Blowin' in the wind; New World Singers.--Ballad of old Monroe; Pete Seeger.--John Brown; Blind Boy Grunt.--As long as the grass shall grow; Peter La Farge.--William Worthy; Phil Ochs.--Benny Kid Paret; Gil Turner.--Faubus' follies; Peter La Farge.--I will not go down under the ground ; Happy Traum.--Only a hobo, Talkin' Devil.; Blind Boy Grunt.--Ain't gonna let segregation turn us around; Freedom Singers.--Go limp; Matt McGinn.--Bizness ain't dead; New World Singers.--The civil defense sign; Mark Spoelstra.--I can see a new day; New World Singers.
Local Numbers:
FW-ASCH-LP-1019
Le Chant Du Monde.55301
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
France Chant du Monde, Le
General:
Program notes, and texts inserted in container. Performer(s): Topical songs from Broadside magazine.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. No duplication allowed listening and viewing for research purposes only.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Blowin' in the wind; New World Singers.--Ballad of old Monroe; Pete Seeger.--John Brown; Blind Boy Grunt.--As long as the grass shall grow; Peter La Farge.--William Worthy; Phil Ochs.--Benny Kid Paret; Gil Turner.--Faubus' follies; Peter La Farge.--I will not go down under the ground ; Happy Traum.--Only a hobo, Talkin' Devil.; Blind Boy Grunt.--Ain't gonna let segregation turn us around; Freedom Singers.--Go limp; Matt McGinn.--Bizness ain't dead; New World Singers.--The civil defense sign; Mark Spoelstra.--I can see a new day; New World Singers.
Track Information:
101 Fabus Foibles / Peter La Farge. Guitar.
102 Let Me Die in My Footsteps / Bob Dylan, Happy Traum. Guitar.
103 Only a Hobo / Bob Dylan. Guitar.
103 Talkin' Devil / Bob Dylan. Guitar.
103 Ain't Gonna Let Segregation Turn Us Around / Freedom Singers.
104 Go Limp / Matt McGinn.
105 Bizness Ain't Dead / Happy Traum, New World Singers, Gil Turner. Guitar.
107 I Can See a New Day / Happy Traum, New World Singers, Gil Turner. Guitar.
106 Civil Defense Sign / Mark Spoelstra. Guitar.
Local Numbers:
FW-ASCH-10RR-3047
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: New York, United States.
General:
Folkways 55301B
Topical songs from Broadside magazine.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. No duplication allowed listening and viewing for research purposes only.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
The struggle / L. Hughes (0:22) -- Field call / A.G.H. Dodson (1:15) -- Complaint call / E. Brown (0:40) -- Intro and Kneebone Bend / L. McKiver, D. Skipper (2:51) -- Brother Terrapin, slow train to Arkansas / R. Amerson (1:56) -- Jack and Mary and three dogs / J. Hunter (5:53) -- Buck dance / J. Tucker (1:19) -- I'm goin' up north / Children of East York School (1:22) -- Pharaoh's host got lost / L. McKiver (1:32) -- Bars fight / L. Terry (read by A. Bontemps) (1:23) -- Earl of Dartmouth / P. Wheatley (read by D.F. Washington) (0:49) -- I wonder where my brother gone / A.G.H. Dodson (1:17) -- Narrative / H. Tubman (read by D.F. Washington) (0:59) -- Speech at Akron Convention / S. Truth (read by R. Dee) (2:05) -- Singing slaves / F. Douglass (read by O. Davis) (1:03) -- Steal away to Jesus / K. West (1:50) -- What to the slave is the Fourth of July? / F. Douglass (read by O. Davis) (2:36) -- Why slavery is still rampant / S.P. Parker (read by R. Dee) (1:47) -- Free at last / D. Reed and V.H. Ward (1:33) -- When Malindy sings / P.L. Dunbar (read by M. Walker) (3:48) -- There's a great camp meeting / Fisk Jubilee Singers (2:01) -- Atlanta Exposition address / B.T. Washington (1:16) -- John Henry / B. McGhee and S. Terry (4:03) -- Banjo player / F. Johnson (read by A. Bontemps) (0:44) -- Boatman dance / E. Cotten (1:42) -- Shine / P. Randolph (1:03) -- Chopping in the new ground / Inmates of Ramsay or Retrieve State Farms, TX (1:37) -- Lynching, our national crime / I.B. Wells-Barnett (read by R. Dee) (3:43) -- A recorded autobiography / W.E.B. Du Bois (2:33) -- Listen Lord, a prayer / J.W. Johnson (read by M. Walker) (2:55) -- My heart is fixed / G. Davis (2:04) -- The Titanic / Lead Belly (4:04) -- Heritage / C. Cullen (2:58) -- Jungle drums / J.P. Johnson (2:32). No more auction block / P. Robeson (2:09) -- Negro speaks of rivers / L. Hughes (0:43) -- If we must die / C. McKay (0:57) -- Ma Rainey / S. Brown (2:06) -- Backwater blues / B.B. Broonzy (2:47) -- Married man blues / B. and D.D. Pierce (5:11) -- For my people / M. Walker (5:41) -- Children of the poor, sonnet 2 / G. Brooks (0:47) -- Body and soul / G. Nicholas (3:48) -- How He delivered me / J. Johnson & the Gospel Tones (2:39) -- Long distance call / M. Waters (6:58) -- Cry to me / S. Burke (2:13) -- Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around / SNCC Freedom Singers (2:31) -- Birmingham 1963 - Keep moving / M.L. King, Jr. (3:42) -- Black Panther Party platform / B. Seale (2:59) -- Interview (excerpt) / A. Davis (1:05) -- Together to the tune of Coltrane's "Equinox" / S.W. Fabio (1:40) -- Nikki-Rosa / N. Giovanni (1:12) -- Liberation/poem / S. Sanchez (0:34) -- Dope / A. Baraka (4:48) -- Village of Brooklyn, Illinois / H. Bluiett (3:30) -- For the poets / J. Cortez (3:56) -- Shotgun Joe / Golden Eagles (5:19) -- St. Louis woman / I. Reed (1:26) -- People everyday / Arrested Development (3:27).
Track Information:
