Many of us first sang together in late winter/early spring of 1995.  Several women represented  DeKalb by participating in a mass chorus held at the end of a regional women's festival. About a dozen of us enjoyed singing together so much that we decided to form our own chorus. Our Director, Peggy Safford, was a founding member.

At first we called ourselves the "DeKalb Area Women’s Chorus" (or on days when the number of high voices was scarce, the "DeKalb Area Altos!").  Later, as our group expanded beyond the DeKalb area, we knew it was time for a new name.  We happened to be learning to sing the song, Bread and Roses. 

The title of this song by John Oppenheimer (lyrics) and Mimi Farina (music) was written to support union development in the aftermath of a horrible sweatshop fire in the early 1900s. One of our members commented that this song title would be a great name for our group. After much research and debate, we formally adopted the name.