African American Sheet MusicCollection 1879-1940

Handy, W. C., 1873-1958

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W. C. Handy, also known as William Christopher Handy (born Florence, Alabama, November 16, 1873-died March 25, 1958, New York, New York), known as the "Father of the Blues," is credited with helping popularize blues music. In 1896, he joined W. A. Mahara's Minstrels, as its trumpeter-bandleader and began a theatrical production that featured African American music. In the early 1900s, he started writing his own music with the first published commercial blues song "Memphis Blues," which became a ...

Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938

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James Weldon Johnson was a publisher, educator, lawyer, composer, artist, diplomat, and civil rights leader. Together with his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson, he wrote the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which came to be known as the "Negro National Anthem", as well as a large number of popular songs for the musical stage of the early twentieth century. Johnson also served as consul of the United States to Venezuela and Nicaragua. He wrote several books and served as editor of the New York Age. ...

Blake, Eubie, 1887-1983

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Jazz composer and pianist. From the description of Autograph card signed : [New York?], 1979 Jan. 24. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270904411 American ragtime pianist and composer. From the description of Autograph note signed with his initials on his visiting card, dated : [Brooklyn, N.Y., n.d., 1963-1983], to an unidentified recipient, [1963-1983]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270899295 American composer. From the description of Eub...

Ku Klux Klan (19th cent.)

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Hampton, Lionel

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Lionel Hampton was born in Louisville, Kentucky on April 20, 1908. He died on August 31, 2002 in New York City. He showed a talent for music at an early age and by high school, was playing drums with a jazz band organized by his employer, a newspaper called the Chicago Defender. Later, he attended classes in music theory at the University of Southern California and gained a reputation as a great drummer on the West Coast. In 1930, Louis Armstrong, when working for Les Hite’s band, a...

Basie, Count, 1904-1984

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Waller, Fats, 1904-1943

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Hines, Earl, 1903-1983

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Musician; interviewee d. 1983. From the description of Reminiscences of Earl Kenneth (Fatha) Hines : oral history, 1971. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 122419716 Jazz musician. From the description of Clipping with autograph signed : [1963]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270904707 Biographical Information (b Duquesne, PA, 28 Dec 1903; d Oakland, CA, 22 April 1983)....

Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974

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Duke Ellington (b. Edward Kennedy Ellington, April 29, 1899, Washington, DC–d. May 24, 1974, New York, NY) was a composer, pianist, and jazz orchestra leader. He began piano lessons at 7 and wrote his first composition, "Soda Fountain Rag", in 1914. Ellington became a more serious piano student as a teenager after hearing poolroom pianists in Washington, DC. Ellington moved to Harlem, ultimately becoming part of the Harlem Renaissance in the early 1920s. He began a regular booking at the Cott...

Dorsey, Thomas Andrew

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Father of modern gospel music; b. 1899 in Villa Rica, Ga.; d. 1993 in Chicago, Ill.; also known as Georgia Tom. From the description of Thomas A. Dorsey papers, 1932-1982. (Fisk University). WorldCat record id: 70971641 ...

Dawson, William L. (William Levi), 1899-1990

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William Levi Dawson (1899-1990), African American composer, conductor, and educator, was born in Anniston, Alabama, the oldest of the seven children of George W. Dawson, an illiterate day laborer and former slave, and Eliza Starkey Dawson. Dawson married Cecile Demae Nicholson in 1935. A graduate of the Tuskegee Institute, Dawson composed the NEGRO FOLK SYMPHONY and arranged a number of African American spirituals. He also conducted the Tuskegee Institute Choir for 25 years. Dawson died May 2, 1...

Ku Klux Klan 1915-....

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The Ku Klux Klan was formally incorporated under the laws of the state of Georgia on Dec. 4, 1915. The incorporated organization is a continuance of the earlier post Civil War Reconstruction Era unincorporated Ku Klux Klan and of the Knights of the White Camellia. Women of the Ku Klux Klan was incorporated at a late date as a separate entity. The stated purpose of the KKK was to promote an all White, Protestant United States, excluding all other races and religions. From the descript...

