Alexander luca, the
father of a troupe, was a
shoemaker by trade. At
the age of twenty-one he
was encouraged to join a .'
sinirinff school hv inmc of
niq vu-wui icrs, ana were
he developed his natural
musical ability to a hish
degree. Leaving his home
town of Milford, Connec
ticut for New Haven, he
married and was chosen to
lead . a choir of a local
Congregational , Church.
There, he developed a
quartet consisting of
himself, his two . elder
sons, and his sister-in-law.
They sang throughout the
Northeast and Ohio dur
ing the 1850's.
Emma Louise (1853-?)
and Anna Madah Hyers
(1854-?), two sisters from
California, achieved some
success in concert perfor
mances. Each was com
mended for her clarity of
enunciation, purity of
tone, and accuracy of
pitch. Singly, neither was
able to achieve what they
could together, so they
toured the States with
their father as manager,
beginning in 1871, with
considerable success.
They combined their
talents with a tenor,
Wallace King, and bass
baritone, John Luca, to
continue touring in the
late 1870's.
There were other
musical classicists during
the last few decades of the
nineteenth century:
Rachel Washington, a
pianist-organist who was
the first black to graduate
from the New England
Conservatory in. Boston;
Samuel Jamieson, a
graduate of the Boston
Conservatory in 1876 with
a diploma in piano;
Walter Craig, violinist
who was labeled the
"Prince of Negro
Violinists" by a New York
paper in 1886, and the
grandson of Frederick
Douglass.
Black Music & Entertainment
f
I
f I j
1 i J 'frr inr in
Robert Cole
(1863-1911) was born in
Athens, Georgia and
graduated from Atlanta
University. Although not
a trained musician, he was
a serious dramatist and
stage manager of the first
black stock company, The
All-Star Company. After
a short season as a writer
for Black Patti and her
Troubadours, he produc
ed America's First full
length all-black musical
comedy, A Trip to Coon
Town. It had a full plot
with real character
development, songs,
dances and that important
ingredient pretty girls.
His collaborators were
Jesse Shipp, Sam Lucas
and Billy Johnson (no
relation to the Johnson
Brothers).
Eventually, he joined
the Johnson brothers to
write two musical com
edies, 77ie Shoo-Fly Regi
ment (1906)and The Red
Moon (1908). They also
collaborated on a musical
suite The Evolution of
Ragtime (1903).
Joseph Douglass (1869 -193)
was the first black
violinist to tour the United
States.
He began his studies m
Washington as a youth,
and continued on at the
New England Conser
vatory and in Europe.
Douglass performed
before two Presidents,
McKinley and Taft, and
was featured at the
Chicago World's. Fair on
Colored American Day in .
1893.
To inspire young black
violinists, he often per
formed in black com
munities. He was the first
black violinist to record
for the Victor Talking
Machine Company, now
known as a subsidiary to
Radio Corporation of
America. Upon his retire
ment front the concert
stage, he taught at
Howard University in
Washington and the
Music School Settlement
in New York.
"" v - -
. . H
$:?,
'
.l ., .,,1.1 . V II II "I! y .
James Bland 0854-1911),
one of eight children, was
destined to become the
darling of the Continent,
and writer of songs that
would become standards
not only in the country of
his birth, but in Europe as
well.
,His father, Allen Bland,
attended Wilberforce and
Oberlin College in Ohio,
and received a law degree
from Howard University.
When James was twelve,
his father became the first
black appointed as an ex
aminer in the United
States Patent Office, so
the family moved to
Washington, D.C., where
James attended local
schools.
To the consternation of
his parents, as a youth, he
demonstrated , a greater
propensity toward the
banjo than books. He
composed his own tunes
and could often be found
. downtown on street cor
ners singing and playing
for change. An elderly
music teacher taught him
how to transcribe his
music. He composed a
tune that would become a
state song: Carry Me Back
To Old Virginny while a
teenager, and sang and
played it for a white
minstrel named George
Primrose, who was then
appearing in Washington.
- This? and other- tunes lW
He'-Wmpse-'Primrose
' played and sang in his
show.
Upon graduating from
high school, Bland attend
ed Howard University for
his parents had aspirations
for a professional career
for their son.
While at Howard,
James became familiar
with antebellum stories
from someM the students
who had been slaves, and
he acquired an apprecia
tion for black folk music,
including spirituals.
He developed a style of
playing the banjo and
singing that created re
quests for his appearance
at various social events.
Eventually, his reputation
grew to the point where he
was asked to entertain din
ner guests at the Can
vasback Club where Presi
dent Cleveland was a
member. This led to fur
ther success as an enter
tainer and the decision
that law held no appeal
fof him. He withdrew
from Howard, and joined
Haverly's Colored
Minstrels after a suc
cessful audition in
Baltimore.
