Dorothy Fields Jenkins, founder of the Black Archives, History and Research Foundation of South Florida, recounts how women broke barriers in the Marching 100 during the 1950s.From here recent Miami Herald column:
In the 1950s women made history when they joined Florida A&M College's band. Norma White broke the gender barrier. She was the first female student in the school's marching and concert band. She was not allowed to march.
Later seven female high school graduates were recruited to attend Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College, now university, on music scholarships. Their lives were enriched by the teachings of then-band director, William P. Foster (1919-2010). Foster is widely recognized as the band director innovator who initiated the high-stepping FAMU 100.
A 1958 Miami Herald article proclaimed the Marching Band as ``the Marchingest, Playingest Band in the Land.''
One of the seven women, Joyce Williams (Knight), spearheaded the search for information from her classmates for this column. A member of a musical family, Joyce graduated from Rochelle High School in Lakeland.
Her six classmates included two students from Jacksonville's Stanton High School: Denise Williams, French Horn and Mary Hunter, English Horn; Edna Sampson (Hargett), Jones High School in Orlando, a pianist who played instruments in the percussion section; Millie Rodriquez (Jones), Milton High School, Tampa, played flute; Marian Patricia Barrett Edwards, Lake County Training School, Leesburg, played clarinet; and Sherran Yvonne Cottrell (Winchester), Central High, Mobile, Ala., played clarinet.
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