Blues in America: A Social History

Here are the sounds, sights, and story of the Blues ready for hands-on use in your classroom. This portfolio is a production of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education of the Smithsonian Institution with support from The Phil Hardin Foundation. A special cassette features 11 Blues audio-documents, while the broadsheet essays and historical documents provide the story and actual sights of this era. Students will hear 'Lightnin' Hopkins, then hold and read his letter. This portfolio brings the colorful sounds, personalities, and history of the Blues right into to your social studies, music and literature classes. 4 Illustrated Broadsheet Essays: * What Is the Blues? An Overview * Folk Blues from the Rural South * Blues Moves to the City: Women Spread the News * Modern Blues: 1940s to 1990s 11 Primary Source Documents: * Nightlife in Newark, 1915 newspaper account, 1915 * Music & Work in Mississippi, interview Othar Turner, 1987 * Music & Social Life in Piedmont, interview Etta Baker, 1984 * The Saint Louis Blues, W. C. Handy sheet music, 1914 * Stage-Music-Movies, Chicago newspaper article, 1929 * Race record advertisements, 1920s * Spirituals to Swing, article and advertisement, 1938 * Street Musicians, painting by William H. Johnson, 1940 * Review of Memphis Minnie performance, Chicago, 1943 * Lightnin' Hopkins letter to wife Antoinette, 1967 * Collection of Blues lyrics and poetry with photographs 11 Audio-Documents: * "Grizzly Bear" by prison camp workers * "You've Got to Move" by Moving Star Hall Singers * "Jinx Blues" by Son House * "Reminiscences of Blind Lemon," interview with Lightnin' Hopkins, and "Penitentiary Blues" by Lightnin' Hopkins * "John Henry" by Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry * "Vastopol" by Elizabeth Cotton * "I Didn't Want to Join the Band" by Reverend Gary Davis * "Ma Rainey" a poem written and read by Sterling Brown * "Oh Papa Blues" by Ma Rainey and her Georgia Jazz Band * "St. Louis Blues" by Albert Ammons * "Hoochie Coochie Man" by Muddy Waters Blues Band