This April, join the Delaware Historical Society for Saturday film screenings celebrating Arab American Heritage Month, Jazz Appreciation Month, and Earth Month. Screenings are available with admission to the Delaware History Museum.

For our final film in the series, we’ll celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month with a screening of “Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band.”

During an era when Jazz was the nation’s popular music, Mary Lou Williams was one of its greatest innovators. As both a pianist and composer, she was a font of daring and creativity who helped shape the sound of 20th century America. Away from the piano, Williams was a woman in a “man’s world,” a black person in a “whites only” society, and an ambitious artist who dared to be different and struggled against the imperatives of being a “star.”

Winner of Outstanding Independent Documentary at the Black Reel Awards. Winner of the HBO Competition Award for Best Documentary at Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival.