UW Libraries Blog

June 18, 2024

Celebrating Juneteenth Through Musical History

Kathryn Miller, Music and Arts Librarian

Some of the earliest documentation of Black community celebrations in Texas commemorating emancipation are reported in a January 2, 1866 Galveston, Texas newspaper. In addition to speeches and the reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, the account notes the singing of “John Brown’s Body”, a popular folk hymn about the abolitionist, John Brown. Newspaper reports of emancipation celebrations through the rest of the 19th century indicate that song, dance, and parades were integral parts of the celebrations of what has  become known as Juneteenth.

Today, we’ll explore that musical history a bit further through some of the unique collections at UW Libraries! 

The Johnson Brothers 

In 1900, civil rights activist James Weldon Johnson, then a teacher at a segregated public school in Florida, was tasked with writing a poem in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Instead of simply reading the poem, however, Johnson’s brother, J. Rosamund, set it to music. The result, called “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” was sung by 500 students at the event. The song spread through the South and was eventually adopted by the NAACP as the “Negro National Anthem.” It inspired Augusta Savage’s 16-foot sculpture, displayed at the 1939 World’s Fair, was sung at events throughout the Civil Rights movement, and was performed for the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2016.  

The Johnson brothers both collected volumes of Black songs of various genres, which can be found in the stacks at the Music Library with the M1670 call number.

Explore:

The Johnson brothers both collected volumes of Black songs of various genres, which can be found in the stacks at the Music Library with the M1670 call number.

Archival recordings held by the Music Library include a 1940 recording of a radio program featuring a Southern California Black choir singing Johnson songs.

Read more about the impact of “Lift Every Voice” in Julian Bond and Sondra Kathryn Wilson’s collection of essays, held at Odegaard Undergraduate Library.

Lyricist James Welson Johnson  autobiography  “Along this Way: the autobiography of James Weldon Johnson”, held at Suzzallo Library.

Rosamund Johnson’s impact on musical theater and culture in “Beyond Lift Every Voice and Sing: the culture of uplift, identity, and politics in Black musical theater”.

W.C. Handy

This autographed edition of Unsung Americans Sung is held in the rare books collection at the Music Library.

In 1944, composer W.C. Handy, who called himself the “Father of the Blues”, published a collection of songs titled “Unsung Americans Sung.” This collection is held in the Music Library’s rare books collection and it  memorializes figures in Black history with short biographies before each song. It features pieces on historical names such as Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, and George Washington Carver, but also songs in honor of contemporary figures such as singer Sissieretta Jones and historian/archivist Arthur Schomburg (could this be the only hymn written about an archivist?). It also includes Margaret Bonds’ setting of the famous Langston Hughes poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”  

Explore: 

This autographed edition of Unsung Americans Sung is held in the rare books collection at the Music Library.

 

William Grant Still 

William Grant Still

William Grant Still, was a classical composer associated with the Harlem Renaissance,. Still’s first symphony, called the Afro-American symphony, premiered in Rochester, NY, in 1931, and was the first complete work by a Black composer to be performed by a major US orchestra.  The American Music Center at the Music Library is a collection of books, scores, and archival material on American music that originated from the personal collection of UW School of Music professor, Hazel Kinscella, and includes her correspondence with many well-known American composers. The collection includes a letter from Still sent to Kinscella in 1947.  Recordings and scores of this work are available at the Music Library, and by advance request.

Explore:

Listen to a recording of William Grant Still’s works includes his arrangement of “Lift Every Voice”

Read more about the impact of “Lift Every Voice” in Julian Bond and Sondra Kathryn Wilson’s collection of essays, held at Odegaard Undergraduate Library.

On the stacks in the UW Tacoma library, you can find Imani Perry’s history of the song, titled “May we Forever Stand: a History of the Black National Anthem.”

Additional Juneteenth resources available via UW Libraries:

On this Juneteenth, continue learning by making space to read, listen and watch something new. If you have a recommended resource not listed here, please let us know, or consider adding to the Recommended Reads for Equity community-curated reading list. 

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