Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: South African Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of South African Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Taj Mahal
This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Taj Mahal, an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and one of the pioneers of what came to be called world music. He combined blues and other African-American...
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Understanding Poetry of Maya Angelou Through Rap Lyric
By examining the lives and lyrics of popular, positive black female rappers such as Queen Latifah and Lauryn Hill, students can trace a direct line back to the inspirational writer and poet, Maya Angelou. Rap lyrics will help explicate...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Berry Gordy, Jr.
This entry from Encyclopedia Brittanica's Guide to Black History features Berry Gordy, Jr., an American businessman, founder of the Motown Record Corporation (1959), which became the most successful black-owned music company in the...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Sierra Leonean Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Sierra Leonean Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Cape Verdean Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Cape Verdean Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Ethiopian Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Ethiopian Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Ghanaian Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Ghanaian Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Kenyan Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Kenyan Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Liberian Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Liberian Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Nigerian Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Nigerian Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
PBS
Pbs American Masters: Sarah Vaughan
An informative biography of jazz singer Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990 CE) is presented highlighting her long musical career.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Guide to Black History: Jack the Rapper
Jack the Rapper (Jack Gibson) helped open the first African-American-owned radio station in the United States, WERD in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1949. Gibson learned about radio while working as a gofer for deejay Al Benson in Chicago. He...
Library of Congress
Loc: Florida Folklife
Library of Congress provides materials from the WPA Collections, 1937-1942. Selections include narratives and songs from ethnic and cultural groups, including African Americans, Bahamian Americans, Cuban Americans, American Indians, and...
Other
Gotta Dance: American Rumba
This site from Gotta Dance offers an easy-to-read history of rumba.
Black Past
Black Past: Joplin, Scott
This is a brief encyclopedia biography of the ragtime composer, Scott Joplin, whose music was influential in the growth of jazz.
John F. Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Center: Lift Every Voice and Sing
Explore and analyze "Lift Every Voice and Sing" , a poem by James Weldon Johnson, which was set to music and is considered the "Black National Anthem."
Black Past
Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed: Josephine Baker
Entry, from an online encyclopedia of African American history, for Josephine Baker.
Black Past
Black Past: Watts, Andre
This encyclopedia article gives a brief biography of Andre Watts, the first internationally known black classical pianist.
PBS
Pbs: Biography of Dizzy Gillespie
This PBS biography about trumpeter and jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie includes photos, multiple audio features, and links within the text to other famous musicians.
OpenStax
Open Stax: The Jazz Age: Redefining the Nation 1919 1929: A New Generation
Looks at the new morality that emerged in the 1920s. It changed the role of women and the perception of African Americans, the latter facilitated by the Harlem Renaissance and its impact on the music and dance of the Jazz Age. Also...
Other
Mad River Theater Works: The Ballad of John Henry [Pdf]
Scroll down this study guide to find the lyrics to the Ballad of John Henry, which was collected from individuals in the West Virginia mountains in the 1920's. Discusses the different versions of the song and the history behind it.
Smithsonian Institution
Anacostia Museum: The Renaissance: Black Art of the Twenties
Provides an informative description of the "Black Arts of the Twenties," which was better known as the Harlem Renaissance. Learn about the culture, art, music, and writings of this period.
Smithsonian Institution
National Postal Museum: Art of the Stamp: Duke Ellington
View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1986 to commemorate famous jazz musician Duke Ellington. Includes a short biographical passage.