Representations of Blackness in Music of the United States (1830s-1920s)

<p>This collection is a grouping of over 1,400 items dating from the 1830s to the 1920s. The contents of the collection depict representations of Black diasporic people and cultures through close to a century of illustrations and musical and lyrical compositions found in sheet music publications. The collection depicts representations of Blackness during an era dominated by the sheet music publishing industry and prior to the recording industry’s eventual domination over the commercial market which began in the 1920s.</p> <p>While white-dominant representations of Blackness span the majority of years of this collection, representations of Black diasporic peoples by Black performers and composers date to as early as the 1870s with the formation of the first African American Blackface performers and minstrel troupes, and become increasingly visible by the 1890s during the beginnings of African American musical theater. The collection ends with works that point to the age of jazz, commercial blues, and African American musical theater of the 1920s. However, popular musical representations of Blackness continued to proliferate well beyond the dates spanning this collection, up to and including our popular music and media of today.</p> <p>For additional information, context, and historical essays about the music in this collection please see the website created by the Brown University Library's Center for Digital Scholarship: <a href="https://library.brown.edu/cds/sheetmusic/afam/">African American Sheet Music</a></p> <p>For questions about this collection, or other materials in the John Hay Library, contact hay@brown.edu.</p>
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Items in this collection

Coon Hollow capers:: march and two step

words by W. Murdock Lind which may be sung ad lib.; music by Frank R. Gillis March and two-step for voice and piano Caption title Cover illustration: Afro-Americans dancing, playing banjo, playing dice, and eating watermelon Library's copy has retailer's stamp on cover: Henry Wh ... [sh]eet music & music bo[ooks], Washington ..

Carry me home to Tennessee

sung by Christy's Minstrels; [composed by] Charlie C. Converse For voice and piano Caption title Additional verses: p. 5

Carry me back to Old Virginny:: song and chorus

words and music by Jas. A. Bland; arranged for banjo by George C. Dobson For voice, banjo, and chorus (SATB) in key of A major Caption title "To my Pupils"--Cover Library's copy inscribed: Deura Pierce, 1880

Carry me back to old Virginia

Christie For voice and piano in key of E♭ Cover title, indicated by a black bar "De Floating Scow--also known as: Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny. w., m., Charles T. White. Philadelphia: Lee & Walker, cop. 1847"--Variety music cavalcade / Julius Mattfeld, p. 72 Pages 1-2 are unnumbered

Captain Grant of the Black Marines:: song

[words] by E. L. G.; [music by] T. Maclagan For voice and piano Cover title Page 4 is unnumbered Lyrics to Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines appear on p. 3-5. Lyrics to Captain Grant of the Black Marines appear on p. 2 Library's copy has numbers 208-213 pencilled at tops of pages.

Bye bye Belinda:: a darktown triumph

written & composed by H.Y. Leavitt For voice and piano Cover title Introduced by: Josephine Sabel Advertisement for other songs: p. [6] Cover illustration: photograph of Josephine Sabel[?]; floral border design Library's copy has retailer's stamp on cover: Texas Music Supply House, Beaumont, Texas

Blow, Gabriel, blow

Blow, Gabriel, blow

Brown University

by Jacob J. Sawyer For voice, chorus (SATB), and piano Caption title Pages 1-2 are unnumbered Advertisement for other music: p. [4]

Bless dat lubly yaller gal

composed and sung by Charles White. For voice and piano. Caption title. Cover illustration: lithographed design with caricatures of Afro-American musicians. "Thayer & Co's Lith., Boston"--Cover.

Beale Street blues

Beale Street blues

Brown University

by W.C. Handy For voice and piano Cover title "As sung by Miss Gilda Gray in Shubert's gaieties of 1919" Advertisement for other songs: p. [6] Cover illustration: photograph of Gilda Gray

Back home in Dixie where I long to be

words and music by Ernest R. Heck and Floyd E. Whitmore For voice and piano Caption title Featured by: Arcadian Quartette Advertisements for other songs: p. [2], [6] Cover illustration: drawing of steamship sailing up river / H.E. Kellum; photograph of the Arcadian Quartette

An awful wicked nigger

An awful wicked nigger

Brown University

words by S.B. Alexander; music by Summit L. Hecht For voice and piano Caption title Sung by: May Irwin Advertisement for other songs: p. [6] Cover illustration: drawing of Black couple walking away from Black man knocked on the ground / E.S. Fisher; photograph of May Irwin Library's copy has stamp on cover: For the press

Alabama jubilee

Alabama jubilee

Brown University

words by Jack Yellen; music by George L. Cobb For voice and piano Caption title Cover illustration: photograph of Elizabeth Murray; frame design Advertisement for "The wedding of the sunshine and the rose": cop. 2, p. [6]

Adolphus Morninglory

Adolphus Morninglory

Brown University

words by J.B. Murphy; music by D. Braham For voice and piano Caption title Sung by: Harry Bloodgood, the popular song and dance man Cover illustration: Afro-American man in top hat and tails Library's copy inscribed: Dean Pierce '78

A little bit o' honey

A little bit o' honey

Brown University

words by W.G. Wilson; music by Carrie Jacobs-Bond For low voice and piano Caption title "To Miss Lucile M. Showalter." Advertisements for other songs: p. [2, 7-8] Cover illustration: photograph of Afro-American woman and child / Mrs. Luther Derwent

A life by de galley fire

sung by the Ethiopian Serenaders. For voice, 4-part chorus, and piano. Caption title. Music appears in earlier song (c1838) entitled: A life on the ocean wave / music by Henry Russell. Cover illustration: lithograph of the Ethiopian Serenaders labelled with the names Pell, Harrington, White, Stanwood, and Germon.

A darkies life is always gay

as sung by Christy's Minstrels. For mixed voices (ATTB) Caption title. Verses 3-4 printed on p. 5. Titles 1-17 in series listed on cover.