#HouseHistory: Edmund Thornton Jenkins – A Musical Legacy Rooted in Impact Edmund Thornton Jenkins was a Charleston-born composer, musician, and bandleader whose work left an indelible mark on jazz and orchestral music. Jenkins, born in 1894, was the son of Reverend Daniel Jenkins, the founder of the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston, South Carolina. From its inception, the orphanage used music as a transformative force, providing instruments and training to young Black musicians—many of whom went on to perform in the Jenkins Orphanage Band, one of the most influential Black instrumental ensembles of its time. After graduating from Morehouse College in 1914, Jenkins dedicated himself as the band's manager, helping to elevate its reach and reputation. Under his leadership, the band became a cultural force, performing at presidential inaugurations for Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft, playing the St. Louis World’s Fair, and touring internationally in Paris, Berlin, Rome, London, and V...