Dark Midnight When I Rise

by Ward, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780060934828
• ISBN10: 0060934824
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-06-14
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

<p> Setting out initially to raise money for their university, the Fisk Jubilee Singers -- a troupe of young ex-slaves and freedmen -- ended up changing the face of American music. Despite their venues of small-town churches and train stations, and the hardships of poverty and racism, the Jubilee Singers eventually became a popular vocal group whose admirers included Ulysses S. Grant and Queen Victoria.</p><P>Recounted here for the first time is the career of the Jubilee Singers, which followed one of the most remarkable progressions in American history: from whipping post and auction block to concert hall and throne room.</p>

Author Biography

Andrew Ward is the author of Out Here: A Newcomer's Notes from the Great Northwest and Our Bones Are Scattered, which won the Washington Governor's Award. A former contributing editor for Atlantic Monthly, commentator for NPR's All Things Considered, and columnist for the Washington Post, Ward originated and co-wrote a documentary about the Jubilee Singers for WGBH's The American Experience. He lives in Seattle, Washington

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii
PART ONE
God's Own Time
Ella Sheppard: 1851--1865	3	(10)
From Every Graveyard
Slavery: 1860--1865	13	(13)
By the Thunder
Nashville: 1860--1865	26	(8)
Can't You Read?
Joseph Gillespie McKee: 1862--1865	34	(11)
We'll Overtake the Army
Nashville: 1864--1866	45	(13)
The Angels Changed My Name
Fisk: 1866--1868	58	(13)
Gideon's Band
Country Schools: 1867--1870	71	(11)
Hard Trials
Fisk University: 1867--1870	82	(13)
Getting Ready to Die
The Mission: 1870--1871	95	(14)
PART TWO
Listen to the Angels
Nashville: 1866--1871	109	(18)
Inching Along
The First Tour: October--December 1871	127	(16)
The Golden Street
New York: December 1871--January 1872	143	(16)
Get on Board
New England: February--March 1872	159	(10)
Old Ship of Zion
Washington, D.C.: March 1872	169	(10)
I Ain't Got Weary Yet
Homecoming: March--May 1872	179	(9)
I've Just Come from the Fountain
The Second Tour: May 1872--March 1873	188	(13)
In Bright Mansions Above
London: April--May 1873	201	(14)
At the Welcome Table
London: May--July 1873	215	(14)
There's Room Enough
Britain: July--December 1873	229	(16)
Let Me Get Up
England to America: December 1873--May 1874	245	(16)
PART THREE
No Cowards in Our Band
Nashville: September 1872--January 1875	261	(16)
Send Them Angels
The Third Tour: January--October 1875	277	(24)
No Backsliding
Scotland and Ireland: November 1875--June 1876	301	(18)
Sweet Canaan
Switzerland and Holland: June 1876--February 1877	319	(19)
Ain't Goin' Lay My Mission Down
England and Germany: March--November 1877	338	(16)
Almost Home
Germany: November 1877--July 1878	354	(19)
Want to Cross Over
The Last Tours: July 1878--1903	373	(21)
Steal Away	394	(17)
Epilogue
Notes	411	(54)
Sources	465	(10)
Acknowledgments	475	(4)
Index	479