Object Details
Scope and Contents
Includes 7 VHS videotapes and 1 audio tape produced by Florice Whyte Kovan, containing interviews and recollections by some band members. Studio portraits and snapshot photographs in 3 scrapbooks, which also contain display advertisements and newspaper clippings from about the band, 1940s. Snapshots include documentation of the band's travels and leisure activities while on the road, including swimming, horseback riding, etc. Packaged hotel soap bars collected by Betty Hansen during the bands' touring documents their itinerary, as do picture postcards written by Alice Smaus Jacoby.
sova.nmah.ac.0503
Collector
Kovan, Florice Whyte
Author
Whyte, Virgil (bandleader)
Names
United Service Organizations (U.S.)
Virgil Whyte's "All-Girl" Band
Place
Racine (Wis.) -- 1940-1950
Occupation
Tap dancers -- 1940-1950
Topic
Travel photography -- 1940-1950 -- U.S.
Barracks -- 1940-1950
Railroad passenger cars
Horseback riding -- 1940-1950
Singers -- 1940-1950
Comedians -- 1940-1950
Jazz musicians -- 1940-1950
Band music -- 1940-1950
World War, 1939-1945 -- Musicians
Horses -- 1940-1950
Women musicians -- 1930-1950
Beaches -- 1940-1950
Swimming pools -- 1940-1950
Swimming -- 1940-1950
Jazz -- 1940-1950
Portraits -- Women
Provenance
Collection donated by Florice Kovan, 1993.
Collector
Kovan, Florice Whyte
Author
Whyte, Virgil (bandleader)
See more items in
Virgil Whyte "All-Girl" Band Collection
Biographical / Historical
Founded 1942 in Racine, Wis., by Virgil Whyte, his "all-girl" band was composed of young Racine women. Whyte was instructor, manager, and the initial leader on drums; later his sister Alice took over as drummer. After initial success in Racine and elsewhere in Wisconsin, the band began to accept engagements in other parts of the country, eventually touring the U.S. The band's success drew other acts and performers, including Jill Fontaine and the Wilford Mae Trio, Sam Hearn (known as "Schlepperman"), the Woodson Sisters, and Paul La Verre and Bro. They did U.S.O. tours, entertaining servicemen.
The principal donor, a free-lance researcher and writer, is the daughter of Virgil Whyte.
Extent
3 Cubic feet (11 boxes)
Date
1942-1948, 1991-1993
Custodial History
Two donors, Doris Nilo and Betty Hansen, transferred their personal scrapbooks to Florice Kovan in 1993. Ms. Kovan then donated the videotapes and audiotape made by her and conveyed the scrapbooks on behalf of the other donors, to the Archives Center. In 1994 Mrs. Jacoby sent her postcards to Ms. Kovan, who delivered them to the museum on Mrs. Jacoby's behalf.
Archival Repository
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Identifier
NMAH.AC.0503
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Postage stamps
Videotapes
Audiotapes
Postcards
Soap
Labels
Letterheads
Announcements
Clippings
Photomechanical prints
Photographs
Packages
Diaries
Citation
Virgil Whyte's "All-Girl" Band Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into seven series.
Series 1: Unmounted snapshots
Series 2: Scrapbooks
Series 3: Alice Smaus Jacoby's postcards
Series 4: Packaged soap samples
Series 5: Audiovisual Materials
Series 6: Framed Portrait Photoprints
Series 7: Oversized Photoprints
The scrapbook pages are arranged in original order, apparently partly chronological, but series 1 snapshots are in topical order.
Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Genre/Form
Postage stamps
Videotapes
Audiotapes
Postcards
Soap -- Packaged
Labels
Letterheads
Announcements
Clippings
Photomechanical prints
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 1940-1950
Packages
Diaries
Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
NMAH.AC.0503
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep862348874-be31-467f-81fb-a872a712966b
NMAH.AC.0503
ACAH
Record ID
ebl-1503513411014-1503513411016-0