This picture was taken of the Jenkins Orphanage band in London in 1914.

The band – here called “The Famous Piccaniany Band” – gained national recognition by performing in cities throughout the Northeast, Midwest and South. They marched in the inaugural parades for Presidents Roosevelt and Taft, and they played on Broadway for Porgy and Bess. By 1914, the band had become so popular they were given free passage and new uniforms (as shown in this postcard) to perform at the Anglo-American Exposition, which was organized to celebrate a century of peace and progress in the arts and sciences in the US and England.

SCIWAY thanks the USC Orphan Archives for providing this historic picture.

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

See more pictures of the Jenkins Orphanage & Jenkins Institute.