Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions, 1871-2001

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service hired Carol to reorganize and rewrite the content of a traditional panel show into an exhibition for children and families that traveled in an expandable tractor-trailer. Carol conceived what became an engaging experience for people of all ages in communities across the nation.

WRITING SAMPLES:

Introductory text

Listen . . .

Walk through this exhibit, and you can hear history.
Trace the story of music that was born in slavery and grew strong in Black churches.
Hear songs that helped unify growing communities of African American people.
Hear the roots of a tradition that gave us gospel and helped make popular music what it is today.
After you leave, maybe you’ll even hear the impact of this tradition on your favorite songs.

Body text

Songs united people in protest

Some of the same songs that gave hope to slaves also unified civil rights protestors in the 1950s and 1960s. As people gathered to fight segregation and racism, they sang church songs and spirituals like “Wade in the Water.” They sang at sit-ins, in mass meetings, and as they were dragged to jail.

Body text

Listen for the impact of sacred music

Many artists mix the sounds and themes of sacred music into popular music styles. Even in music with no faith-based message, you can hear–and see on stage–the influence of African American sacred music.

Captions

Sam Cooke left the Soul Stirrers quartet to become a rhythm-and-blues legend. His “crossover” to popular music inspired many other gospel artists to do
the same.

“Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin started singing in her father’s church choir as a child. She brought the intense, expressive style of gospel music to her hit songs. The audience responded to her–much like in church–by jumping to their feet, clapping, and shouting approval.