Abstract
Jazz textbooks and biographies are nearly always dedicated solely to male jazz musicians and female jazz vocalists; female jazz musicians, especially those in big band orchestras, have been largely overlooked throughout history. Women in the jazz era faced not only social injustice with sexism and racism, but also faced many other obstacles and inconveniences in gaining respect and recognition for their work as musicians and entertainers. The names of highly-talented female jazz musicians and the wide variety of instruments they played and lands in which they traveled are often forgotten. If not for the curiosity of a few historians, these female jazz musicians may have disappeared from history altogether.