![Black American Sheet Music Collection](../assets/md5images/631533aad9ebc1056849446027776b8a.jpg)
Black American Sheet Music Collection
The Bank of America Black American Sheet Music Collection consists of approximately 4000 pieces of published sheet music reflecting the influences of African Americans on popular music in the United States. The music was created by, performed by, published by, or portrays Black and African American themes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in the United States. The collection highlights popular vocal music, jazz, big band, and swing music published in the United States. The earliest piece in the collection dates to 1818, and the latest editions date into the 1980s, thereby giving a chronicle of the evolution of Black-inspired music in America for almost 200 years. Some imagery and lyrics in this collection reflect harmful racist depictions of Black people and are included in the collections for their use in academic research.
Content Warning:
USF Libraries’ Digital Collections include historical and primary sources from many cultures and time periods. Some content may be harmful, graphic, difficult to view, or reflect biases. Digital Collections provides access to these materials to preserve the historical record, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices, or behaviors found within them. USF Libraries’ is committed to conscious editing of Libraries’ generated descriptive terminology that may be offensive, harmful, or out of date.
-
Dusky Dinah
Dan J. Sullivan
An original cake-walk and patrol by Dan J. Sullivan, composer of "The Tournament" march.
-
Williams and Walker's Album of Gems
Bert Williams and George Walker
From the original musical farce comedy "The Policy Players." Williams and Walker were Black American musicians.
-
When Africa and Ireland Go to War
Gussie L. Davis and Dan Packard
Gussie Lord Davis was a Black songwriter.
-
The Dixie Kid
Adam Geibel and Richard Henry Buck
Plantation song and chorus. Words by Richard Henry Buck. Music by Adam Geibel.
-
Doan Give Me No Golden Harp
Chas. Gilbert and E. W. Dustin
Dedicated to the manufacturer of Star Tobacco. Arranged for voice and piano.
-
The Piccaninnies
Aubrey Hopwood, Ivan Caryll, Harry Greenbank, and Lionel Monckton
From new musical play The Runaway Girl.
-
Eli Green's Cake Walk
Sadie G. Koninsky and Chas E. Pratt
The first cakewalk published by a woman, Sadie G. Koninsky, who also published under the male pseudonym Jerome Hartman.
-
My Old Kentucky Home, D
S. G. Cook and Stephen Collins Foster
Variations for piano by S. G. Cook. Originally by Stephen C. Foster.
-
My Old Kentucky Home, F
Afred A. Farland and Stephen Collins Foster
With variations for the banjo. Solo with piano accompaniment. Originally by Stephen C. Foster.
-
Vocal Gems of Primrose and West
Mary Dowling Sutton, Gussie L. Davis, Charles Graham, and Harry Von Tilzer
The Vocal Gems from Primrose and West's Big Minstrels.