101 The Struggle / Langston Hughes.
102 Field Call / Annie Grace Horn Dodson.
103 Complaint Call / Enoch Brown.
104 Intro and Knee Bend / Doretha Skipper, Lawrence McIver.
105 Brother Terrapin, Slow Train to Arkansas / Rich Amerson.
106 Jack and Mary and Three Dogs / Janie Hunter.
107 Buck Dance (excerpt) / Joech Tucker, Scott Dunbar.
108 I'm Goin' Up North / Children of East York School.
109 Pharaoh's Host Got Lost / Lawrence McIver.
110 Bar Fights / Arna Wendell Bontemps, Lucy Terry.
111 Earl of Dartmouth (excerpt) / Dorothy Washington, Phillis Wheatley.
112 I Wonder Where My Brother Gone / Annie Grace Horn Dodson.
114 Speech at Akron Convention / Ruby Dee, Sojourner Truth.
115 Singing Slaves / Frederick Douglass, Ossie Davis.
116 Steal Away to Jesus / Kinsey West.
117 What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? (excerpt) / Frederick Douglass, Ossie Davis.
118 Why Slvery is Still Rampant (excerpt) / Ruby Dee, Sarah Parker Remond.
119 Free At Last / Dock Reed, Vera Hall.
120 When Malindy Sings / Margaret Walker, Paul Laurence Dunbar.
121 There's A Great Camp Meeting / Jubilee Singers, John W. (John Wesley) Work, Mary Ferguson.
122 Atlanta Exposition Address / Booker T. Washington.
123 John Henry / Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry.
124 Banjo Player / Arna Wendell Bontemps, Fenton Johnson.
125 Boatman Dance / Elizabeth Cotten.
126 Shine / Percy Randolph.
127 Chopping in the New Ground / Inmates of Ramsey or Retrieve.
128 Lynching, Our National Crime / Ruby Dee, Ida B. Wells-Barnett.
129 A Recorded Autobiography / Moses Asch, W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt) DuBois.
130 Listen Lord, A Prayer / Margaret Walker, James Weldon Johnson.
131 My Heart is Fixed / Gary Davis.
132 The Titanic / Lead Belly.
133 Heritage / Countee Cullen.
134 Jungle Drums / James P. (James Price) Johnson.
201 No More Auction Block / Paul Robeson.
202 The Negro Speaks of Rivers / Langston Hughes.
203 If We Must Die / Claude McKay.
204 Ma Rainey / Sterling Brown.
205 Backwater Blues / Bill Broonzy.
206 Married Man Blues / Billie Pierce, De De Pierce.
207 For My People / Margaret Walker.
208 The Children of the Poor, Sonnet 2 / Gwendolyn Brooks.
209 Body and Soul / David Jackson, Big Nick Nicholas, John Miller.
210 How He Delivered Me / Gospel Tones (Vocal group), Juanita Johnson.
211 Long Distance Calls / Otis Spann, Muddy Waters.
212 Cry To Me / Realtones, Marc Ribot, Solomon Burke.
213 Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around / Freedom Singers.
214 Birmingham 1963 - Keep Moving / Martin Luther, Jr. King.
215 Black Panther Party Platform / Bobby Seale.
216 Interview (excerpt) / Angela Yvonne Davis.
217 Together to the Tune of Coltrane's "Equinox" (excerpt) / Ronald Fabio, Sarah Webster Fabio, Wayne Wallace.
218 Nikki-Rosa / Nikki Giovanni.
219 liberation/poem / Sonia Sanchez.
220 Dope / Imamu Amiri Baraka.
221 The Village of Brooklyn, Illinois 62059 (excerpt) / Hamiet Bluiett.
222 For the Poets / Jayne Cortez.
223 Shotgun Joe / Golden Eagles (Musical group), Joseph Boudreaux.
224 St. Louis Woman / Ishmael Reed.
225 People Everyday / Arrested Development (Musical group).
Local Numbers:
SF-COMM-CD-47003
Smithsonian Folkways.47003
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Folkways 2001
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Birmingham (Ala.), Albany (Ga.), Washington (D.C.), Texas, New Orleans (La.), Louisiana, Chapel Hill (N.C.), North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, New York, United States.
