Helen May Butler

Helen May Butler (1867–1957) was an American bandleader and composer who has been called "The female Sousa". Leading an all-women's band from 1898 to 1912, she had an extremely successful career at a time when women were discouraged from such public activities. Her best-known group, Helen May Butler and Her Ladies' Military Band, was a favorite of President Theodore Roosevelt, and one of her compositions, "Cosmopolitan American March", was selected as the official march of the Republican Party during Roosevelt's 1904 election campaign. Provided by Wikipedia