He, like other black
minstrels, adopted the
broad humor common to
those shows. With cork
blackened face, James
talked in dialect and wore
the standard dress high
hat and swallow-tail coat.
The first summer was
spent in the "New York
area, then the show went
on cross-country tour to
California. In 1881, the
troupe went to England
with James Kersand as the
star.
Bland was well received
in Great Britain, and his
music enjoyed wide cur
rency in all of the British
music halls.
audience.' ',..
Three other music
forms whose genesis is
: considered to be peculiarly
black (along ; with the
spirituals) are ragtime,
- blues and jazz.
Ragtime seems to have
evolved out of the com-'
munal syncopated musical
forms from the slavery
period, and the strongly
, developed percussion bass
(or left-hand on the piano)
may be related to the foot
stamping and hand clapp
ing that bystanders engag
ed in, while the right
hand, on the . piano,
simulated the banjo or fid
dle. History does not record
the earliest ragtime piano
players, but they often
were the only entertain
ment presented at dives,
saloons and other such
places along the Mississip
pi and in the tenderloin
("red-light") districts in
urban areas. Itinerant
musicians were the initial
purveyors, lney rarely
played a recognizable
tune, for the earliest
ragtime or "jig piano"
music was likely to be
composed on the spot,
and its composer rarely
stayed long enough in a
community or came in
contact with a
"legitimate" performer
for his tune to gain curren
cy. It was not until Earnest
Hogan wrote All Coons
Look Alike to Me with its
rag syncopation, did the
form come to the atten
tion of writers associated
with the stage; but it was
really the cakewalk that
became ragtime's vehicle
into Tin Pan Alley. All of
the celebrated Black Na
tionalist composers for
Broadway became the
princes of ragtime by us
ing the form in some of
their compositions.
J. Rosamund Johnson
(1873-1954) was born in
Jacksonville, Florida and
trained at the New
England Conservatory.
He toured the vaudeville
circuit with Oriental
America and was super
visor of music in his
hometown. In 1901, he
settled in New York. He
and ' his brother James .
ed on concert tours. In ad
dition to collaborating
with Cole, he and his
brother ' wrote the song
that has been such-titled
The Negro National An
them, Lift Every Voice
and Sing.
In .1912-13, he was
musical director of Ham
merstein's Opera Com
pany in London and
worked at the Musical
School Settlement of New
York oh his return. In
1915, he composed the
choral work Walk
Together Children.
Richard Milburn was a
whistler. A barber by
trade in the city of
Philadelphis, his
knowledge of music was
limited to accompanying
himself on the guitar with
rudimentary chording as
he whistled. His skill in
thU mpHinm of music oro-
This extraordinary per
former was the inventor of
the the Bland banjo; he
added a fifth string to give .
the banjo more versatility.
It is ironic that the son
of a Patent Office ex
aminer neglected to
publish ynder his name all
but about forty pieces of
the hundreds he compos
ed. However, as was com
mon the days before,
copyrights, composers
often sold their songs for
whatever the going rate;
was, or balladeers or other
composers appropriated
the music as was the case
with Milburn. Another ex
ample may be found in a
song that Picayune Butler
created. He wrote a tune
he named Old Zip Coon.
According to Langston
Hughes, a young white,
performer, George
Nichols, who-was with the
Purdy Brown's Circus, in
troduced the same tune as
Turkey In The Straw with
the result that the song has
been ascribed to white
authorship.
Of the forty tunes that
are registered or published
in Bland's name, Carry
Me Back... became
Virginia's State song in
1940, and Oh, Dem
Golden Slippers was the
marching song for the an
nual Mummers's New.
Year's Day Parade in
iPhiadelohiafifMiQivervfifty wroteia number nof
tyears. iw-the "Evening By popular songs, two of
that he was often asked to .
perform at the (Negro)
Philadelphia library
Committee to enliven their
meetings. Leisure time
spent in listening to and
imitating the songs of
.birds led him to compos
ing, "by ear" a tune called
Listen to the Mock
ingbird. A white com
poserpublisher, Septimus
Winner, who wrote
popular tunes under the
pseudonym Alice
Hawthorne, was asked to
attend a meeting of the
Committee to hear this ex
ceptional folk artist.
The first edition of the
music was published in
1855 .with the credits:
Music by Richard
Milburn, words by Alice
Hawthorne. The sheet
music quickly became a
best seller, and subsequent
printings have omitted
Milburn's name with full
ut.. racism t3i nztzzizirr-J-
ETEIOFUK ; ' .
mm
' ft D v-
HU0T "
Moo Oauthorao
JN ttsSft mm
r
Xt V
.1 - jfttftr
1 Itk-
.ii;e nf Richard Milburn's Listen to the Meeting Bird, IS5?