General:
Commercial
compiled, annotated and produced by Robert H. Cataliotti
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. No duplication allowed listening and viewing for research purposes only.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Extent:
100 Cubic feet (309 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Audiocassettes
Audiotapes
Videotapes
Photographs
Date:
1850-2004, undated
Summary:
The collection primarily documents the activities of the National Museum of American History's Program in African American Culture (PAAC) dating from 1979 through 2004. The Program in African American Culture (PAAC) created public programs documenting the black experience in the United States, as well as, other countries. Archival materials include photographs, programs, administrative files, magnetic tape, audiocassettes, U-matic and VHS video cassettes.
Scope and Contents:
The collection consists primarily of administrative files, audio, video, and photographic documentation of the programs presented by the Program in African American Culture (PAAC) from 1979 through 2004. There is a substantial amount of material documenting research conducted by the Program in African American Culture (PAAC) for its programming. In addition, administrative paperwork relating to the day-to-day activities of the Program in African American Culture (PAAC) are also included in the materials.
The collection is divided into four series. Series one consists of the material created for each program and is arranged in chronological order. Series two contains background materials and publications relating to subjects of program interest and is arranged in alphabetical order. Series three includes correspondence, contracts, resumes of presenters and performers and other forms of administrative files. Series four are materials relating to Smithsonian Institution or outside programs and performances.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into four series.
Series 1, Programs Files, 1979-2004, undated
Series 2, Research Files, 1850-1995, undated
Series 3, Administrative Files, 1850-1995, undated
Series 4, Interviews, Speaking Engagements and Performances, 1964-2000, undated
Biographical / Historical:
The Program in African American Culture (PAAC) is a Smithsonian Institution research and programming office located in the National Museum of American History that was created as an outgrowth of the African Diaspora component of the 1975 and 1976 Festival of American Folklife. Founding director, Bernice Johnson Reagon, developed the Program in Black Culture, as the PAAC was originally, as a center for researching and presenting topics of interest to the study of African American history and culture. Reagon is a song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist, who was a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singers in the Albany Movement in Georgia. The Program, which was transferred to the National Museum of American History in 1983, provided, and continues to provide, a forum for the presentation of traditional and historical forms of African American cultural expression. To accomplish this, Program in African American Culture (PAAC) staff conducted thorough research, which resulted in public programs including conferences, concerts, colloquia, and seminars on a wide range of topics.
