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School and Youth Bands

Douglass High School Band

Also documented as: Douglass Band · Zelia Breaux Band

Oklahoma City1923–present lineage; nationally visible by 1933Historically Black school band
Verified history
Master record194

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Documented overview

Zelia N. Breaux organized a twenty-six-member band at Douglass High School in Oklahoma City in 1923. Under her leadership it performed at national expositions and on radio while helping reshape Black school-band life in Oklahoma.

Verified history. Core identity and history are supported by durable sources.

History

Identity and chronology

Zelia N. Breaux organized a twenty-six-member band at Douglass High School in Oklahoma City in 1923. The band performed at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair and on national radio and appeared at the 1936 Texas Centennial.

Leadership

Breaux founded and directed the program during its formative era and retired in 1948.

Sponsorship and participation

The band was a public-school ensemble at segregated Douglass High School. Its development belongs within the history of Black education and institution-building under legal segregation.

Student ensemble at a segregated Black school during the core era.

Activity

The program achieved national exposition and radio visibility. Breaux also founded the Black State Band Festival in 1937 with seven participating bands; participation later grew to eighteen.

Why this band matters

Foundational Black Oklahoma school-band program with national exposure and statewide institutional influence.

Identity controls

Relationships

Names are typed so a related ensemble is not silently converted into an alias.

Program influence

Black State Band Festival

Founded by Zelia Breaux in 1937 with seven participating bands.

Evidence timeline

What the sources establish

  1. Breaux organizes the band

    The new Douglass ensemble began with twenty-six members.

    Source 1

  2. Chicago World’s Fair and radio

    The band gained national visibility through exposition and broadcast appearances.

    Source 1

  3. Black State Band Festival founded

    Breaux created a statewide institution that began with seven bands.

    Source 1

  4. Breaux retires

    Her retirement closes the profile’s fully documented foundational era.

    Source 1

Current research decision

What the wording does—and does not—claim

The verified 1923–1948 Breaux era should not be stretched into an unverified uninterrupted director or ensemble chronology to the present.

What remains unknown

The later director succession and post-1948 program history are valuable future additions but do not block the foundational Breaux-era account.

Evidence

Sources

The Oklahoma Historical Society biography of Zelia Breaux was checked on 2026-09-03.

  1. Oklahoma Historical Society, Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, “Breaux, Zelia”

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