Creamer, Henry, 1879-1930

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Cook, Doc, 1881-1958

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Johnson, J. Rosamond (John Rosamond), 1873-1954

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American composer and singer, brother of James Weldon Johnson, known for composing the music to "Lift every voice and sing" for which his brother wrote the lyrics. From the description of Letter of J. Rosamond Johnson to A.J. Hanna, 1944 February 20. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 70259141 Black American composer, singer, and stage performer. From the description of The J. Rosamond Johnson papers, 1879-1975 (inclusive). (Yale University). WorldCat ...

Bland, James A.

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Johnson, Lukie

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Rogers, Alex, 1876-1930

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Williams, Bert, 1874-1922

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Egbert Austin "Bert" Williams was a comedian, vaudeville performer and actor. He teamed with George Walker from 1895 to 1909 in vaudeville as "Two Real Coons." From 1910-1919 he performed with the Ziegfeld Follies. From the description of Bert Williams jokebooks, n.d. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122431182 Egbert Austin “Bert” Williams was once described by comedian W. C. Fields as the funniest man he had ever seen and the saddest he had ever known. Born in An...

Jones, Willie

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Burris, Jim

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Barbour, J. Berni, 1881-

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Europe, James Reese, 1881-1919

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During World War I, Europe enlisted in the armed services as a private, passed an officer's exam and became a lieutenant. As an officer he was assigned to the New York 15th Infantry in Harlem and was told to form a band. On New Year's day, 1918, Europe and the band traveled to France and were assigned combat duty under French command. Europe thus became the first African-American officer to lead combat troops into battle. The New York 15th Infantry was later renamed the 369th Infant...

Piron, Armand J., 1888-1943

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Martin, Robert A. (Robert Allen)

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Musical composers

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The term African American music is given to the range of music and musical genres that evolved from or were influenced by African American culture. The polyrhythmic songs of enslaved Africans merged with multiple cultural traditions, including polka, waltzes, classical music, and religious works. The influence of African American music began in the 19th century. During the 1830s Second Great Awakening, the slaves began to develop Spirituals and other Christian music, often serving t...

Overstreet, W. Benton

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Oliver, King, 1885-1938

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Johnson Brothers

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Jones, Irving

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Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 1872-1906

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Poet and author. From the description of Papers of Paul Laurence Dunbar, 1873-1936. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71067921 Paul Laurence Dunbar of Dayton, Ohio, was an African-American writer of fiction, poetry, and plays. Dunbar is widely acknowledged as the first important black poet in American literature. He also worked at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C, as an assistant clerk, 1897-1898. From the description of Paul Laurence Dunbar letters and leaf...

Cole, Bob, 1868-1911

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Brooks, Shelton

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Morris, Kenneth, 1879-1937

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Jackson, Tony, 1876-1921

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Brymn, J. Tim, 1881-1946

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Williams, J. M. (Jay Mayo), 1894-1980

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Jay Mayo Williams was a football player and producer of "race" records in conjunction with Paramount Records. Artists he recorded include Ma Rainey, Papa Charlie Jackson, and Blind Lemon Jefferson. He was a member of the National Football Hall of Fame Association, and in 2004 was posthumously inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Williams was born 25 July 1894 in Pine Bluff, Ark., and died 2 January 1980 in Chicago, Ill....

Dett, R. Nathaniel, 1882-1943

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African-American composer. From the description of Papers [microform], 1913-1943. (Oberlin College Library). WorldCat record id: 41711378 Originally composed for piano, 1921. First performance of 3rd movement only by Percy Grainger as pianist. This version 1922. Received the Harmon Foundation Award.--Cf. Fleisher Collection. From the description of Enchantment : a romantic suite / R. Nathaniel Dett. [c1922] (Franklin & Marshall College). WorldCat record id: 4...

Razaf, Andy

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African American poet and lyricist. From the description of Papers, 1913-1962. (Moorland-Spingarn Resource Center). WorldCat record id: 70941193 Author, poet, lecturer. From the description of Autograph letter signed : Los Angeles, Calif., to Paul Strickland, 1952 Feb. 12. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270923755 Songwriter, poet. From the description of Andy Razaf papers, 1918-1973, 1918-1963 (bulk). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122465885 ...

Mack, Cecil, 1883-1944

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Smith, Chris, 1879-1949

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Layton, Turner, 1894-1978

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Hill, J. Leubrie

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Williams, Clarence, 1893-1965

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Davis, Gussie L., 1863-1899

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Pinkard, Maceo, 1897-1962

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