Jenkins Institute for Children, South Carolina – Jenkins Orphanage Band

The band was originally started as a way to raise funds for the orphanage, and it quickly gained popularity throughout the US – and abroad! The band mixed ragtime, march, jazz, and old-time Gullah spirituals to make an exciting, unique sound.

In 2003, the Library of Congress added the Fox Movietone video of the Jenkins Orphanage Band to the National Film Registry, deeming it "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant."

Interesting, this film reel – as well as others from Fox Movietone – are housed in a bunker at South Carolina's very own Fort Jackson.

SCIway thanks the USC Orphan Archives for providing this historic photo.

Read our article: Orphanage Band Instrumental in Jenkins Past and Future.

See more pictures of the Jenkins Orphanage & Jenkins Institute.