Jenkins Orphanage band members played here to fund their home

In 1891, the Reverend Daniel Jenkins found four children sheltering in an abandoned building. He took them in, establishing an orphanage to provide African American children in need with a home and a trade. By 1893, the orphanage moved into this building on 20 Franklin Street, which was originally constructed as the Old Marine Hospital.

To support the institution, Jenkins turned the children into a band. He hired two local musicians, P. M. Hatsie Logan and Francis Eugene Mikell, to teach them. The children began performing on Charleston street corners, playing marches, dance tunes, and popular songs of the day. Because the orphanage relied on these performances for the money required to feed and clothe the children, the band began to travel.

The band performed at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and eventually toured internationally, playing in Paris, London, Berlin, and Rome. They also marched in the inaugural parades of two American presidents. Their sound was loose, loud, and improvised, developed on street corners rather than in a conservatory. This style is one of the origins of southern jazz.

The rhythms played by the band on the street are credited with the creation of the dance step known as the Charleston, which defined the 1920s. The orphanage provided a foundation for many talented musicians who went on to professional careers. Among them was the trumpeter Jabbo Smith, who was billed in his time as a rival to Louis Armstrong. Another notable student was William Cat Anderson, who later played lead trumpet in the orchestra led by Duke Ellington.