Smithsonian Institution
Black Diamond
Score a home run with this packet of information on the very first player of the Negro League to be elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame — cultural groundbreaker and sports legend Satchel Paige. These worksheets include a...
Penguin Books
Up Close: Ella Fitzgerald
A reading of Tanya Lee Stones' biography of Ella Fitzgerald lets middle schoolers get up close and personal with the First Lady of Jazz. Stone recounts details of Fitzgerald's life from her early days through her experiences as a teenage...
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.)
Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press.
New Georgia Encyclopedia: Blues Music: Overview
Overview and definition of blues music that developed in the southern United States in the early nineteenth century. Performers from Georgia include Ray Charles, Ma Rainey, Little Richard, and the Allman Brothers.
Black Past
Black Past: Rap/hip Hop
This encyclopedia entry gives a brief history of rap and hip hop and the influences of the music on modern culture.
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission
Explore Pa History: Billy Eckstine
Learn of the historical contributions of jazz musician, band leader, and Pennsylvania native, Billy Eckstine in this succinct biography.
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...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: American Culture in the 1920s
The First World War had a crippling effect on any notions of positivity in the artists, writers, and intellectuals of that time and they became known as the Lost Generation. This page discusses this group of people, the emergence of jazz...
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: Eritrean Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Eritrean 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: Jamaican Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Jamaican 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.)
Black Past
Black Past: Cooke, Sam (1931 1964)
Sam Cooke's influence on music, as the pioneer in cross-over from gospel to rhythm and blues, is described in this encyclopedia entry. His music was important to the African-American identity in the Civil Rights movement.
Other
American Forces Press Service: Interest Grows in Music Pioneer James Europe
Article from the U.S. Department of Defense commemorating James Reese Europe for both his contribution to the 369th Infantry Regiment in World War I and his place in jazz history before and after the war.
PBS
Pbs American Masters: Sarah Vaughan
An informative biography of jazz singer Sarah Vaughan (1924-1990 CE) is presented highlighting her long musical career.
Black Past
Black Past: Queen Latifah
This encyclopedia entry extols Queen Latifah as the most influential female rap singer. You can read about her evolution as a rap singer and actress.
Other
Classical Music Navigator: Forms and Styles
This alphabetized list of musical forms and styles briefly defines and describes the types of musical sounds and genres created throughout history.
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...