Photograph taken between 1935 and 1943 of an African American band rehearsing in a park in Kansas City, Kansas. Such bands, and their public performances, were an important part of the Works Progress Administration's Federal Music Project.
Kansas City’s Black Elks band group photo taken in St. Louis, MO, 1928. Written on the bass drum to the left, "Midwest Lodge, No. 238, I.B.P.O.E. of W. [Improved Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks of the World] Band, Kansas City, MO.". Source: Lawrence Denton.