Music in the Colored Conventions
Convention minutes regularly mention the singing and performances delegates and participants engaged in over more than six decades. As participants convened from near and far, music was an artistic and emotional expression of their religious, personal, and political sentiments. Exploring the role that song played in the Colored Conventions reaffirms its place in the larger Black community as the most universal and accessible art form. This was particularly true for those descended from enslaved people whose right to engage in other forms of creative expression was often prohibited. Black music provided a way to express religious faith; it served as an ethic of social reform and protest and a celebration of liberty and freedom. Explore the following tabs to learn about how music was incorporated into the conventions.
Note on the language and content of this exhibit: The following pages include audio recordings of nineteenth-century songs, and some are labeled with and/or contain outdated terms and harmful language. In providing access to these historical materials, their original descriptions and lyrics are preserved to provide important historical context.
Credits
Curated by Melissa Benbow, PhD Candidate in English and Committee Chair. Created for ENGL/HIST 677, taught by P. Gabrielle Foreman, University of Delaware, Spring 2019, and Samantha de Vera, assistant professor of history, University of California, Irvine.
Edited by P. Gabrielle Foreman.
Proofread by Wendyliz Martinez, PhD Student, English and African American Studies, Penn State University; Eden Mekonen, Ph.D. student, Geography and African Studies Program, Penn State University; Courtney Murray, PhD Candidate, English and African American Studies, Penn State University; Morgan Robinson, PhD student, History & African American Studies, Penn State University; Eunice Toh, CBDR Research Associate; Gabrielle Sutherland, CBDR Events and Communications Coordinator; Kaitlyn Tanis, librarian, University of Delaware; and Lauren Cooper, digital scholarship librarian, Penn State University. Technical and design review by Lauren Cooper.
Special thanks to Gale, a Cengage Company, and Accessible Archives Inc.® for granting permission for the use of the materials from 19th Century U.S. Newspaper and African American Newspapers: The 19th Century.
The Colored Conventions Project works with teaching partners and their students to create digital content on the rich history of Black political organizing in the nineteenth-century. Visit our Teaching Partners page to browse the curriculum and find information on becoming a teaching partner.
Image
“The Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1882.” L–R: Patti Malone, George E. Barrett, Mattie L. Lawrence, C.W. Payne, Ella Shepard (seated), F.J. Loudin, Maggie L. Porter (seated), B.W. Thomas, and Mabel R. Lewis (seated). Source: Deep Roots Magazine via WikiCommons.