Lamar University hosted a screening of the “The Melody Maids Movie: Morals, Manners, Music” documentary, Feb. 19 in the Communications Building. Producer and director Kai Jai Conner held a Q&A session following the screening.
The film tells the story of a group of young singers organized by Eloise Milam, a Beaumont music teacher, in 1942. Milam began the project when she was tasked with arranging entertainment for a bond rally. The Melody Maids were a big hit and Milam ended up organizing the girls to tour military bases and perform for servicemen up until the 1970s.
Conner’s mother joined the group in 1951 as a 14 year old. Conner said she heard her mother talked about her experience but did not realize how important a story it was.
“We thought it was normal for our mothers to travel the world and sing at military bases,” Conner.
When her mother died in 2021, Conner said she realized The Melody Maids story had not been properly told and she set about making the documentary.
Conner described her journey creating the film and what she said was her countless frustrations. Conner inherited 100 photos from her mother but to create the documentary she needed more. After the Melody Maids disbanded in 1972, the girls donated their photos and other paraphernalia to Beaumont’s Tyrrell Historical Library.
“We got all the photos I had, then we went to the Tyrell, and we used 101 photos from the archives,” Conner said. “The Melody Maids donated everything to the Tyrell library, but we still had pay $100 per photo. We gave them those photos and they charged us to use them.”
Unfortunately, there are no recordings of the Melody Maids performing, so Conner recorded the Calvin High School all girls choir to sing the songs on the soundtrack.
Conner spent countless time interviewing the living Melody Maids who described the process of being a Melody Maid and the rules of ‘the bible,’ Milam’s instructional booklet for the girls that included the rules of travel and more than 50 musical selections.
“Well, in this bible, we had songs that she wanted us to all learn,” former Melody Maid Carol Grenier Eddins said. “We did have to learn the songs, but we would never know what the order of the program was going to be.”
In the documentary, former Melody Maids Bette Ann Stead, Connie Rienstra Joiner, Patrica A. Adams, Kathy Smith Smallwood, Carol Grenier Eddins and Becky Mason describe their time performing for soldiers around the world , including during the Korean conflict and Vietnam.
The Melody maids were considered musical ambassadors to the United States and stayed on military bases along with the soldiers. Former Maid Carol Grenier Eddins joined Conner for the Q&A. She said the girls were originally on their own as the Department of Defense did not offer any type of security until 1952.
“We had our mothers, some of the mothers were chaperones, but we did not have security,” Grenier Eddins said. “When you were on the base, there were men that would follow us.”
In the documentary, Kathy Smallwood described a time where she and her other fellow Melody Maids, visited wounded Vietnam soldiers. Smallwood described how one of the soldiers was gravely wounded but alive. Although the Melody Maids were instructed to stay strong for the soldiers, said she ended up crying away from the wounded soldier.
The Melody Maids have been celebrated for their compassion, patriotism, talent and courage, Conner said. For more information, visit melodymaids movie.com.
