Book Descriptions
for Hey, Charleston! by Anne Rockwell and Colin Bootman
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Think about doing the Charleston and images of flappers may dance in one's head. But the song and dance originated with an African American orphanage band in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early twentieth century. Reverend Daniel Joseph Jenkins asked for old instruments-many of them Civil War relics-and hired music teachers in the hopes his charges could learn to perform, and did they ever! He eventually sent them to New York City, where their style of African-influenced song and dance caught on big-time. They traveled all over, including London on the eve of World War I. When war broke out, Reverend Jenkins gave the money they'd earned to stranded Americans so they could purchase tickets back home on the same ship carrying the band. Once the ship reached the safety of American waters, the now familiar call rang out, "Hey Charleston! Give us some rag!" An engaging, informative picture book narrative is followed by an author's note and selected bibliography. (Ages 7-10)
CCBC Choices 2014. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2014. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
What happened when a former slave took beat-up old instruments and gave them to a bunch of orphans? Thousands of futures got a little brighter and a great American art form was born.
In 1891, Reverend Daniel Joseph Jenkins opened his orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina. He soon had hundreds of children and needed a way to support them. Jenkins asked townspeople to donate old band instruments?some of which had last played in the hands of Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. He found teachers to show the kids how to play. Soon the orphanage had a band. And what a band it was.
The Jenkins Orphanage Band caused a sensation on the streets of Charleston. People called the band's style of music "rag"?a rhythm inspired by the African-American people who lived on the South Carolina and Georgia coast. The children performed as far away as Paris and London, and they earned enough money to support the orphanage that still exists today. They also helped launch the music we now know as jazz.
Hey, Charleston! is the story of the kind man who gave America "some rag" and so much more.
In 1891, Reverend Daniel Joseph Jenkins opened his orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina. He soon had hundreds of children and needed a way to support them. Jenkins asked townspeople to donate old band instruments?some of which had last played in the hands of Confederate soldiers in the Civil War. He found teachers to show the kids how to play. Soon the orphanage had a band. And what a band it was.
The Jenkins Orphanage Band caused a sensation on the streets of Charleston. People called the band's style of music "rag"?a rhythm inspired by the African-American people who lived on the South Carolina and Georgia coast. The children performed as far away as Paris and London, and they earned enough money to support the orphanage that still exists today. They also helped launch the music we now know as jazz.
Hey, Charleston! is the story of the kind man who gave America "some rag" and so much more.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
