Our first post! And during AAPI History month!
- chinesenorthameric
- May 30, 2021
- 1 min read
Chinese American Willie Mae Wong aka rabbit who you see in the bottom right corner made history for being in the first all women integrated band "International Sweethearts of Rythm" back in the 1940s
High quality digital scan of the same photograph from the Smithsonian. Apparently her real name was "Willie Mae Lee" (1920-2016), but Laurence Jones, the founder of the International Sweethearts and principal of the Piney Woods School, changed her name to "Willie Mae Wong" to highlight her Chinese identity. Willie Mae Wong later married David L. Scott, Sr., becoming known as Willie Mae Scott for the rest of her life.
https://learninglab.si.edu/resources/view/5828739