Complex sentence: It was the first, and most influential, Darden, pg.71 Southern, pg.152 collection of spirituals to be published; the collectors were Northern abolitionists, William Francis Allen, Lucy McKim Garrison and Charles Pickard Ware.
Split into simpler sentences: It was the first, and most influential, Darden, pg.71 Southern, pg.152 collection of spirituals to be published. The collectors of the songs were Northern abolitionists William Francis Allen, Lucy McKim Garrison, and Charles Pickard Ware.