Related Materials:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Duke Ellington Collection (NMAH.AC0301)
Ruth Ellington Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (NMAH.AC0415)
Eugene D. Smallwood Gospel Music Collection (NMAH.AC0456)
Wade in the Water Radio Series Collection (NMAH.AC0516)
Moses Moon Civil Rights Movement Audio Collection (NMAH.AC0556)
Bernice Reagon Johnson Collection of African American Sacred Music (NMAH.AC0653)
Edward and Gaye Collection of Duke Ellington Materials (NMAH.AC0704)
Ed King Collection of Civil Rights Material (NMAH.AC0559)
Smithsonian Institution
Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1969 Festival of American Folklife (CFCH.SFF.1969)
Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, June 25-July 6, 1997 (CFCH.SFF.1997)
Diana Davies Photographs (CFCH.DAVIE)
Smithsonian Institution Archivesemph>
Oral History Interview with Bernice Reagon Johnson, 1986
(Accession 009612)
National Museum of American History, Program in African American Culture, 1982-2002 (Accession 05-116)
National Museum of American History, Program in African American Culture, 1983-2004 (Accession 06-002)
National Museum of American History, Program in African American Culture, 1972-1999 (Accession 08-107)
National Museum of American History, Program in African American Culture, 1975-2000 (Accession 12-102)
National Museum of American History, Program in African American Culture, 1976-1999 (Accession 12-358)
National Museum of American History, Program in African American Culture, 1980-1992, 1961 (Accession 96-147)
Duke Ellington Collection Records, circa 1985-1993 (Accession 98-129)
National Museum of American History, Program in Black American Culture, circa 1976-1987 (Accession 98-136)
Smithsonian Institution. Division of Performing Arts (Accession 84-012)
Provenance:
Collection created by the Program in African Amerian Culture at the Smithsonian Institution from 1979-1986.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
The collection documents the customs and culture of black gospel song and its performance in 19th- and 20th-century America. Dr. Reagon collected photographs, sheet music, and other primary and secondary sources chronicling the development and legacy of this medium, from the Civil War to the Civil Rights movement, from blues to Gospel to classical to jazz.
Among the subjects included in this collection are trailblazers such as Charles Tindley, Thomas A. Dorsey, Rosetta Tharpe, Duke Ellington, and Nathaniel Dett. Noted performers are the Fisk Jubilee Singers, the Harmonizing Four, the Hampton University Choir, and the Chick Webb Orchestra.
Scope and Contents:
The Bernice Johnson Reagon Collection of the African American Sacred Music Tradition documents the music, and the society, history, and customs from which it emerged. The materials were collected by Dr. Reagon during her tenure as Director of the Program in Black American Culture, Curator, and Curator Emerita at the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution (1977-1997). The records span the nineteenth century and greater part of the twentieth century. The collection is important because it allows an understanding of the interconnectivity of African American musical forms. Gospel, Jazz, and Protest Songs document the African experience in America through verse and melody. Dr. Reagon collected photographs, sheet music and other primary and secondary sources chronicling the development of African American sacred music tradition from its birth during the period of slavery through the creation of concert spiritual, gospel music, jazz and the performance of protest song in the century following Emancipation.
The records, which measure approximately six linear feet, contain photographs, sheet music, and what Dr. Reagon calls "cultural files" pertaining to figures in, types of, and history of African American music. The cultural file material formats include book, news and magazine articles, programs, bio-sketches, and music. Information about personalities such as Marian Anderson, La Verne Baker, Dorothy Love Coates, Nathaniel Dett, Thomas Dorsey, Frederick Douglass, Duke Ellington, and the Golden Gate Quartet are contained among the collection materials. Also, there are items on gospel trailblazers such as Charles Tindley, Thomas A. Dorsey, and Rosetta Tharpe. In addition, the collection features materials connected to historians and other scholars who participated in a number of teams Reagon organized to carry out specific research initiatives in sacred music traditions and the larger African American experience.
The collection, which was arranged by Dr. Reagon and staff, consists of four parts: a cultural file, a sheet music file, a photography file, and a negative file. The cultural file includes primary documents such as programs from historic performances, personal letters, press releases, and programs from scholarly conferences as well as secondary materials such as journal articles, excerpts from books, and biographical notes. The photography (and negative) files contain photographs of performers and scholars who have participated in the evolution of the African American sacred music tradition. The sheet music file encompasses songbooks and individual pieces of music.
