Music Commons^™

New Perspectives On Religion, Race, And Culture, Regennia N. Williams

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

Pentecostalism In An African Context, Michael L. Zadell

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

Contemporary Conversations On Cross-Cultural Exchange, Jenni L. Shelton

The Journal of Traditions & Beliefs

No abstract provided.

The Mad Science Of Hip-Hop: History, Technology, And Poetics Of Hip-Hop's Music, 1975-1991, Patrick Rivers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In 1979, the first commercial recordings of hip-hop music were released. The music's transition from the parks and clubs of the Bronx to recorded media resulted in hip-hop music being crafted and mediated in a recording studio before reaching the ears of listeners. In this dissertation I present a comprehensive investigation into the history of the instrumental component of hip-hop music heard on recordings, commonly referred to as beats. My historical narrative is formed by: the practices involved in the creation of hip-hop beats; the technologies that facilitated and defined those practices; and the debates around these two aspects that …

"A Song Workers Everywhere Sing:" Zilphia Horton And The Creation Of Labor's Musical Canon, Chelsea Hodge

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Zilphia Horton, a college educated, middle class white woman from the rural American south, created the canon of music that would become central to the black freedom struggle in postwar America. Horton's work in the post-New Deal labor movement established the methods of incorporating protest music in movements of social justice that prevailed for the rest of the century. The work songs and hymns that she collected, arranged, notated, and published while music director at Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, TN--including "We Shall Overcome," "This Little Light of Mine," "We Shall Not Be Moved"--motivated generations of activists as they transformed …

Musical Influence On Apartheid And The Civil Rights Movement, Katherine D. Power

Student Publications

Black South Africans and African Americans not only share similar identities, but also share similar historical struggles. Apartheid and the Civil Rights Movement were two movements on two separate continents in which black South Africans and African Americans resisted against deep injustice and defied oppression. This paper sets out to demonstrate the key role that music played, through factors of globalization, in influencing mass resistance and raising global awareness. As an elemental form of creative expression, music enables many of the vital tools needed to overcome hatred and violence. Jazz and Freedom songs were two of the most influential genres, …

A Brief History Of Akron's Tuesday Musical, Thomas Bacher

Akron History

The Tuesday Musical Club was founded in 1887 by thirteen young Akron women who had an overwhelming desire to share their love of music. With further support of Gertrude Penfield Seiberling, the wife of industrialist Frank Seiberling, the organization grew like many other musical organizations across the country. Unlike similar clubs, the Akron-based entity continued to expand and is one of a very few that have survived.

Among the artists who have appeared as a part of the rich history of Akron's Tuesday Musical Organization are Vladimir Horowitz, Artur Rubinstein, Yehudi Menuhin, Jascha Heifetz, Glenn Gould, Van Cliburn, Isaac Stern, …

Moates, Lassie (Taylor), 1893-1981 (Sc 1292), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collectoin 1292. Gospel hymn lyrics written by Lassie (Taylor) Moates, Warren County, Kentucky. Some items are lyrics only; others are included in sheet music; and others are copies of published songs. Includes Moates’s obituary.

Moates, Lassie (Taylor), 1892-1981 (Sc 1291), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1291. Copyright registration certificates, contract assigning copyright in songs, and sheet music of lyricist Lassie (Taylor) Moates, Warren County, Kentucky.

Crandall, Jean Degrace (Sc 1253), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1253. Research materials collected by WKU student intern Jean Degrace Crandall in connection with a proposed Kentucky Museum exhibit on multiculturalism and popular music in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Never Give A Sword To A Man Who Can't Dance, Colin Slade

Masters Theses

War dances have long been a powerful means of preparing warriors for combat or the intimidation of an enemy, but they are also used in the ceremonial supplication of deity or celebration of victory. They are a fundamental artifact of many cultures throughout the world. Nevertheless, the United States of America boasts the most powerful military in history, yet it lacks a war dance. This is valid until one accepts a simple truth; military drill is a dance. However, Americans would object to such a proposition even though they have adopted and adapted military drill as their own, describe it …

Haile, Hascal B., 1907?-1986 (Sc 1275), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1275. Incoming business letters and checks, visitor’s log and address book, and photos of furniture and guitar made by Hascal Haile, Tompkinsville, Kentucky. Haile made guitars for several well-known country music artists.

Bowling Green Music Club - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Mss 457), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 457. Minutes, governing documents, yearbooks, programs for public concerts, membership information, various reports, and news clippings for the Woman’s Music Club, the Bowling Green Music Club and the Bowling Green Junior Music Club.

Bowling Green, Kentucky Musical Fund Society (Mss 460), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 460. Minutes, financial records, governing documents and miscellaneous items of the Bowling Green Musical Fund Society, which was established in 1872 for “the cultivation of music and the social enjoyment of its members.”

Gordon, Griffith Lewis - Collector (Sc 2786), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2786. Examples of musical scores executed by students in a class titled "A Short Course in Vocal Harmony" held at Western Kentucky University and led by Professor Griffith Lewis Gordon. Critical remarks by Mr. Gordon accompany each student's work.

Harmon, Arlis Odell, 1905-1992 (Mss 153), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 153. Poems, 1934-1991, obituaries, 1964-1990, written by Arlis Odell Harmon, a gospel song writer and enthusiast, of Allen County, Kentucky. Includes correspondence about gospel music, genealogical data, photos, etc.

