Burnham Library Presents: Women in Jazz

Women in Jazz

Women have been involved in jazz since the early 1920s, not just as vocalist, but as
instrumentalists, composers and arrangers. An understanding of jazz would not be complete
without highlighting the influence and contributions of women—women such as Bessie Smith,
Valaida Snow, Mildred Bailey, Mary Lou Williams, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah
Vaughn.

The goal is to provide an understanding particularly of their personal lives, their ability
to read music, perform and survive in a time when jazz was considered “a man’s world”. It also
covers the full spectrum of years, genre, recordings, and recognized achievements.