Series 1: Cultural Files, ca. 1836 - 1994: The bulk of materials date from the 1920's to the 1960's. Four document boxes of materials which relate to prominent personalities, groups and events that contributed to the popularization of African American sacred music. Also included in this series is information on slave songs, the Civil War, the Black Church, the Civil Rights Movement, and popular music culture.
Series 2: Sheet Music, ca. 1901 - 1993: The bulk of materials date from the 1900's to the 1950's. Three document boxes of sacred music sheets and songbooks including concert, spiritual, and gospel arrangements. Also included are a few popular compositions, some written by classically trained musicians.
Series 3: Negative Files, ca. 1880's - 1993: The bulk of the materials ranges from 1940 to 1965. Two boxes document boxes of photographic negatives depicting gospel music performers and performances. Included .are contact sheets and individual negatives of varying sizes.
Series 4: Photographs and Illustrations, ca. 1822 - 1993: The bulk of materials range from the 1900's to the 1980's. Eight document boxes of photographs featuring gospel performers, performances, sacred rituals, sacred organizations, Civil Rights activity , and gospel music conferences (primarily black and white).
Biographical / Historical:
Bernice Johnson Reagon, noted vocalist, musician, curator, historian, writer and civil rights activist, provided the impetus for the Smithsonian Institution's research into African American sacred song and music traditions from 1977 until ca. 1997.
Dr. Reagon was born October 2, 1942 to a rural Georgia Baptist minister (Jesse Johnson) and his wife (Beatrice Wise) whose religious influence is evident in her research and performance style. She came of age during the 1960's Civil Rights era, and was a Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singer. The SNCC Freedom Singers were an African American group whose vocal singing style was an integral element in the civil rights struggles. The Singers traveled throughout the country performing protest songs such as "We Shall Not Be Moved" and "This Little Light of Mine". Their songs reflected the Black church theology of the era, emphasizing freedom, long denied, but fervently sought by civil rights activists and the people they represented.
At one march, Reagon was jailed along with hundreds of other demonstrators. This experience taught her the importance of music as a political act. Reagon reflected on this in the book We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey in the Rock... She founded Sweet Honey in the Rock, a highly regarded female a capella ensemble dedicated to performing traditional music of the African diaspora in 1973, started working full time at the Smithsonian Institution in 1974, and earned a Ph. D. from Howard University in 1975.
Reagon's life has combined political activism with music and cultural history. She began directing the Smithsonian's Program in Black American Culture in 1976. In 1988 she became a curator at the National Museum of American History and after retirement in 1993 continued her work in African American songs of protest and sacred traditions as a curator emeritus at the Smithsonian and a distinguished professor at American University.
Dr. Reagon has authored and edited numerous publications including, We'll Understand It Better By and By: African American Pioneering Gospel Composers, (Smithsonian Press, 1992) and We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey in the Rock...Still on the Journey (Anchor Books, 1993). She was principal scholar, producer and host of the National Public Radio series "Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions (1994). Dr. Reagon has served as consultant composer and performer for several film and video projects including programs for PBS,"Eye on the Prize" (Blackside Productions) and "We Shall Overcome" (Ginger Productions), and has won a number of awards for her scholarship and pioneering work (MacArthur Fellowship, 1989; the Charles Frankel Prize,1995 and the Isadora Duncan award, 1996).
Provenance:
Collection donated by Bernice Johnson Reagon.
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.
File consists of fliers from Ash Grove. Performers include: Joe Maphis, Bill Monroe, Clarence Ashley, Doc Watson, Roscoe Holcomb, Rita Weil, Frank Hamilton, Jack Elliott, Bess Hawes, The New Road Singers, Mance Lipscomb, Cousin Emmy, Coast Mountain Ramblers, Crown Junction Stompers. File also includes flier for Pete Seeger and The Freedom Singers presented by Edwin M. Pearl. Flier for Maphis, Monroe, Ashley, Watson, Holcomb includes inscription from Mike Seeger to Jeff Place on reverse.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections is by appointment only. Visit our website for more information on scheduling a visit or making a digitization request. Researchers interested in accessing born-digital records or audiovisual recordings in this collection must use access copies.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Collection Citation:
Ralph Rinzler papers and audio recordings, Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections, Smithsonian Institution.
