The Song Ministry of Reverend Charles Albert Tindley: A Musical Tribute
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: 1982 May 7-9
container: label: Container
content: Box 10, Folder 15
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The concert and colloquium held May 7-9, 1982, at Baird Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution was created to pay tribute to Reverend Charles Albert Tindley, a pioneer in gospel music. Tindley's compositions formed a base upon which the new Black urban sacred gospel music was developed. Tindley's style influenced all of the early gospel music composers including Thomas A. Dorsey, Lucie Elizabeth Campbell, Roberta Martin, and Reverend William Herbert Brewster. The gospel songs composed by Tindley include "Stand By Me", "The Storm Is Passing Over", "We'll Understand It Better By and By", "Nothing Between", and "Leave It There". Tindley's songs moved quickly into the Black oral tradition and today, many of his songs are part of the pool of Black music by unknown composers. 

This musical tribute was an original production conceived of and directed by Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, director, Program in Black Culture (later known as the Program in African American Culture). The script was created by Eleanor Traylor and featured Reverend Tindley's songs as they were developed within the performancve tradition of Tindley Temple. The colloquium included Black music scholars, theologians, and others who knew and worked under the tutelage of Reverend Tindley. Participates included Reverend Marion Ballard, Dr. Horace C. Boyer, Kenneth Goodman, Dr. William C. Jason, Jr., Ralph H. Jones, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, Wayne Shirley and Pearl Williams-Jones.  

The program was presented again on April 28 and 29, 1984 at the Tindley Temple United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by the Tribute to Tindley Committee. Program number AC408.15.