May 19, 2015: Joanna Martin Carrington, Exec Director of 124 year old Jenkins Orphanage, was introduced by Rotarian Vito Scarafile. Ms. Carrington is a Graduate of Avery Institute, Armed Forces Institute, UCLA and West LA College of Law. She served in the US Army.
Ms. Carrington spoke about the legacy of the Dr. Jenkins and the Jenkins Orphanage Band. Dr. Jenkins was born in 1853 and died in 1937. Ms. Carrington knew him as a young child. Later in her life, while visiting a conference, she was the recipient of a grant that allowed her to study the life and history of Dr. Jenkins. Through this study she learned of the great history of the Jenkins Band and its impact on American Jazz. Not the jazz that developed out of New Orleans, but syncopated Jazz, which started here in Charleston and led to great musicals like Porgy & Bess. Kids that played in the band went on to play with Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, etc. Continue reading “Joanna Martin Carrington: Jenkins Orphanage”