Spirituals and Minstrelsy

Abstract

The African American spiritual emerged as a devotional and performance idiom in the early twentieth century, promoted in black and white communities and churches through the work of Jubilee Singers, and in secular and sacred contexts. Homer Rodeheaver played an important role in their early commercial history by transcribing performances of spirituals for publication in his hymnals, championing them in evangelistic meetings, and recording them with black gospel singing groups. The authors explore Rodeheaver’s quest for authenticity in spirituals, their transformative religious meaning, their connection to minstrelsy, and their influence on their development American popular music, Rodeheaver’s personal interest in black culture is also examined through his performances of the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, presented in dialect and blackface.