Contemporary Black American Congregational Song and Worship Traditions, program brochure
name: label: Collection Collector
content: Maltsby, Portia
label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Program in African American Culture
setName: label: See more items in
content: Program in African American Culture Collection
label: See more items in
content: Program in African American Culture Collection / Series 1: Program Files
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1989 February 2-4
container: label: Container
content: Box 18, Folder 9
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Thursday, February 2, through Saturday, February 4, 1989, a conference was held to provide examination of the strength of the oral tradition in twentieth century Black America. Each session of the conference was shaped by a song service led by members of five congregational groups. Congregational groups included the McIntosh County Shouters, Sweet Honey in the Rock, the Blue Spring Missionary Baptist Association, Dr. D.C. Johnson and Family, the Vision Singers of St. Augustine's College, the John Island Senior Lights, and the United Southern Prayer Band of Washington, Maryland and Virginia. The song service was followed by a panel of scholars and experts who discussed the repertoire and performance traditions as well as the strength of oral transmission within the communities. "The African American Ring Shout: Tradition and Circularity in African and African-based Cultural Expression" panel discussion was held on Thursday, in the Baird Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. "The African American Traditional Chorus" and the "Dr. C. J. Johnson—Master Hymnodist, Song Leader, and Composer" panel discussions were held on Friday, in the Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. The "Atlantic Coastal Region: The Song and Shout Tradition of Johns Island, South Carolina" and the "Prayer Bands and the Survival of Worship Traditions" panel discussions were held on Saturday, in the Carmichael Auditorium. The panelists included Horace Clarence Boyer, Guy Carawan, Spencer Crew, William T. Dargan, John W. Franklin, Joan R. Hillsman, Reverend. Claude Joseph Johnson, Alan Lomax, Worth Long, Mike Malone, Phyllis May-Machunda, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Deacon William Rearden, Gwendolyn Keita Robinson, Fath Davis Ruffins, Mrs. Maggie Russell, David Warren Steel, Sterling Stuckey, and Robert Farris Thompson. Program number AC408.59.