Recorded by Moses Moon (known at the time as Alan Ribback) and assisted by Norris McNamara during 1963 and 1964, the collection includes audio recordings of interviews with civil rights leaders and participants as well as free-style recordings of mass meetings, voter registration events, and other gatherings organized by Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This collection provides a mostly unfiltered documentation of significant moments in the civil rights movement.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 115 reel to reel audio recordings containing interviews, mass meetings, demonstrations, and conversations concerning the civil rights movement, and in particular the voter registration drives organized by SNCC in Alabama and Mississippi in 1963 and 1964. Mass meetings were recorded in Greenwood, Mississippi; Americus, Georgia; Selma, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; Danville, Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and Indianola, Mississippi. Major demonstrations recorded include the March on Washington in August of 1963, Freedom Day in Selma, Alabama in October of 1963, and Freedom Day in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in January of 1964. Interviews with SNCC workers include Julian Bond, John Lewis, James Forman, Bruce Gordon, Prathia Hall, Ivanhoe Donaldson, Bob Moses, Avery Williams, Willie Peacock, Bruce Boynton and his mother, as well as dozens of others involved in the movement, who are named in the collection inventory. Many of those interviewed were actively involved in strategizing and carrying out SNCC demonstrations and political actions, and many were victims of death threats, beatings, unlawful arrest, police brutality, and torture and abuse in prison. These interviews contain detailed eyewitness accounts and personal testimony regarding these experiences, as well as personal history and thoughts about the movement, the South, and the future.
It is clear from what we know of the dates and locations of these recordings, as well as from documentation of these events in other sources, that many of these recordings are unique documents of important events in American history, which may also contain the commentary of important political and cultural figures who were involved in the movement. For example, an article by Howard Zinn recounts how an unidentified man recorded James Baldwin on October 7, 1963, Freedom Day in Selma, on the steps of the courthouse. Baldwin was furious at the lack of support from nearby federal agents as state troopers advanced on peaceful demonstrators. One of the tapes dated October 7, 1963, originally labeled "courthouse interviews," appears to be this recoding, although Baldwin is not named. The same article (available in The Howard Zinn Reader) recounts the mass meetings which led up to that demonstration, at which actor Dick Gregory gave a rousing sermon as his wife sat in jail for demonstrating in Selma. The Moses Moon Collection may be the only existing audio recording of that sermon as well as many other sermons and speeches.
Moses Moon changed his name after these recordings were made. He is referred to in the finding aid as Alan Ribback because that name is used on the recordings.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged in two series.Series 1 is in chronological order to the degree recording dates can be determined, and is based on the locations and dates provided by Moon in his description or gleaned from the recordings themselves and other secondary sources. Series 1 contains 17 groups of recordings.
Moon's original numbers are recorded in the column next to the descriptions. Following the first four Greenwood tapes, which are numbered sequentially, Moon's numbering system took the first two letters of the town in which the recordings were made, a one (1), a decimal, and then a tape number. Numbers preceding the town code refer to the recording day. "N" numbers were later assigned by Moon to the 7" reels only, after the original recordings were made, possibly during editing or when the tapes were made available to the Program in African American Culture.
Series 1, Original Tapes
1. Greenwood, Mississippi; Spring 1963; 4 7" reels
2. Chicago, Illinois; August 9, 12, 1963; 2 5" reels
16. Monroe County, Mississippi; August 1, 1964; 4 5" reels
17. Milton, Mississippi; August 16, 1964; 3 5" reels
Series 2, Preservation Masters consists of data DVDs for a portion of the collection.
