black orphanage even though over 360 orphans lived at the orphanage now, instead of on the streets of Charleston. In desperation he searched around for ideas that could help raise the necessary funds.....and the Jenkins Orphanage Band was born.  His plan was based on the military bands of the day. His requests for funds were not very successful; however, a request for instruments yielded more fruitful results. Old instruments were donated, with a large donation of new and used instruments from Siegling Music House on King St. Graduating Citadel cadets donated their old uniforms which became the first uniforms of the Jenkins Orphanage Band. Rev. Jenkins was not a musician himself and so he hired two local musicians to teach the boys: "Hatsie" Logan and Francis Eugene Mikell. They learned not only to play instruments, but music theory and music history, as well.

        Soon the band was playing on street corners all over Charleston to try to raise as much money as possible to keep the orphanage open. Unfortunately, funds were much too meager but, instead of giving up, Rev. Jenkins used his last remaining funds to take the 13 member band on a tour of some northern cities. Their success was less than they had hoped, but, once again, Rev. Jenkins was not ready to give up. With the last bit of money they had, he took the group to London. There they performed on the streets of London....and were promptly arrested for disturbing the peace. The group, which had become a favorite on the streets of London, suddenly received the support of the churches in the area and a favorable support in the newspapers.

          By1896, the band had established regular tour routes up and down the Eastern coast and in Europe. They played in Paris, Berlin, Rome, Vienna and London. In 1905, the band played in President Roosevelt's inaugural parade and President Taft's inaugural parade in 1909. In the 1910s and 20s, the band included the styles and rhythms of the jazz beats sweeping the nation and the Gullah songs and dances of their lowcountry heritage. DuBose Heyward insisted that the band play for the two year run of his play Porgy on Broadway and they performed at each performance. By now, there were five separate bands and two vocal ensembles. 

       Follow this link to a rare audio tape and early pictures of the
Jenkins Orphanage Band

        Some of jazz music's finest players received their musical training in the Jenkins Orphanage Band. Among them, Jabbo Smith (contemporary and rival of Louis Armstrong), Cat Anderson (who was a lead trumpet player in Duke Ellington's Band), Freddie Green (famous jazz rhythm guitarist) and Edmond Thornton Jenkins (famous clarinetist and composer and son of orphanage founder Rev. Daniel Jenkins).  I would encourage you to explore the many video and audio tapes found on the web and particularly on youtube of each of these musicians, remembering their beginnings as members of the Jenkins Orphanage Band.

       In the August 26, 1937 issue of Time Magazine, an article and picture were published honoring Rev. Daniel Jenkins and the Jenkins Orphanage Band.

       Rev. Jenkins' dream continues even today with The Jenkins Institute for Children. Explore their website and see the plans of Rev. Daniel Jenkins still impacting children of the 21st century who need a dream just as much as those who went before them. They are deserving of our support!

Elizabeth Timothy.......America's First Female Newspaper Editor and Publisher

 

97 King Street, Timothy Printing Shop

     In 1731, Louis Timothee, his wife Elizabeth and their four children - ranging in age from one to six -  arrived in Philadelphia from Rotterdam as members of a group of French Huguenot immigrants. The family settled in Philadelphia where Louis advertised in Benjamin Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette seeking work as a French tutor. Franklin evidently was impressed with the young man and taught him what he could of the newspaper and printing business. Timothee soon anglicized his name and became Lewis Timothy. 

     Benjamin Franklin had sent a young man named Thomas Whitmarsh to Charleston to set up a newspaper there called The South Carolina Gazette. Unfortunately, Whitmarsh died after being in Charleston only two years and the position became available for Lewis Timothy. Lewis and Elizabeth moved their family to Charleston where Lewis assumed the publication of The South Carolina Gazette in partnership with Benjamin Franklin -  and Elizabeth went about the equally challenging business of raising their growing family, now consisting of six children. 

     Just before Christmas in 1738, Lewis died suddenly in an accident. Elizabeth was expecting their seventh child any day at the time of her husband's death. No one would have blamed her if she had thrown her hands up with the overwhelming future she faced as a widow with seven children under the age of thirteen --- but that was not Elizabeth's way. Not an issue of The South Carolina Gazette was missed. Elizabeth Timothy took over the operation of the newspaper and the print shop  - becoming the first female newspaper editor and printer in America. Adding to her loss, two of her children died in the fall following her husband's death. Yet, Elizabeth Timothy upheld her husband's contract with Benjamin Franklin -- even being (according to Franklin, himself) a far better business person than her husband had been! She trained her thirteen year old son, Peter, to take over the business and actually published the paper in his name.

    Elizabeth Timothy ran the newspaper and was the official printer for the colony until her son, Peter, turned twenty-one -- at which time she turned The South Carolina Gazette over to him -- even though his name had appeared as editor since the death of his father.

