Newport Gardner occupation music teacher
Newport Gardner (born Occramer Marycoo, 1746–1826) was an African American singing school master and composer. He was an early proponent of the Back-to-Africa movement.Musical career
Gardner was transported to the colonies as a slave at the age of fourteen, where he was sold to Caleb Gardner, a young merchant in Newport, Rhode Island. After showing an ability for making music, Gardner's wife arranged for Newport to study with a singing master, most likely Andrew Law. In 1791, Gardner won a lottery in which he secured enough money to buy freedom for himself and his family. Gardner rented the upstairs of a house in Newport, Rhode Island, where he started his own singing school. He was also a composer, and started writing music at the age of eighteen possibly becoming published as early as 1803 with the song Crooked Shanks from the collection A Number of Original Airs, Duettos and Trios. He also composed the Promise Anthem. Although the music has been lost, the text is still preserved and is based on passages from the Bible (Jeremiah 30:1-3, 10; Mark 7:27-28).
job profession career vocation employment