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.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Hamilton's America: Collection
GREAT PERFORMANCES: "Hamilton's America" provides a behind-the-scenes look at Lin-Manuel Miranda's smash hit Broadway musical Hamilton. "Hamilton's America" blends history, footage of Miranda's writing process, and scenes from the...
Other
Native Peoples: Powwow 101
This article explains what a powwow is, some of its history, how native people feel about them, powwow etiquette, the music, the dances, and the regalia. (Published July-August 2004 issue)
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Earth, Wind, and Fire
Read background information and the history of the music of the popular Grammy award winning band of the 1970s, Earth, Wind, & Fire.
Black Past
Black Past: Watts, Andre
This encyclopedia article gives a brief biography of Andre Watts, the first internationally known black classical pianist.
Other
Fact Index: Minstrel Show
Fact-Index.com offers detailed information on the American minstrel show, including history, structure, characters, music, and legacy.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Robert "Bob" Fosse Was Born
This site is provided for by America's Library. Most of the dance that is seen today in music videos and dance clubs came from a man who lived more that 80 years ago. Learn more about this dance legend at this site from the Library of...
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Sti Lesson 2: Langston Hughes and the Blues
Explore relationship between music and poetry in this African-American history lesson on Langston Hughes, the Harlem Renaissance, and other artists such as Bessie Smith, John Hammond, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones.
Other
Saudi Aramco World: Muslim Roots, u.s. Blues
This site explores the link between Muslim traditions and American blues music. Using audio content, pictures, text, and the song ?Levee Camp Holler,? this site examines African Muslim history tied to the history of U.S. Blues.
SparkNotes
Spark Notes: Social Trends of the 1950s
Spark Notes gives a brief overview of the 1950s from consumerism and conformity to poverty to youthful rebellion. A good review of this important decade in American history.
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.
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Pueblos
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of the Pueblo people of the American Southwest. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Black Emancipators of the 19th Century
A lesson unit on the people and movements that fought to abolish slavery. Looks at the Triangular Trade, and at the Underground Railroad and famous abolitionists. Includes a play about emancipation, a black history rap and a trivia quiz...
Other
Chickasaw Cultural Center: The Heartbeat of a Nation
The Chickasaw Cultural Center's stated purpose is to celebrate Chickasaw history and culture. The best way to explore what it has to offer is to view the many videos (the link is at the bottom of the page) which tour the features of the...
Other
Mission Us: Pennywhistle Hero
Interactive website teaches students about U.S. history in this game using instruments and songs of the colonial era. Levels of difficulty vary.
Contemplator
Popular Songs in American History: Turkey in the Straw
This site provides the lyrics to an early minstrel song that was popular during Andrew Jackson's presidency.
Black Past
Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed: Josephine Baker
Entry, from an online encyclopedia of African American history, for Josephine Baker.
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
Labor Arts: Labor Sings
Many songs, born of the American labor and civil rights movements, called people to action and were used to spread the messages of workers' rights and civil rights. Here you will find a nice collection of such songs. All songs in the...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Run d.m.c.
Biographical details on Run-D.M.C., the American rap group that brought hip-hop into the musical and cultural mainstream, introducing what became known as "new-school" rap.
Contemplator
The Contemplator's: I've Been Working on the Railroad
This site offers complete lyrics with a bit of history on this American folk song.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Louis Jordan
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Louis Jordan, an American saxophonist-singer prominent in the 1940s and '50s who was a seminal figure in the development of both rhythm and blues and rock and roll. The bouncing, rhythmic...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Snoop Dogg
Learn about the life of American rapper and songwriter, Snoop Dogg, who became one of the best-known figures in gangsta rap in the 1990s and was for many the epitome of West Coast hip-hop culture.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: The Soul Stirrers
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Black History features the Soul Stirrers, an American gospel group who were one of the first male quintets and one of the most enduring male groups. Several singers emerged from the...
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