''iv .Vf I'utk Public Library, Scl'ombwt Collection.)
He ietired from
minstrelsy when the
troupe returned to the
States, and, became a solo
performer earning as
much as $1000 a month.
The Prince of Wales, later
crowned King Edward,
acknowledged. Bland as
his favorite entertainer.
German i critics declared
that he, Stephen Foster
and Uohn Phillip Sousa
were the three Americans
who had done much for
America's foreign relations.
the Moonlight and In the
Morning By the Bright
Light are two other well
known songs by Bland. In
addition, Missouri Hound
Dog has become a cam
paign song.
When the type of music
that he played and sang
became passe, Bland
returned penniless" to
Philadelphia' where he
died.
After adopting his song,
the State of Virginia wish
ed to honor the composer.
It was not until 1946 that
they were able to locate his
grave; the Lion's Club of
Virginia had a headstone
erected, the governor
ceremoniously placed a
wreath upon his grave,
and perpetual care was
undertaken by the grateful
state.
Although Blacks en
joyed and employed the
wide spectrum of music in
post-bellum times, clasical
artists were not immune to
being all but ignored as
soloists and were, in but a
few cases, required to
combine their talents with
others in order to perform
widely.
We have noted the
Lambert family. Two
more such units require
our attention: The Luca
and Hyers families.
Harry Lawrence
Freeman (1875-1953) was
born in Cleveland, Ohio
and settled permanently in
New York. He worked as
musical director for the
Cole and Johnson
Brothers Company of
New York. Freeman was a
prolific composer, and has
fourteen operas to his
credit between the years of
1893 and 1930. His first
opera, The Martyr was
produced in Denver, Col
orado in 1893, Valdo was
produced in Cleveland in
1906, and The Tryst in
New York in 1911. In ad
dition to operas, he wrote
a ballet, a symphonic
poem, two cantatas and
many songs. For ex
cellence in composition,
he received the Harmon
Award.'
Music takes . many
forms each of which is
related to the experiences,
heritage and expertise of
the individual who con
ceives,' interprets and pro
jects it for himself or an
which are L'il Gal and
Since You Went Away
arid are regularly perform-
James Weldon Johnson
(1873-1964) was graduated
from Atlanta and Colum
bia Universities. Although
primarily known as a
poet, statesman and civil
rights leader, he col
laborated with his brother
.and Bob Cole as lyricist
tfaj a number of $ongsln
f901, theUhree were ap
parently the first blacks to
sign a year contract for
monthly stipends against
their royalties with a Tin
Pan Alley publisher,
Joseph W. Stern and
Company. They wrote
songs for such white stars
as Lilliam Russel, Anna
Held and May Irwin,
guaranteeing success.
Didn 't He Ramble, one of
sucb wia isbvpomilar
"with brass bands. TJifcJno
also wrote songs that were
published in The Ladies
Home Journal and Etude.
THIS MUCH LUXURY
THIS CLOSE
TO THE RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARXI
A haartou cranunfty, nestled amongst Natures
sadudtd surrtondings of oaks, pines and hardwood
trots.
CENTURY OAKS
Apartments
Yob w9 onjoy tnt spacious living and the unique
features that our community offers
Wwto PittVlakMy
Oak Hnu
Ua ti Vh Stfta
WMitwitag flnatotM
WMfewDnrv CmmcUm TaTUis
VS
Ftes 544-42CS
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN YOUR COMMUNITY IS IMPORTANT! WITH A SUBSCRIPTION TO
TS2 CAROLINA TRIES YOU GET PLENTY OF COMMUNITY NEWS, NEWS OF EVENTS AND
HAPPENINGS THAR ARE IMPORTANT TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY. YOU CAN STAY IN
FOTJJED OF WHAT HAPPENING AROUND YOU WITHIN YOUR COMMUNITY.
YOU CAN GET UP-TO-DATE..
1-
CHURCH NEWS
CLUB AND SOCIALS
COMMUNITY ISSUES
ENTERTAINMENT SECTION
LOCAL SPORTS
NEWS OF NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY
AND STATE AND NATIONAL NEWS OF INTEREST.TO YOU
AND YOUR COMMUNITY
Do Informod of VJIwVg Golnfton
la Tho Community Oocd . .
AND HAVE THE CAROLINA TBIES.
MAILED TO YOU EACH ISEX
PLEASS ENTER MY SUBSCRIPTION FOR.
I J 1 year-$1143 (OutofSttti -ST200)
I J 6mo$-$70(OutofSttt-S7.50)
Ur.,Un.,LU.
Gfiy
Stata
ZlpCotta
Cai9i3l 4BaCffpo9vs