America’s First Racially Integrated All-Girl Swing Band

“The International Sweethearts broke attendance records at places such as Washington DC’s Howard Theatre, Harlem’s Apollo Theater, Cincinnati’s Cotton Club and the Riviera in St Louis. They played in the same venues as Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie, were considered some of the most talented musicians of their day and toured France and Germany as a USO act in 1945. Unfortunately, racism and sexism largely swept them from the public record; they became footnotes in other people’s stories.” – The Guardian