About this project

Kay Kemble (1911-1989) is a character invented for this project. Kay sang on radio commercials as a child and went on to lead Big Bands and swing ensembles in the 30's and 40's. She worked at Scott Air Field as a WAAC enlistee and a civilian. She produced war bond rallies, and her all-female band promoted a popular shampoo brand. In the 80's there was renewed interest in Kay's musical career.

Kay informally adopted the orphaned niece and nephew of her partner Wilmetta "Teeny" Stockton, and in the early 70's the family moved from St. Louis to New Orleans. After Kay and Teeny's deaths, family members remained in New Orleans until displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In 2014, I arranged to archive, organize, and restore Kay's memorabilia. Most items were damaged due to age, hurried packing , and lack of funds for formal archiving.

I've "become" Kay in reproduction radio broadcasts, and created artifacts to represent damaged or destroyed items in the collection.



Tuesday, October 6, 2020

The terrors of traveling by bus in the South of the 1940s

 Kay and Teeny, with a band, toured the South to promote Enchanted Nile Pomade, a hair product marketed to men and women of color. The company couldn't support the cost of a touring bus, so the band traveled in a motley array of second- and third-hand vechicles, which of course occasionally broke down. A few times, one or more members of the band had to take a Greyhound bus to get to the gig while others tended to a disabled vehicle. 

While I don't know if Kay or Teeny were aware of the brutal beating of honorably-dischanrged serviceman Stt. Isaac Woodard, I'm sure they had heard similar tales of punishment meted out to people of color who were perceived to act "above themselves."


https://carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu/isaac-woodard-a-forgotten-story-that-changed-history/

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