Spirituals and the Birth of a Black Entertainment Industry (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780252083273)

Spirituals performed by jubilee troupes became a sensation in post-Civil War America. First brought to the stage by choral ensembles like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, spirituals anchored a wide range of late nineteenth-century entertainments, including minstrelsy, variety, and plays by both black and white companies. In the first book-length treatment of postbellum spirituals in theatrical entertainments, Sandra Jean Graham mines a trove of resources to chart the spiritual's journey from the private lives of slaves to the concert stage. Graham navigates the conflicting agendas of those who, in adapting spirituals for their own ends, sold conceptions of racial identity to their patrons. In so doing they lay the foundation for a black entertainment industry whose artistic, financial, and cultural practices extended into the twentieth century. A companion website contains jubilee troupe personnel, recordings, and profiles of 85 jubilee groups. Please go to: http: //www.press.uillinois.edu/books/graham/spirituals/

Author: Sandra Jean Graham
ISBN-10: 025208327X
ISBN-13: 9780252083273
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Language: English
Published: 02/26/2018
Pages: 356
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.30lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.10w x 1.00d

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 03/15/2018 pg. 96
Choice 12/01/2018

About the Author
Sandra Jean Graham is an associate professor of music at Babson College.