The Eugene D. Smallwood Gospel Music Collection consists of an album of Gospel music scores collected or composed by Reverend Eugene D. Smallwood andnineteen additional loose scores published by Rev. Smallwood's company. The publication dates range from 1931 to 1945. The scores were performed by Reverend Smallwood's choirs. As a composer/arranger, Rev. Smallwood was often able to "correct" or re-arrange the compositions of others to suit his own style. If he felt the music was in the "wrong key", he transposed it himself. Some compositions were the work of such well known artists as Dr. Thomas A. Dorsey and Theodore Frye, whose portraits appear in the collection. The published music includes some additional illustrations of Gospel musicians, e.g. Rev.Smallwood; Ione B. Bouldin, Gospel singer; Earl Pleasant, Gospel singer; and the Universal Gospel singers. Many of the works are numbered according to the system that Rev. Smallwood used in the album, or dated according to his use of the arrangements.
Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, a staff member in the Division of Community Life, National Museum of American History, was instrumental in the acquisition of the collection. According to Dr. Reagon, the collection is unique because of Rev. Smallwood's use of an album of music which he kept intact. Although the music has been removed from the original album cover for the preservation purposes, this album is a written record of the performance of Gospel music by Reverend Smallwood and his choirs. The collection should prove to be of interest to anyone studying Gospel music and its creators.
Arrangement:
The collection is divided into two series.
Series 1: Scrapbook album, 1931-1942
Series 2: Sheet music, 1939-1945
Biographical / Historical:
Reverend Eugene D. Smallwood is a Gospel musician and choir leader who owned his own music publishing company. Some of the more famous Gospel musicians with whom he worked were Mahalia Jackson and the Roberta Martin Singers.
Related/Analytical Title:
Jesus Lives In Me,[song]
I'm Just A Sinner Saved by Grace,[song]
Heaven's Radio,[song]
Lead Me To Calvary,[song]
No Disappointment In Heaven,[song]
The Little Wooden Church on the Hill,[song]
Provenance:
The Smallwood collection was acquired through Dr. Bernice Reagon. While doing research on Gospel music with the support of a MacArthur Foundation grant, from 1991 to 1992, she made several contacts with the originators of the Black Gospel music movement in the Americas. Dr. Smallwood was one of those contacts.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Use of this collection for performance purposes requires notification of Smallwood's daughter. Contact the Archives Center staff for more information.
Religious service celebrating the initial baptism of the Layman Prisoners Council program. Held at Lorton Correctional Complex. Inmates participate in the service as baptismal candidates; with the readings; reciting testimonials; and as musicians.
Religious service. Part of ACM Museum Events, PR, and Ceremonies Recordings. Undated.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
Musical recording session at Bible Way Temple, located in northwest Washington, D.C., to create CD of religious music. Contents include First Fruits, Cureton Family, and Bible Way Choir.
Music. Related to Speak to My Heart: Communities of Faith and Contemporary African American Life. Dated 19980423.
Biographical / Historical:
Speak to My Heart: Communities of Faith and Contemporary African American Life examined the faith and spiritual traditions in African American religious life in the 1990s. The exhibition featured members of Christian churches as well as those of other faiths. Special attention was given to the ways that African American congregations were responding to contemporary challenges affecting their families, neighborhoods, and communities. The exhibition was developed by the Smithsonian Institution's Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, and held at The Arts and Industries Building, North Gallery, 900 Jefferson Street, SW, Washington, D.C. from February 1998 to August 1999.
Local Numbers:
ACMA AV002234
Series Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Some items are not accessible due to obsolete format and playback machinery restrictions. Please contact the archivist at ACMarchives@si.edu.
24 Sound tape reels (Tapes VG-0001 - VG-0021 have been digitally transferred at 96kHz/24-bit with the exception of tapes VG-0018 and VG-0019. Tape VG-0018 has been transferred poorly. Tapes VG-0019, VG-0022, VG-0023, VG-0024 require conservation prior to transfer.)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Sound tape reels
Sermons
Date:
Undated, 1968-1979
Summary:
The Verna Gillis audio recordings consist of 24 open-reel tapes. The field recordings document work done by folklorist Verna Gillis in Haiti, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, and Cuba.