Jackson, Sheila Lavern (Harris), B. 1955 - Relating To (Sc 1110), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1110. Materials generated by and for the Sheila Harris Fund, to benefit Harris, a native of Franklin, Simpson County, Kentucky. A Western Kentucky University graduate and aspiring opera singer, she had benefactors who made it possible for her to graduate from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1982. Includes programs of some of her recitals and a photograph.

Haile, Hascal B., 1906-1986 (Sc 1098), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1098. Four labels used for guitars made and sold by Hascal B. Haile in his shop in Tompkinsville (Monroe County), Kentucky. One label is inscribed to noted guitarist Chet Atkins; the others have not been used. Includes one of Haile’s business cards and a 1998 newspaper article.

Kentucky Federation Of Music Clubs (Mss 461), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 461. Constitution and by-laws, programs from annual conventions, news clippings, and a “traveling” scrapbook from 1946-1947 that documents activities of the Federation’s affiliate clubs.

Mary Reed Cooke Music Club - Smiths Grove, Kentucky (Sc 2712), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2712. Yearbooks, programs and news clippings related to the activities of the Mary Reed Cooke Music Club of Smiths Grove, Kentucky.

Knox County, Kentucky - Motels (Sc 1012), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1012. Letter, 1948, written by Maurice G. Howard, Corbin, Kentucky, to George Gosieki, Racine, Wisconsin, concerning Virgil Whyte’s “All Girl Band” staying at Howard’s motel while performing in the region. Also photocopy of recognition certificate, 1995, pertaining to the support Whyte’s band gave to World War II’s 50th anniversary remembrance program.

Rosenbaum, Michael Owen, B. 1972 (Sc 853), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 853. Narrative essay written by Michael Owen Rosenbaum, based on his father Mark Rosenbaum’s account of attendance at the Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York, 16 August 1969, written for a Western Kentucky University United States history class, November 1990.

America's Music: A Film History Of Our Popular Music From Blues To Bluegrass To Broadway, Booth Library

America's Music: Exhibit Booklet

Exhibit Dates

This exhibit was displayed at Booth Library January 11 - April 6, 2013

About the Exhibit

America’s Music: A Film History of Our Popular Music from

Blues to Bluegrass to Broadway brought together scholars, musicians, students and community members to gain new perspectives on American music, culture and history. The program featured screenings of documentary films on six uniquely American genres: blues and gospel, Broadway, jazz, bluegrass and country, rock ‘n’ roll, and mambo and hip hop. Scholars will gave presentations to contextualize the films and led discussions following the screenings.

Additionally, the programs included performances, panel discussions, …

Sound As Artifact, Jeff Benjamin

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

A distinguishing feature of the discipline of archaeology is its reliance upon sensory dependant investigation. As perceived by all of the senses, the felt environment is a unique area of archaeological knowledge.

It is generally accepted that the emergence of industrial processes in the recent past has been accompanied by unprecedented sonic extremes. The work of environmental historians has provided ample evidence that the introduction of much of this unwanted sound, or "noise" was an area of contestation. More recent research in the history of sound has called for more nuanced distinctions than the noisy/quiet dichotomy. Acoustic archaeology tends to …

Hopkin, Rachel Claire (Fa 586), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding Aid and full text paper (Click on "Additional File" below) for Folklife Archives Project 586. Independent study project conducted by Rachel Hopkin on George R. Gibson, a banjo player from eastern Kentucky. The project, contained on two DVDs, includes photos, audio interviews and transcripts, a paper, bibliography, and field notes. Participating in the interview are Gibson and musicians John W. Haywood and Kevin C. Howard, who describe Gibson’s influence on them. This project was executed for the folk studies program at Western Kentucky University.

Hast, Louis H., Sr., 1827-1890 (Sc 2588), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2588. Bound volume of selected works, short biography, and miscellaneous items and tributes to Louis H. Hast, Sr., Louisville, Kentucky. This volume was compiled by his daughter Emma Wilder Hast, and presented to the Filson Club by Lisette Hast, both of Louisville, Kentucky.

Teel, Jacob, 1777-1835 (Sc 20), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "additional files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 20. Two manuscript music books written by Jacob Teel of Allen County, Kentucky, a Methodist minister And a music teacher; and a biographical sketch of Teel, which includes Napier family information, written by Johncy W. Weldon in 1933.

Fun With Civil War Sheet Music, Emily A. Francisco

Blogging the Library

One project I haven’t blogged too much about yet is the Civil War Sheet Music exhibit for the Main Floor. Initially, Meggan only asked me to come up with a tentative list of pieces to display from the resources available; now, though, I’m finding myself assigned to the task of organizing, mounting, and labeling the exhibit. It’s a cool assignment, because it’s so different from everything else I’ve been working on this summer. [excerpt]

Strahm, Franz Joseph, 1867-1941 (Sc 474), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 474. Postcard and letter written by Franz Joseph Strahm, while on a visit to Germany, to Walter Pearce, Bowling Green, Kentucky. The picture post card is of Strahm’s birthplace, and the letter concerns opera in Germany. Includes two cards of Pearce showing the grades he received in Strahm’s music classes at Western Kentucky State Teachers College, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Nelson, James S. (Fa 161), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 161. This collection contains a master’s thesis entitled “Hillbilly Music and Early Live Radio Programming In Bowling Green and Glasgow, Kentucky: Country Music as a Local Phenomenon,” written by James Nelson in January 1994 for the department of Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies at Western Kentucky University. Also included is a cassette tape of old-time music from south central Kentucky entitled “Railroad Through the Smoky Mountains,” by Jim Bowles, as well as an obituary for Jonell F. Simunick.