    Peter Timothy was quite politically active and was an advocate for freedom before the Revolutionary War. He was a well-respected journalist in his own right. Sadly, he was lost at sea in 1782. Following the tradition set before her, his widow, Ann, continued publication of the newspaper -- eventually turning The South Carolina Gazette over to their son Benjamin Franklin Timothy.

     Elizabeth Timothy played a critical role in the development of the colony and the yearning of a people for freedom. In 1973, Elizabeth Timothy was inducted into the South Carolina Press Association Hall of Fame and into the Business Hall of Fame in 2000. 

             



                                                                               

Porgy and Bess....the Charleston connection

Catfish "Cabbage" Row, Church Street

  

The setting.......the fictional Catfish Row (based on the real Cabbage Row) in Charleston, SC

The characters.......the African American inhabitants of this poverty-stricken row---Porgy, a crippled man of Catfish Row who makes his way around in a makeshift cart---Bess, the woman who comes into Porgy's life----Crown, the local bully who was once Bess's boyfriend---Sportin' Life, who puts a humorous perspective on an array of near impossible situations---and all the other colorful characters who make their lives and their livelihood on Charleston's Catfish Row.

The music!......"Summertime", "I've Got Plenty of Nuttin'", "It Ain't Necessarily So", "Bess, You Is My Woman Now", "Street Vendors Calls"......and many more!

Catfish Row

 The author.....Dubose Heyward was born in Charleston in 1885, just one year before the great earthquake of 1886. Although he was descended from an illustrious family, (Thomas Heyward, Jr., signer of the Declaration of Independence was an ancestor), he grew up in a family of poor means. Heyward's father was killed in a work accident when he was just a boy, leaving he and his mother to manage on their own.  Young Heyward suffered from a range of serious ailments throughout his life (He contracted polio when he was 18) and dropped out of school at the age of 14. He had, however, a lifelong passion for literature and poetry. As an adult, he worked as a pay clerk on the docks until he was able to devote himself to writing full-time. The time Heyward was living and writing in Charleston became known as the Charleston Renaissance. The first half of the twentieth century brought many artists, musicians and writers to Charleston to become a part of this climate of creativity. DuBose Heyward flourished in this atmosphere and, along with his friend, Hervey Allen, helped form the Poetry Society of South Carolina.

       Heyward was exposed to the Gullah culture of Charleston by the African Americans he encountered and especially by his mother who was a great lover of the Gullah songs. She sang in a group which performed Gullah songs and sometimes DuBose joined her. All of these influences worked together to to culminate in his novel Porgy, published in 1925. It was quite a success and Heyward and his wife, Dorothy, wrote a play based on the novel. This led to the collaboration with George Gershwin which produced the American folk-opera, "Porgy and Bess".

DuBose Heyward's home, 76 Church Street

The composer......George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn in 1898. George and his brother, Ira, became a formidable composer and lyricist team. When he came across DuBose Heyward's book, Porgy, Gershwin knew that he had found the vehicle for a folk opera using the jazz and blues sounds he longed to explore. George and Ira Gershwin had created a name for themselves on Broadway with a number of successful productions under their belts, but this was an enormous undertaking for both the Gershwins and the Heywards. George came to Charleston and stayed at a home on Folly Beach to immerse himself in the culture and the atmosphere of Charleston. Ira and DuBose worked together on the lyrics with much of the recitative sections taken directly from the novel. This was the first opera for George Gershwin and, sadly, would be his last. "Porgy and Bess" opened on Broadway 1935 and in only two years, George Gershwin died from a brain tumor. He was only thirty-eight years old.

The Performances....."Porgy and Bess" opened in Boston in 1935 before its Broadway run instead of Charleston because of the issue of racial separation in Charleston. Would black audience members be allowed to sit in the theater next to white theater goers or would they be relegated to the balcony, as was the general practice of the day? Sadly, the white audience could not see past their bias and the show was cancelled in Charleston. Enjoy this clip of "Summertime" from the 1959 movie version: 

Today, "Porgy and Bess" has undergone a revival on Broadway and is thrilling audiences more than 75 years after its original Broadway debut.  This clip of Audra MacDonald, Norm Lewis and the cast members of "Porgy and Bess" is a medley of songs from the current revival. 

"Porgy and Bess" at Footlight Players (performed at historic Dock Street Theatre)
       I hope that this bit of history about this "one-of-a-kind" folk opera has whetted your appetite for more. If so, you are in luck, because the Footlight Players are treating us to their production of "Porgy and Bess" running from August 3rd - August 19th. All performances will be at Dock Street Theatre. Don't miss the opportunity to see this classic opera presented in the city of its origin by actors and musicians who call Charleston home. This production is directed by Henry Clay Middleton. For more information, follow this link to Footlight Players.