The Search for Musical Memory:
The Civil Rights Movement in Philadelphia and Music Centered Oral Histories
~Anika Wilson
As a folklore student taking a ethnomusicology class I came into this project very much interested in the social dynamics of music production. Our mission as a class was to explore the Philadelphia incarnation of gospel music. I became interested in the power of music to aid in transforming society for good or ill. This lead me to a project examining the role of music, gospel music in particular, in the Civil Rights Movement in Philadelphia. In the beginning I never could have imagined how many different directions my questions could take me. It was like a tree sprouting branches infinitely.
First, there is much to learn about the history of civil rights protest in Philadelphia. Although there are many books written about the Civil Rights Movement in general, there are relatively few written about Philadelphia except in periodicals. I did however find several helpful books on the topic. Click to view a few sources.
Songs of the Southern Freedom Movement: We Shall Overcome by Guy and Candie Carawan is a book that traces the Civil Rights movement through song. Although this volume is dealing primarily with the development of a repertoire and tradition of freedom songs in the South, many of these songs were brought to the North in mass meetings to inspire a nation to activism. Also helpful were recordings of Freedoms songs popular during the Movement recorded by the Smithsonian Folkways project including Voices of the Civil Rights Movement and Sing for Freedom which were compilations of ensembles and mass meetings. In these recordings I had the opportunity to listen to more than the most popular "We Shall Overcome" but to also hear a more diverse range genres being incorporated and created to empower the individuals and groups involved in civil protest.Organizations as well as individuals were tremendously important in creating change during the 1960s. In Philadelphia churches were involved as well as other civil rights organizations in protest. For example the Church of the Advocate was the host of many meetings for organizations pushing for change in race relations and Black empowerment. Father Paul Washington was a Black pastor of the predominantly white Epsicopal church and made it a point to bring many of issues of racial inequality to the fore. He not only participated in protest, such as the demonstration regarding the segregation of Girard College, but also encouraged his congregation to be conscious and involved in challenging the status quo. I'd like to acknowledge the kindness of his wife Christine Washington in giving me his autobiography and inviting me into her home to talk about music.
Another key figure in Philadelphia race relations history was the Reverend Leon Sullivan of Zion Baptist Church known as "The Lion of Zion." He organized a boycott of Tastykake products including highly successful demonstrations to protest their racially biased employment practices. Rev. Sullivan is remembered for his organization of the Selective Patronage program which boycotted certain stores to force them to open up jobs for Blacks. Not satisfied to stop there Rev. Sullivan went on to create the Opportunities Industrialization Centers in order to prepare Blacks for the job market that was opening up to them through Selective Patronage. I would recommend for those interested in Rev. Sullivan that they check the Temple University Urban Archives collection.
To put a face on the civil rights events of the 1960s in Philadelphia I interviewed two people who were college students at the time and both involved in protest activities. Ira Harkavy, who is currently the Associate Vice President and founding Director of the Center for Community partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania, was a leader of student anti-war protests in Philadelphia in the 1960s.
Click here to view the text interview with:
Dr. Ira Harkavy
Clayton White who is a music professor at Community College of Philadelphia. Nov. 14, 2001. I conducted an interview with White about his involvement in music and in the Civil Rights Movement.
sound bites of interviewClick here to view the text interview with:
Clayton White
My thanks to all those who contributed to and participated in this project. There is much work yet to be done, many stories to be told, and much to be learned from the people in our community. To those who are interested in oral history-start asking questions.
Suggested Sources:
Washington, Paul, Other Sheep I Have": Autobiography of Father Paul Washington published by Temple University Press, 1994.
Countryman, Matthew J.,"Civil Rights and The Black Power Movement in Philadelphia, 1940-1971,dissertation, Duke University 1998.
Philadelphia Tribune
Berson, Lenora, Case Study of a Riot: The Philadelphia Story, New York: Institute of Human Relations, 1966.
Carson, Clayborne,ed.,The Eyes on the Prize Civil Rights Reader, New York: Penguin Books, 1991
Carson, Claybornre,ed., SNCC and Black Awakening of the 1960s, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1981.
Ershkowitz, Miriam and Joseph Zikmund II, eds., Black Politics in Philadelphia, New York: Basic Books, 1973.
Jones, Charles E (editor), The Black Panther Party Reconsidered, Baltimore: Black Classic Press, 1998.
Sullivan, Leon H., Build Brother Build, Philadelphia: Macrae Smith CO., 1969.
Relative Links
Smithsonian Folkways - http://www.folkways.si.edu/start.htm
The Temple University Urban Archives - http://www.library.temple.edu/urbana