Pauline Braddy Williams (February 14, 1922 – January 28, 1996) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

drummer. She drummed with the

International Sweethearts of Rhythm The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was an American jazz ensemble, believed to be the first racially-integrated all-female band in the United States. During the 1940s, the band featured some of the best female musicians of the day. They pla ...

, an integrated, all-female swing band, from 1939 to 1955. An

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

, she was known as "Queen of the Drums".

Biography

The

Mendenhall, Mississippi Mendenhall is a city and the county seat of Simpson County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 2,504 at the 2010 census. Mendenhall is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Mendenhall was originally called Edna, ...

-born Braddy attended

Piney Woods Country Life School The Piney Woods Country Life School (or The Piney Woods School) is a co-educational independent historically African-American boarding school for grades 9–12 in Piney Woods, unincorporated Rankin County, Mississippi, south of Jackson.Copela ...

.Feather, Leonard (April 13, 1980) In school, she played clarinet, and says she got into playing drums "by accident." When the school band went to Memphis to play, the drummer dropped out and Braddy was chosen to take up the drums because of her good sense of rhythm. Braddy joined the

in 1939. She was not only a drummer for the group, but also sang. In 1944, she was named "Wallet Gal" by soldiers stationed in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Braddy participated in the bands USO tour of Europe in 1945, and remained a member until 1955. In the USO tour,

Sherrie Tucker Sherrie Jean Tucker (born March 18, 1957 in Modesto, California) is a musicologist, music historian, book author, professor, and journal editor. Tucker is co-editor-in-chief of ''American Studies'', a peer-reviewed academic journal. Educatio ...

writes that "Chorus after chorus, Braddy's drums draw shouts of applause at every new configuration of paradidles." In the performances of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, her drumming was considered a "spotlight" of the group. ''

The Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute for ...

'' called her drumming "sensational."

Francis Davis Francis John Davis (August 30, 1946 – April 14, 2025) was an American author and journalist known for having been the jazz critic for ''The Village Voice'' and a contributing editor for ''The Atlantic''. He also worked in radio and film, and ...

in ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' wrote that the band was "powered by Pauline Braddy's drumming." She was also called "Queen of the Drums." After the Sweethearts disbanded, she moved to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and became a drummer for the

Vi Burnside Violet May Burnside (April 19, 1915, Lancaster, Pennsylvania – November 19, 1964, Washington, DC) was an American jazz saxophonist and bandleader. Burnside worked for much of her career in all-female bands. She worked in Bill Baldwin's group in ...

All-Stars, the Edna Smith Trio and Two Plus One. Braddy moved back to Washington to care for her mother in the 1960s. She then worked for some two decades as a

switchboard operator In the early days of telephony, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. They were gradually phased out and replaced by automated syste ...

, retiring in 1994. Braddy was eager to talk about the history of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, and provided writer Antoinette D. Hardy with information and ephemera for her book ''The International Sweethearts of Rhythm''. Braddy moved to

Braxton, Mississippi Braxton is a village in Simpson County, Mississippi, United States. The village's population was 181 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its zip code is 39044. History The village of Braxton ...

after retiring. Braddy died in her home on January 28, 1996, aged 73.

References

External links

Drum Solo

International Sweethearts of Rhythm Collection Spotlight, Because of Her Story, Smithsonian Institution
American women jazz musicians American jazz drummers 1996 deaths People from Mendenhall, Mississippi African-American drummers 1922 births Jazz musicians from Mississippi International Sweethearts of Rhythm members 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American musicians African-American women musicians American women drummers Drummers from Mississippi {{US-jazz-drummer-stub