Patriots Point to Host Black History Month Symposium – Jenkins, Jazz and Jammin’ in Times of War and Peace

In celebration of the contributions of African Americans throughout our nation’s history, Patriots Point’s Institute of History, Science and Technology invites the public to attend a special symposium entitled, “Jenkins, Jazz and Jammin’ in Times of War and Peace” on Friday, February 22 at 10 a.m. The program is free and open to the public and will be streamed live on the Patriots Point website and into Charleston County School District classrooms.

This symposium, the fourth in the museum’s educational series “Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things,” will focus on the Jenkins Orphanage Band, which got its start in Charleston, South Carolina in the late 1800s. Band members broke racial boundaries – traveling and performing at distinguished events around the world, including Presidential Inauguration ceremonies.

Guest speakers will include former educator, politician and professional musician Lonnie Hamilton, III – himself a former Jenkins Orphanage Band member and director; Charleston’s first lady of jazz, Mrs. Ann Caldwell; and executive director of the Jenkins Institute for Children, Mrs. Johanna Martin-Carrington.