Swing Sisters: The Story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm

In 1909, Dr. Laurence Clifton Jones founded Piney Woods Country Life School for orphans near Jackson, Mississippi. Because he valued music, he wanted it to be part of the children’s lives. In 1939, he formed the Sweethearts, a girls’ school band that played swing. The integrated, all-female jazz group toured successfully across the United States during the 1930s and 1940s while facing racism and sexism.