H.T. Burleigh Society: Meet Historian Dr. Jean Snyder, Burleigh Biographer

Dr. Jean Snyder

Dr. Jean Snyder is the author of Harry T. Burleigh: From the Spiritual to the Harlem Renaissance.

Tell us about your training as a historian. As an English teacher and a lover of literature, and as a singer and a lover of music, I have always been interested in the history of literature and music. Reading African and African American literature piqued my interest in African and African American history. As an ethnomusicologist, I learned the importance of studying how music functions in people’s lives. Studying Harry T. Burleigh’s life and music has taught me the critical importance of understanding and portraying the historical and social context of his life. Now I’m hooked—there is always more to learn!

How did you discover Burleigh as a subject you wanted to research and write about? When a friend in Kenya told me, "I need some spirituals; I don't care what they are, just as long as they are arranged by H. T. Burleigh," I didn't realize I'd been listening to recordings of his spiritual arrangements by Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson for years. When I wrote my first graduate seminar paper on Burleigh's life and music, I was astounded to discover the depth and breadth of his contribution to the music of America and the world, and I realized that much of his story hadn’t been told. With the help of Burleigh’s family and the endlessly fascinating search in many primary sources, I have been privileged to help make that story more complete.

What were the most challenging aspects of your project on Burleigh? Were you able to overcome them? I soon discovered that the "usual sources" would not take me very far; there were primary sources that had not been tapped by previous writers on Burleigh's life. For example, the time-consuming search in microfilms of black newspapers in Erie, PA (before there were online databases) yielded priceless information. Additionally, there were many errors and contradictions in published accounts of Burleigh’s life. I needed to learn the truth if at all possible, however long that might take. In some ways, not being on the "publish or perish" tenure track allowed me to take the years of research that were required to do Burleigh's story justice. It has been a deeply enriching journey.

What are you curious about these days? What’s attracting your research attention? While the search for more  information and insight  into Burleigh’s life and   music continues, I’m  also looking at the  lives of some of Burleigh’s   contemporaries whose  stories need to be told.  There is so much to  learn about these African  American musicians  and their seminal  contributions to the music  and the musical theater of  America: "The half has  never yet been told!” Fisk Jubilee Singers® Sing  Harry T. Burleigh  Spirituals March 2nd 2019 Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall 7:30pm    The Harry T. Burleigh Society  and the Fisk Jubilee  Singers® join in a  historic performance  celebrating Ella Sheppard  (1851–1915), an original  Fisk Jubilee Singer, and  Harry T. Burleigh (1866– 1949), leaders of the concert  spiritual tradition. The Fisk  Jubilee Singers® will  perform the music of  these under-heard cultural  leaders, and make calls for  freedom. More Than the Promise of the American Myth: Rethinking Burleigh & Sheppard  in the  Second Gilded Age March 3rd, 2019  May Room - Weill Terrace Room, Carnegie Hall 9am - 3pm  The Harry T. Burleigh Society's  first academic conference  considers Burleigh's and  Sheppard's impact on the  concert spiritual genre,  the historiographic  limits of composer  biography, Black art music  aesthetics, and the  liberatory capabilities  within the work of  Burleigh, Sheppard, and  their contemporaries.  Dr. Daphne Brooks will  deliver the keynote  address. Other  speakers include Dr.  Louise Toppin, baritone   Kenneth Overton, Dr.  Crystal deGregory and  descendants of Burleigh  and Sheppard.  Free and open to  the public. Registration  required by February  15th to join us for lunch  after the conference.  Thank you for your continued support of the Harry T. Burleigh Society.