The Goree All Girl String Band, popularly known as The Goree Girls, was a band of eight female prisoners of the

Goree Unit The Thomas Goree Unit (GR) is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice men's prison, located in Huntsville, Texas, south of downtown Huntsville on Texas State Highway 75 South. The Goree Unit is located within Region I.

which performed in the 1940s. It was one of the first all female country and western bands in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.Hollandsworth, Skip. "O Sister, Where Art Thou?" ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

''. May 2003
1
Retrieved on October 20, 2011.

History

In the 1930s, while ''Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls'', a musical show involving prisoners from

Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Ins ...

played on radio waves, one

prisoner, Reable Childs, suggested starting a band consisting of women from the Goree Unit. Of the original members, Mozelle McDaniel and Ruby Mae Morace served as the main singers. Georgia Fay Collins, Ruby Dell Guyton, and Bonnie Scott played the acoustic guitar. Lillie Mae Dudley played the bass fiddle. Childs played the banjo and the steel guitar.Hollandsworth, Skip. "O Sister, Where Art Thou?" ''

''. May 2003
3
Retrieved on October 20, 2011. The band held its debut on July 10, 1940 at the

. Three months later, the prison system asked them to be the intermission singers at the

Texas Prison Rodeo The Texas Prison Rodeo was a rodeo and an annual celebration event for inmates in the Texas Prison System, held in a stadium in Huntsville, Texas.Hollandsworth, Skip. "O Sister, Where Art Thou?" ''

''. May 2003
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Retrieved on October 20, 2011. The band performed on Wednesday evenings in an auditorium in

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

and its music was played on WBAP, a radio station in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. The band had fans throughout the United States and they received mail, gifts, and marriage proposals from fans. Band members had been convicted of crimes like

cattle rustling Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle. In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the perpetrator as a duffer.Baker, Sidney John (1945) ''The Australian language : an examination of the English language and English ...

, murder, robbery, and theft. Skip Hollandsworth of ''

'' said that music historians do not pay attention to the band since the band never made a record and it never went on a national tour. The band changed when its members were paroled. Hollandsworth said "The Goree Girls were on the verge of becoming genuine celebrities—as long as they stayed in prison. But conceivably, the reason that they had started the band was to receive early parole and leave. They may have been the only band in musical history that set out to gain attention in order to disappear." As members left, the prison system found other prisoners to replace them. McDaniel was the first member of the group to leave. In the Spring of 1942, Morace was paroled. Reable was paroled in October 1943, and Collins replaced her as the group's leader. Since the founder and most notable member of the group was gone, WBAP paid less attention to the group. Attention from the public further decreased as Americans tuned in to radio programs about soldiers in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The radio program ''Thirty Minutes Behind the Walls'' ended in 1944. Hollandsworth said that the radio show had ended "quietly." As of 1947 women under the name "Goree Girls" had performed at the prison rodeo. The women never reunited to make reunion appearances on the radio or at the prison rodeo.Hollandsworth, Skip. "O Sister, Where Art Thou?" ''

''. May 2003
5
Retrieved on October 20, 2011. McDaniel was the last known surviving member of the band. At a time before May 2003, McDaniel, then known as Mozelle Cash, died from a heart attack, induced by choking on food, while in a nursing home in

Tyler, Texas Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the largest city and county seat of Smith County, Texas, Smith County. It is also the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the List of cities in Texa ...

. McDaniel's burial site is in the Pines Cemetery, south of Tyler. McDaniel's obituary refers to her as "Mozelle Cash." Her nephew stated that she did not want to be listed as "Mozelle McDaniel Cash" in her obituary because " e thought it was best that no one remember."

In other media

A film with

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...

, ''The Goree Girls'', about the band is in production.

References

{{reflist Musical groups from Texas All-female bands Musical groups established in 1940 1940 establishments in Texas History of women in Texas