page_title: Field holler
hierarchical_section_title: Field holler
caption_attribution_description: African American convicts working with axes and singing in woodyard, Reed Camp, South Carolina.
context_page_description: The field holler or field call is a mostly historical type of vocal music sung by field slaves in the United States to accompany their tasked work, to communicate usefully, or to vent feelings. It differs from the collective work song in that it was sung solo, though early observers noted that a holler, or ‘cry’, might be echoed by other workers. Though commonly associated with cotton cultivation, the field holler was also sung by levee workers, and field hands in rice and sugar plantations. Field hollers are also known as corn-field hollers, water calls, and whoops. An early description is from 1853 and the first recordings are from the 1930s. The holler is closely related to the call and response of work songs and arhoolies. The Afro-American music form ultimately influenced strands of African American music, such as the blues, rhythm and blues, and spirituals.
  It had prevalence among white people in the southern United States too.
context_section_description: The field holler or field call is a mostly historical type of vocal music sung by field slaves in the United States (and later by African American forced laborers accused of violating vagrancy laws) to accompany their tasked work, to communicate usefully, or to vent feelings. It differs from the collective work song in that it was sung solo, though early observers noted that a holler, or ‘cry’, might be echoed by other workers. Though commonly associated with cotton cultivation, the field holler was also sung by levee workers, and field hands in rice and sugar plantations. Field hollers are also known as corn-field hollers, water calls, and whoops. An early description is from 1853 and the first recordings are from the 1930s. The holler is closely related to the call and response of work songs and arhoolies. The Afro-American music form ultimately influenced strands of African American music, such as the blues, rhythm and blues, and spirituals.
  It had prevalence among white people in the southern United States too.
caption: Chain gang singing in South Carolina
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