USO Uniform Purse, used by Rosaling Cron
date: label: date made
content: 1945
name: label: wearer
content: Cron, Rosalind
notes: label: Description
content: <p>This brown dimpled leather purse with shoulder strap was used by Rosalind "Roz" Cron during the USO-sponsored tour of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm to France and Germany between July 1945 and January 1946.</p>
label: Description
content: <p>The International Sweethearts of Rhythm was the nation's first racially-integrated all-girl swing and jazz band. The group was initially formed from a girls' band at Missippi's Piney Woods Country Life School in the late 1930s. In 1941, the girls severed ties with the school and turned professional. Soon the group was recognized on a national level, and the girls began touring throughout the country. They even put on shows in the Jim Crow South where it was illegal for mixed races to travel and perform together. During WWII, their popularity with soldiers overseas also landed them a spot with the USO Camp Shows which toured France and Germany for six months from 1945-1946.<p>
label: Description
content: <p>At age 18, Roz Cron was the youngest and one of the few white women to join the Sweethearts. Cron joined the group in 1943 to play alto sax for the band.</p>
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States
topic: label: related event
content: World War II
setName: label: See more items in
content: Culture and the Arts: Entertainment
label: See more items in
content: Music & Musical Instruments
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content: Military
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content: Jazz
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Rosalind Cron
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2011.0048.05
label: accession number
content: 2011.0048
label: catalog number
content: 2011.0048.05
objectType: label: Object Name
content: purse
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 24 1/2 in x 11 1/2 in; 62.23 cm x 29.21 cm