Kristen Castellana: Edison Sheet Music Collection Contains Music by African Americans Such as Francis Johnson, Justin Holland & Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins

The Music of Francis Johnson & His Contemporaries: Early 19th-Century Black Composers

Diane Monroe, Violin

The Chestnut Brass Company and Friends

Tamara Brooks, Conductor

Music Masters 7029-2-C (1990)

Justin Holland
(Photo courtesy of Douglas Back)

Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins

 On January 20, 2016 AfriClassical posted:

University of Michigan Library to digitize one-third of 19th-century Edison Sheet Music Collection, including music about race and slavery

The following comments have been made by email:

1) Does this collection include any music composed by African Americans?

Thanks      

John Malveaux

2) Hello, and thanks for your interest in the sheet music collection. I'm including Kristen Castellana, the head of our Music Library, in hopes that she can respond to your question.  Cheers, Lynne [Lynne Raughley]

3) Hello John, The collection does indeed include music by African American composers. Unfortunately, the collection isn't accessible yet (that's what the project will accomplish), so it's not possible to identify or locate particular works, with the exception of a small portion of the collection which is already cataloged. I can say there there is definitely music by Francis Johnson, James Hemmenway, A.J.R Connor, Justin Holland, J.W. Postlewaite, and Blind Tom, to name a few, but I'm sure there are many others too! Sincerely, Kristen Castellana, Head, Music Library, Librarian for Music and Dance, University of Michigan

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