The first appearance of an all-girl band took place in 1943 at a send-off rally for the U of I men in the Enlisted Reserve Corps. Directed by Music Professor Edmund J. Marty, their goal was to amount to ‘99 Gals and a Guy.’ By 1945 an All-Girl Singing Orchestra was formed, becoming a hit on campus and billed to perform at cities and military installations across Idaho and the Northwest, including a two night performance at the Hanford Site in Washington.

Sources

U of I Argonaut; Beacon for Mountain and Plain