Biographical / Historical:
Moses Moon was born Alan Ribback in 1928. During the 1950s until 1962, Ribback was the proprietor of the Gate of Horn, Chicago's premier folk music club, which featured performers including Bob Gibson, Odetta, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Jo Mapes, Peter, Paul and Mary, Lenny Bruce, and Shelley Berman. On December 5, 1962, Lenny Bruce was arrested during a performance at the Gate of Horn along with Ribback, George Carlin, and others. As a result of the arrest and Bruce's subsequent conviction for obscenity, the club was closed by the City of Chicago, and Ribback left Chicago with Norris McNamara, an audio technician, to record folk concerts taking place in the South as part of the growing civil rights movement. From the spring of 1963 until the summer of 1964, Ribback and McNamara recorded demonstrations and mass meetings and interviewed civil rights activists, primarily those involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Later, Ribback moved to New York and edited his recordings into an album called Movement Soul. Ribback married Delia Moon in 1971, took her last name and changed his first name to Moses. In 1979, Bernice Reagon Johnson, working with the Program on African American Culture at the Smithsonian, contacted Moon and borrowed the recordings of mass meetings for a 1980 program on the voices of the civil rights movement. In the late 1980s, Moon was stricken with a severe case of Guillain-Barre syndrome, which left him paralyzed. Moon donated the entire collection of original recordings shortly before his death in 1993.
Related Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations
The papers of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee are held by the King Library and Archives in Atlanta, Georgia; archives@thekingcenter.org.
Provenance:
Donated by Moses and Delia Moon in 1995.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Reference copies must be used. Tapes noted in the container list have digital reference copies in the Smithsonian Institution Digital Asset Management System (DAMS).
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but copyright status unknown. Contact Archives Center staff for additional information. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
African American civil rights workers. Search this
Moses Moon Civil Rights Movement Audio Collection, 1963-1964, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution.
Sponsor:
Partial funding for preservation and duplication of the original audio tapes provided by a National Museum of American History Collections Committee Jackson Fund Preservation Grant.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 6, Folder 8
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1980
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 17, Folder 5-6
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1988 January 16
Scope and Contents:
Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. commemoration held Saturday, January 16, 1988, in the Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. The program included a lecture and discussion given by Dorothy Cotton and a song workshop conducted by Dorothy Cotton, with a special appearance by the Original Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singers, including Rutha Harris, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Charles Neblett, and Cordell Reagon. The program also included a museum tour of objects and exhibitions related to the history of social change in America
Program number AC408.53.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 20, Folder 9
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1991 January 19
Scope and Contents:
On Saturday, January 19, 1991, the Program in African American Culture presented African American Student Movements: The Art of Struggle Program in the Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, in commemoration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The program included two lectures and a song workshop, featuring John Bracey, Bernice Johnson Reagon and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee Freedom Singers. It also included a museum tour of objects and exhibitions related to the history of social change in America. The program consists of audio and video recordings. Program number AC408.69.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 25, Folder 4
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1997 January 18
Scope and Contents:
Annual commemoration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented on January 18, 1997. Niani Kilkenny made welcome remarks. Program offered a conversation with Reverend C. T. Vivian, Anne Braden and Bernice Johnson Reagon, audience questions and discussion. A musical concert in the Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution featured the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singers, Betty Mae Fikes, Rutha Mae Harris, and Charles Neblett, with Bernice Johnson Reagon in memory of Cordell Hull Reagon. Program number AC0408.99.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 26, Folder 7
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
2003 August 22
Scope and Contents:
The program "Bearing Witness to a Dream Deferred" commemorated the 40th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. On August 28, 1963, an estimated crowd of 250,000 to 500,000 people gathered for the historic event. At the time this was the largest and most widely covered political demonstration in American history, and it captured the attention of the United States and the world. People listened to speeches and songs calling for the passage of the Civil Rights Bill, desegregation of schools and housing, elimination of racial discrimination in hiring, job training, an increase in the minimum wage, and the enforcement of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. The finale of the day was Martin Luther King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech. The program format was a roundtable discussion, followed by audience questions and discussion, and culminating in songs of struggle and freedom by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) freedom singers.
The program took place in the Carmichael Auditorium at the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution. It was sponsored by the Program in African American Culture in collaboration with the Honorable John Lewis, United States House of Representatives, Georgia (D), the Honorable Reverend Walter E. Fauntroy, Co-Convener, and the 40th Anniversary March on Washington Coalition.
