Pitt-Bradford's Frederick to Speak on Girls' Swing band for Black History Month

Dr. Richard G. Frederick, professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, will discuss the “International Sweethearts of Rhythm” as part of Black History Month activities.

The event, sponsored by the university’s History-Political Science Club, will take place at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 6, in the Mukaiyama Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons. It is free and open to the public.

“The International Sweethearts of Rhythm began as a girls’ amateur swing band that was sent out by a small, African-American school in rural Mississippi to raise money for the school to stay open,” Frederick said. “To the surprise of everyone, they became a nationally-famous, very professional all-girls’ band which played in all the big venues of the early ’40s, entertained the troops during World War II, and travelled overseas at the end of the war.”

Frederick explains that the band was originally formed by the founder of the Piney Woods School, Laurence C. Jones, who followed in the footsteps of Booker T. Washington in providing education to poor blacks in the South.

“The story of the Sweethearts is largely the story of Laurence Jones and the Piney Woods School,” Frederick said, “and it’s a great story, though one that’s not very well known.”

Frederick has taught at Pitt-Bradford since 1979, when he received his doctorate in history from Penn State. A native of Indiana, he received his A.B. from Indiana University and M.A. from St. Mary’s of Texas. He has published books on Warren G. Harding, Ellis Island, and William Howard Taft, as well as co-authoring a work on theoretical concepts in biology.

“We’re happy to have Dr. Frederick talking on this subject,” said Michael Morrison, a Senior History-Political Science major who is President of the History-Political Science Club. “Education for African-Americans in the post-Reconstruction South is an interesting topic and this should be an exciting way to approach it.”

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