The Lady With the Gold Baton: A Creative Tribute

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.

Friday, July 17, 2020

The history and people of Kay' era -- postwar Germany in the news

It's clearer now than it once was about when and where Hitler's private secretary and later Nazi high official Martin Bormann died.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Bormann

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

ZaSu Pitts and the gang, plus the King Cole Trio

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Melba Liston, 1945

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Kay read "My Day" in the newspaper

This website has Eleanor Roosevelt's "My Day" newspaper column, gathered in one place and organized by date. Cool.

Friday, July 3, 2020

Radio research

To understand Kay's relationship to radio -- including her work with a group of child singers promoting a brand of pancake syrup -- it helps for me to read up a bi.

https://archive.org/details/TheEarlyHistoryOfRadioFromFaradayToMarconi/mode/2up?q=Hertz+Electric+Waves

Friday, June 19, 2020

Vera Lynn was a huge celebrity in Kay's era

The London Telepgraph's obit for Dasme Vera Lynn is a fascinating read.

Friday, June 12, 2020

Hits from Kay's era: "Cocoanut Grove" 1938

Monday, June 8, 2020

A morale-booster from Kay's era -- 1945's "O Dry Those Tears"

Saturday, June 6, 2020

Kay's appreciation of Caapt. Trimble of the Air Force

Because of her work, both as a service member and as a civilian, at Scott Air Field (later Scott Air Force Base), Kay was aware of the rescue missions organized by Capt. Robert Trimble, who saved the lives of many prisoners of war at the Eastern Front.

The Stars & Stripes website has a good article about Trimble and his missions, and there are plenty of historic photos to go with it.

https://www.stripes.com/news/special-reports/features/wwii-captain-s-secret-mission-to-save-hundreds-from-soviets-1.339135

Related to Kay's military experience and radio systems

https://ieeetv.ieee.org/mobile/video/richard-thompson-jr-crystal-clear

Author interview with the man who wrote the book Crystal Clear.

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Kay and the SOE

Kay had some classified information about secret British operations during the Second World War. She was not allowed to tell anyone what she knew, but I found some stuff on the internet.

This article filled in some of the details for me.

A book called Code Name: Lise which has more of the personal histories of the people involved.