Participants included:
Reverend Walter E. Fauntroy, pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church, Washington, DC; and president, National Black Leadership Roundtable (NBLR)
Rutha Mae Harris, educator of exceptional students, Monroe Comprehensive High School; and founder of the Albany Civil Rights Museum Freedom singers, Georgia
The Honorable John Lewis, Congressman, Georgia's Fifth Congressional District, United States House of Representatives
Charles D. Neblett, first Black elected magistrate, Logan County, Kentucky
The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delegate for the District of Columbia, United States House of Representatives
Bernice Johnson Reagon, Ph.D., scholar, composer, singer, activist, and professor emeritus, history, American University
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singers, traveled throughout the United States spreading the Civil Rights Message
Program number AC408.121.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 61, Reel 6
Type:
Archival materials
Audio
Date:
1963
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 61, Reel 4
Type:
Archival materials
Audio
Date:
1963-10
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 61, Reel 9
Type:
Archival materials
Audio
Date:
1966-12-12
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Extent:
1 Sound tape reel
Container:
Box 112, Item 3
Type:
Archival materials
Audio
Sound tape reels
Date:
circa 1963
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 113, Cassette 15
Type:
Archival materials
Audio
Date:
1980-02-02
Scope and Contents:
Wednesday, January 30, 1980, Songleaders' Workshop. Session I: "Introductions Through Song"
Side A
Bernice Johnson Reagon, Director of the Program in African American Culture in Performing Arts at the Smithsonian Institution, welcomes conference attendees.
Julian Euell, Assistant Secretary for Public Service, Smithsonian Institution, gives welcome speech discussing the Office of Public Service's work with African American culture; the need to recapture the spirit of change present in the 1960s; and the need to use the feeling and energy of the 1960s to progress into the 1980s.
Bernice Johnson Reagon discusses the role of the Smithsonian in representing American cultures. Explains the conference is a result of the Civil Rights' Movement which addressed the potential of society.
Introduction of the songleaders. Each songleader introduces self with a
song.
Bernice Johnson Reagon, Albany, Georgia, Albany College, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sings "Shine On Me."
Cordell Reagon (continued) sings "If You Walk For Freedom."
Guy Carawan, Highlander Research Center; Nashville, Tennessee. Speaks about the Highlander Center and its role in developing folk music, especially in the Civil Rights' Movement, and traveling throughout the South in the 1960s.
Guy and Candie Carawan perform "They Go Wild Over Me."
Willie Peacock, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); Mississippi. Speaks of his inspiration to make change. Sings "Come By Here."
Amanda Bowens Perdew, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); Americus, Georgia Movement; Americus Trio. Tells the story of her first mass meeting. Sings "I Ain't Scared A' Your Jail."
Charles Neblett, Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); Cairo, Illinois; Freedom Singers I and II;
Mississippi Summer Project '64.
Collection Restrictions:
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture Search this
Container:
Box 113, Cassette 17
Type:
Archival materials
Audio
Date:
1980-02-02
Scope and Contents:
Wednesday. January 30. 1980 Songleaders' Workshop. Session I: "Introductions Through Song" 10:30 am - 11:30 am
Side A
CHARLES NEBLETT (cont.)
Sings "Which Side Are You On?"
HOLLIS WATKINS, SNCC; Mississippi.
Sings "I'm Gonna Leave You In the Hands Of the Lord"
"Which Side Are You On?"
CLEO KENNEDY, Birmingham Movement; SCLC.
Sings "One Day Men Will Walk Together (Side By Side)" or "Can't You See
Freedom Coming?"
REVEREND CHARLES SHERROD, Sit-in Movement; SNCC; Rock Hill,
NC; Southwest Georgia Project.
Sings "Do What the Spirit Says Do"
SideB
REVEREND CHARLES SHERROD (cont.)
JOYCELYN (MICAELA) McKISSICK (MYERS), Sit-in Movement;
CORE; CORE Freedom Singers.
Speaks about African American men in the prison system and the
CORE Freedom Singers.
Sings "Take My Hand, Precious Lord"
CHICO NEBLETT, SNCC; Cairo, IL; Freedom Singers I and II; Southwest
Georgia Project; Mississippi Summer Project '64.
Sings "Brother You're Right (We Gonna Fight For Our Rights)"
EVESTER SIMPSON MORRIS
Sings "This Little Light Of Mine"
Collection is open for research. Access and use of audiovisual materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of audiovisual materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu
Collection Rights:
Copyright restrictions exist. Collection items available for reproduction Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
Program in African American Culture Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
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