Will the Circle Be Unbroken?: The Sacred Music of the African American DiasporaMain MenuWill the Circle Be Unbroken? The Sacred Music of the African American DiasporaEnter the ExhibitWhat is African American Sacred Music?From Spirituals to SoulSongs of the Underground RailroadThe Legacy of the Fisk Jubilee SingersWomen and WorshipMusic of the Revolution: Sacred Music and ProtestGospel Roots: African American Churches in Los AngelesAlbert J. McNeilThe Albert McNeil Jubilee SingersJester HairstonDon Lee WhiteHansonia CaldwellOpening the ExhibitWhat’s a Music Exhibit without the music?Take an audio journey through the CSUDH Sacred Music Archives collectionsSign our Guest Book!Beth McDonald16200cb3d5a875b72f65508a603e1bfceb2cda24Gerth Archives and Special Collections, California State University Dominguez Hills
Marian Anderson at the Easter Concert at the Lincolm Memorial
1media/Marian Anderson_thumb.jpg2020-04-28T13:09:36-07:00Beth McDonald16200cb3d5a875b72f65508a603e1bfceb2cda24373081Marian Anderson sings spirituals at the Lincoln Memorial on April 9, 1939. She was invited to perform there by Eleanor Roosevelt after the DAR refused to let her perform in Constitution Hall because of her race. The event was seen as one of the earliest victories of the Civil Rights Movement. Photo by Thomas D. McAvoy .plain2020-04-28T13:09:36-07:0004/09/1939Beth McDonald16200cb3d5a875b72f65508a603e1bfceb2cda24
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1media/IMG_20200130_110018068.jpg2020-04-24T12:42:16-07:00Beth McDonald16200cb3d5a875b72f65508a603e1bfceb2cda24From Spirituals to SoulBeth McDonald30timeline2020-06-26T15:59:45-07:00Beth McDonald16200cb3d5a875b72f65508a603e1bfceb2cda24
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1media/IMG_20200130_110018068.jpg2020-04-24T12:42:16-07:00From Spirituals to Soul13timeline2020-04-29T15:05:16-07:00 African American music has always been characterized by the ever-changing circumstances of African American life. Africans brought to the United States as slaves brought their musical traditions with them. Many of their activities, from work to worship, were rooted in song. As African American slaves were Christianized, their songs evolved to incorporate Christian hymns and psalms, resulting in the spiritual, which served as a way to express the community's new faith, as well as its sorrows and hopes. After the Civil War, as freed African Americans moved north and west to work in the industrial and railway industries, the agricultural songs of the slave era developed to suit these situations. These new songs eventually gave birth to the gospel and the blues, whose influence can be heard across genres from soul to rock’n’roll and R&B. In the early 20th century, the melding of African American musical traditions with music from other parts of the world led to an explosion of musical styles, including ragtime, jazz, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, funk, and disco. During the 80s and 90s, the emergence of hip-hop and rap took African American musical traditions in new directions, drawing on the legacy of old forms to create a distinctive art form as grounded in social protest as the early spirituals. Modern African American artists and musicians continue to rediscover, remix, and reinvent their musical history in ways that have a profound impact on the shape of musical culture of the United States.