Multimedia essay by Chase Hoenscheid 

Daniel Joseph Jenkins was born in 1862 in Barnwell County, South Carolina.  He is famed for establishing Charleston’s Jenkins Orphanage in 1891, one of the first black orphanages. Jenkins later founded the Jenkins Orphanage bands in 1894. The institution used music as a learning tool for black children and his institution produced many great musicians. It was a prominent “jazz nursery”. Jenkins died in 1937 and there was an obituary for him at Morris Street Baptist Church.

Jenkins Orphanage 
Jenkins orphanage was developed on July 21,1892. The children were 5-18 years old at the orphanage, and many were trained with multiple instruments. Jenkins took a lot of donations to pay for the instruments for the children. Jenkins found many of the Children living on the streets of Charleston South Carolina where he later took them in. As you can see many of the children are holding different instruments. From a young age these children were taught how to play together in harmony with one another, thus jazz became a prominent force in Charleston and became an important part of the African American culture. By 1937 Jenkins Orphanage had 5,000 members. “The bands created a world craze that became the symbol of the Jazz Age-the dance, the Charleston”. The geechie was a dance which was created in Charleston due to the invigorating jazz music that the Jenkins orphanage bands created.

Noteworthy Musicians 
Cat Anderson (1916-1981) and Freddie Green (1911-1987) are two of the most prominent jazz musicians that were a part of the Jenkins Orphanage bands.

One of Green’s most acclaimed songs is Corner Pocket. 
One of Anderson’s most popular songs is his performance of El Gato with the Ellington orchestra in 1969. 

The Charleston Jazz Initiative 
The Charleston Jazz Initiative is located on the College of Charleston Campus. It resides at the Avery Research Center for African American Studies. Jack McCray who was a key figure in the founding of the Jazz initiative here at the college of Charleston in 2003. This organization has helped assemble the Charleston 20 piece jazz orchestra. The organization has also held events at several local venues and has been a prominent factor when it comes to spreading jazz culture throughout the city of Charleston.

Churches, Civil Rights, and Jazz
Photographed are Andrew Young and James Orange singing at a mass at Charleston SCLC in 1987. Churches became a place of solitude and community for the black communities throughout Charleston. Members would come together to sing and rejoice, a lot of music heard throughout these churches contain elements of jazz.

Churches and Gentrification 
Historically black churches like this one (Shiloh AME), are closing and moving off of the peninsula due to gentrification and high church expenses. These churches hold a lot of history and have been places of solitude where the African American communities in Charleston can come together and worship together. They should be preserved as historic landmarks and deserve more attention and appreciation.

                                                                             
Citations

Andrew Young and James Orange at Charleston SCLC(1987). Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/

“Charleston Civil Rights Leaders Point To Gentrification In Racial Justice Debate.(Broadcast Transcript).” All Things Considered, National Public Radio, Inc. (NPR), 2015.

Funeral Obsequies of the Late Rev. Daniel Joseph Jenkins : Morris Street Baptist Church, Tuesday, August 3, at 1 P.M. [publisher not identified], 1937.

Chandler, Karen. “‘. . . But the Greatest of These Is Charity’: The Charleston Jazz Initiative’s Study of the Jenkins Orphanage Bands.” The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, vol. 34, no. 4, Heldref Publications, 2005, pp. 306–18, doi:10.3200/JAML.34.4.306-318.

Rockwell, Anne F., and Colin Bootman. Hey, Charleston! : The True Story of the Jenkins Orphanage Band  . Carolrhoda Books, 2014.

“The Charleston Jazz Initiative.” NextGEN Gallery RSS, charlestonjazz.net/.