Browse by timeline, artist, instrument, and style. An African American community. In the 1920s, African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem, a section of New York City. A very rich site. Almost all popular music contains elements of African American rhythms and culture.
Black spirituals are one of the best known and earliest forms of American music.
These religious songs eventually gave birth to the blues. Jazz, which began in the late 1800's, grew out of black folk blues and ballads. And musicians in the mid-1900's combined spirituals, blues, and jazz styles to develop rock and roll. In the late 1900's, a new American musical form called rap emerged. This National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary tells a powerful story of the Civil Rights movement.