Scope and Contents:
The Verna Gillis audio recordings consist of 24 open-reel tapes. The field recordings document work done by folklorist Verna Gillis in Haiti, Oklahoma, Philadelphia, and Cuba between 1968-1979. Most recordings are of vodou ceremonies recorded in Haiti and church services led by Bishop Audrey F. Bronson. Also notable are performances by Comanche artist Joyce Lee "Doc" Tate Nevaquaya, an American Indian flute player.
Arrangement:
The Verna Gillis audio recordings are arranged according to numbers assigned to the open reel tapes by the RRFAC. Where more than one tape from the same day or event exists, those tapes are kept together in the overall arrangement.
Biographical / Historical:
Verna Gillis (b. 1942) is a New York-based music producer and holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology. She is known for her successful efforts to bring musicians from various immigrant communities to the forefront of the New York City music scene, helping to usher music from the Carribean, Africa, and Latin America into the mainstream of American life during the 1970s and 80s.
She was an Assistant Professor at Brooklyn College from 1974 to 1980 and at Carnegie Mellon University from 1988 to 1990.
From 1972 to 1979, Gillis recorded traditional music in Afghanistan, Iran, Kashmir, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Peru, Surinam, and Ghana.
In 1979, she opened Soundscape, a non-profit multi-cultural performance space in New York City, on west 52nd Street which she directed for the next five years. A New York Times profile from 1990 described the energy and importance of the performance space at this time: Gillis would book "lectures by the jazz saxophonist Archie Shepp, voodoo ceremonies by the Haitian ensemble Troupe Makandal, art rock by the guitarist Arto Lindsay. David Byrne, Hal Wilner and Bill Laswell of the downtown musical crowd were regular listeners. The two giants of free jazz, Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman, collaborated for the first time ever in Soundscape, playing informally together over a two-week span of 1980." [1]
Gillis had to close Soundscape in 1987 after it went too deeply into debt, but she continued to be a force in the music community of the city. Gillis began a new career managing and producing international musicians including Youssou N'dour from Senegal, Yomo Toro from Puerto Rico, Salif Keita form Mali, and Carlinhos Brown from Brazil.
Gillis produced sixteen albums on Folkways/Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, which include music from the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Cuba, the Gambia, and Philadelphia, PA, as well as American Indian music and spoken word.
She was nominated for two GRAMMYs for her work as a producer: in 2000 for the Archie Shepp/Roswell Rudd Quartet Live in New York, and again in 2001 for Roswell Rudd's MALIcool.
Scope and Contents notes for each tape are composed of transcribed notes from the recto and verso of tape boxes. Archivist notes are in brackets.
Restrictions:
Access by appointment only. Contact the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at (202) 633-7322 or rinzlerarchives@si.edu for additional information.
Rights:
Copyright restrictions apply. Contact archives staff for information.
Correspondents: Hermon C. Bumpus, H.U. Mudge, A.G. Wells, John W. Winser, John H. Cobbs, George Gustav Heye, Benjamin Talbot Babbitt Hyde, Wilhelm (Guillermo) Bauer, Joseph Hagemeister, Emily de Forest, F. Schillinger, Sumner Matteson.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish or broadcast materials from the collection must be requested from the National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiarchives@si.edu.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Museum of the American Indian/Heye Foundation Records, Box and Folder Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
101 Gospel and Anthem and Rhyming Songs / Johnson Family.
102 Sacred Songs of the Bahamas / Dicey Doh Singers.
Local Numbers:
FP-1994-CT-0048
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, July 1, 1994.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
101 Gospel and Anthem Singing, Rhyming Songs / Johnson Family, Osborne Ossie King, Ed Moxey, Cat Island Mites (Musical group). Accordion.
102 Rhyming Songs / Dicey Doh Singers.
Local Numbers:
FP-1994-CT-0049-7
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, July 1, 1994.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
102 Gospel and Anthem and Rhyming Songs / Johnson Family.
103 Sacred Songs / Sons of Andros.
Local Numbers:
FP-1994-CT-0050-7
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, July 1, 1994.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. Some duplication is allowed. Use of materials needs permission of the Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights:
Copyright and other restrictions may apply. Generally, materials created during a Festival are covered by a release signed by each participant permitting their use for personal and educational purposes; materials created as part of the fieldwork leading to a Festival may be more restricted. We permit and encourage such personal and educational use of those materials provided digitally here, without special permissions. Use of any materials for publication, commercial use, or distribution requires a license from the Archives. Licensing fees may apply in addition to any processing fees.
