Introduction and welcome announcement by Alan Lomax
Other Form of Name
Lomax, Alan, 1915-2002
Identifier
T1816R01; FRID (Lomax Number) 10289
Creation Date
8-1-1965
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
A concert of Southern African American 'antebellum musical traditions' held in New York City's Central Park at the height of the Civil Rights era, in the summer of 1965. Produced by Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival in cooperation with the Newport Folk Foundation, the concert was directed by Ralph Rinzler and MC'd by Alan Lomax. It featured the Georgia Sea Island Singers (Bessie Jones, John Davis, Peter Davis, Emma Ramsay, and Mable Hillery), Ed Young's Southern Fife and Drum Corps, and Reverend Gary Davis. Fred McDowell's name appeared on the promotional material for the concert but he apparently cancelled. The performers give commentary on their material. Joan Halifax assisted Lomax with the recording and tape box notes. This concert was ostensibly the second the Shakespeare Festival and Newport Foundation produced that summer, with a Newport Folk Festival Preview held a month earlier. (Original note)
Subject Headings (Library of Congress)
African Americans -- Suffrage -- United States; Race relations;Blues (Music); Blues musicians
Relational Format
audio recording
Extent
04:00
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
Central Park Concert 8/65. Lomax Classification: spoken. Lomax Collection Title: Central Park Concert 1965. Recording Note: Alan Lomax speaks about the purpose of the concert: to celebrate the newly acquired right of African Americans to vote in the Southern states and to introduce authentic black music of Mississippi to the audiences of New York City that had previously taken Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger to their hearts. Black American music, jazz and popular, is loved all over the world, he says. These are its roots. Introducing the fife and drum music of Ed Young of Como, Mississippi. Note: The previous year had seen the passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. No. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241 (July 2, 1964) outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin transformed American society. This law prohibited discrimination in public facilities, in government, and in employment. The Jim Crow laws in the South were abolished, and it became illegal to compel segregation of the 'races' in schools, housing, or hiring. [Editor]