This digital exhibition on African American Music in Modern US History will explore the role of music on African American musicians and what musical styles formed and flourished on account of them in the United States from the year 1877 through the year 1987. African Americans were able to express their creativity and share their musical talent with the public during social issues and eras such as the passing of the 14th Amendment, the Reconstruction Era, Jim Crow Laws, and the Civil Rights March on Washington. In particular, this project will examine the musical styles of Gospel Music, Ragtime, Blues, and Jazz.
We’ll begin with a brief background on the origins of where and how African American music began. African American music was brought over to America through the Transatlantic Slave Trade in 1526 when African Americans were being shipped to different countries for slave work (Smithsonian 2019). Their African cultural roots and the harsh conditions that the slaves endured influenced the sound and theme of their music. For example, Zajal is an oriental African vocal form that uses classical poetry set to music and originated in Tunisia (Kebede 1982, page 13). In addition, the call-and-response technique originated from slaves working in the fields and used echoes and only their voices to make music. This musical technique didn’t fade and instead transferred over into the next type of musical style, which is Gospel music.
African American churches were venues for Gospel music in the years leading up to the 1930s (Ramsey 2012). Gospel music was a type of religious music made by and for African Americans, therefore they were enriched with African American roots and a story to tell (Burnim 2006, page 51). One group that sang and spread Gospel music was the Jubilee singers of Fisk University during the Reconstruction Era. During the Reconstruction Era, Congress implemented the Reconstruction with a goal to reorganize the south so that black and white people could live together (Library Of Congress African American Odyssey 2019). Unfortunately, the South didn’t welcome the idea of living equally with African Americans. Even so, institutions like Fisk University were established to give freed slaves an equal opportunity to education (Ramsey 2012). The school was required to provide music lessons so they created the Jubilee Singers. The group was similar to white singing groups except that they also sang gospels and spirituals. The group performed spectacularly and made a name for themselves which helped spread awareness of black music to the public sphere in America. The group inspired numerous responses across the American culture industry thus inspiring a new genre of music that is ragtime music.
It was in the 1890s that Ragtime was very popular because it included syncopated coons songs, arranged songs for large ensembles, syncopated rhythm, and solo piano music (Encyclopedia 2019). Ragtime music came from coon songs. Coon song was a racist term to describe to white individuals who performed blackface. The blackface came from Jim Crow Laws originated from a song from 1830 called “Jump Jim Crow” based on a caricature of an African beggar. (Tick & Beaudoin 2008). Segregation laws were called Jim Crow laws. Musicians like Scott Joplin, however, were able to create music that would change how people viewed African Americans. Scott Joplin popularized ragtime music with his piece, “Maple Leaf Rag” in 1899 (Encyclopedia 2019). Another musician that changed the playing field for African Americans was B.B. King who mastered blues music earning him the title of king of the blues.
Blues music was first created in the South during the first decade of the twentieth century (Burnim 2006, page 79). It was influenced by work songs, church music, and ragtimes. The Civil War granted slaves their freedom but discrimination and oppression on African Americans were still very evident. There were local laws, codes, and agreements that enforced segregation (Library of Congress Jim Crow and Segregation Laws 2019). Blues musicians like B.B. King responded to the discrimination and oppression by using blues music as an outlet to express their thoughts and opinions on issues of racism and poverty (Lab, Digital Scholarship, 2015). While he couldn’t perform in shared spaces with white people, he performed in cafes and on the street just to make some money and be heard. Through the lyrics, blues musicians sang their songs from the first-person narrative in order to address specific everyday experiences with irony and humor. Towards the middle of the twentieth century, however, African Americans began resisting segregation with the Civil Rights movement and so was the popularity of Jazz music on the rise.
The Civil Rights movements were demonstrations and public protests against segregation by African Americans (Library of Congress Jim Crow and Segregation Laws 2019. They demanded the rights and protections promised to them in the constitution such as the 14th amendment which states that all United States born people are given life, liberty, and property. In the 1950s and 60s, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 addressed segregation and dismissed the Jim Crow laws (Library of Congress Jim Crow and Segregation Laws 2019). At the same time, Jazz musician, Louis Armstrong became a public figure well-liked by both black and white audiences. He derived from New Orleans where much of African American brass and string band tradition of blues mixed together (Burnim 2006, page 147). Jazz musicians introduced new cultural sounds into the music industry one with the foundation of blues and robust polyphony.
Overall, throughout history music has played a major role in African American lives. It allows them to express themselves in multiple ways, whether that be through lyrics, rhythms, melodies, or the different sounds from musical instruments. In this exhibition, there will be primary source documents and images of the musicians’ works as well as recordings of the historical events that were listed in this introduction.