I got a home in that rock, Vera Hall, New York City
Other Form of Name
Lomax, Alan, 1915-2002; Hall, Vera, 1902-1964
Identifier
T807R01; FRID (Lomax Number) 12903
Creation Date
5-1-1948
City
New York (N.Y.)
Disclaimer
Some of the images and language that appear in the digital collections depict prejudices that are not condoned by the University of Mississippi. This content is being presented as historical documentation to aid in the understanding of both American history and the history of the University of Mississippi. The University Creed speaks to our current deeply held values, and the availability of this content should not be taken as an endorsement of previous attitudes or behavior.
Description
These recordings of oral history, play songs, blues, spirituals, and stories were made in 1948 when Alan Lomax invited Vera Hall to come from her home in Livingston, Alabama, to New York City for a concert. Vera Hall's mother had been a slave, and Vera's date of birth was not recorded. Her artistry and repertoire were brought to John A. Lomax's attention by Ruby Pickens Tartt, a painter and folklorist from Livingston who introduced Vera and her cousin, Dock Reed, to him in 1937. The elder Lomax recorded her again in 1940, describing her as having 'the loveliest voice I had ever recorded.' Alan Lomax used the oral histories of Vera Hall and Dock Reed as the basis of The Rainbow Sign (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1959), a study of African-American spirituality. After her death in 1964, Alan Lomax said: 'It is from singers like Vera Hall that all of us who love folk music in America have everything to learn. Her performances were all graced with dignity and with love. Her sense of timing and beat were perfection itself. But all this is analysis. The mystery of Vera Hall and her art, while hinted at in the recordings we will always treasure, lies buried in the state where once the stars fell.' For a summary of Vera Hall's life see Gabriel Greenberg's article, reproduced at www.alan-lomax.com. In 2005 Vera Hall was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame.
Subject Headings (Library of Congress)
Blues (Music); Blues musicians
Relational Format
audio recording
Extent
00:54
Original Collection
Alan Lomax Recordings
Rights
Media files in this collection are owned by the Association for Cultural Equity and made available solely for personal use. Copy or capture of media files is prohibited. Due to copyright concerns, the recordings in this collection can only be accessed by arrangement with the Department of Archives and Special Collections.
Comments
Vera Hall I 1948. Lomax Classification: religious song; spiritual. Lomax Collection Title: Vera Hall 1948. Session Note: This session of recordings represents the only time that Vera Ward Hall left the state of Alabama. She was invited to New York by Alan Lomax to perform in the Fourth Annual Festival of Contemporary American Music at Columbia University in the City of New York, May 10th through May 16th, 1948, sponsored by the Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University. Vera performed on Saturday, May 15th, 8:30pm, at the McMillin Theater. The concert was entitled 'Ballads, hoe-downs, spirituals (white and negro), and blues,' with performances by Texas Gladden, Hobart Smith, Jean Ritchie, Brownie Mcghee, Vera Hall, Dan Burley, Pete Seeger, and narrations by Alan Lomax. These recordings were made not at the concert, but during the remainder of Vera Hall's stay in New York with Alan Lomax (editor's note). Location: Greenwich Village, Alan Lomax's Apartment (3rd. Street, New York, N.Y.)