![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is committed to conscious editing of Libraries’ generated descriptive terminology that may be offensive, harmful, or out of date.
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Ella Leene
Frederick Buckley
To Richard Carrol. Sung by Buckley's Serenaders. Words by Quiet Willie. Music composed by Frederick Buckley, music director of Buckley's Operatic Troupe.
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Maggie May
Sherman Creig and R. F. C. Ellis
From Favorite Songs as sung by J. C. Reeves of Hooley and Campbell's Minstrels.
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(I Wish I Was In) Dixie's Land
Daniel Decatur Emmett and W. L. Hobbs
Daniel Decatur Emmett was the founded of the Virginia Minstrels, one of the first troupe to perform blackface minstrel shows.
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Give Me Your Hand, Old Friend of Youth
John Pond Ordway
Song and chorus as performed by Ordway's Aeolians.
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Louie Lee
G. W. H. Griffin
Sung by D. S. Wambold of Geo. Christy and Wood's Minstrels. Words by Mrs. L. M. Ward.
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Happy Haidee
Thomas Coates and Marshall S. Pike
Dedicated to Mrs. John B. Donniker of New York. As originally sung by J. Murphy of Christy's Minstrels.
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Hark! I Hear An Angel Sing, A
R. G. Shrival and W. C. B.
Ballad as sung by Mr. John Farrenberg of West. Peels & Campbell Minstrels. Composed and respectfully dedicated to Mrs. James Gardner Jr. of Augusta, GA.
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Hark! I Hear An Angel Sing, B
R. G. Shrival and W. C. B.
Ballad as sung by Mr. John Farrenberg of West. Peels & Campbell Minstrels. Composed and respectfully dedicated to Mrs. James Gardner Jr. of Augusta, GA.
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Going Home!
John Pond Ordway
Companion to Home Delights. Dedicated to Mrs. E. C. Huntley, Nashville, Tennessee.
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Dinah is the Girl for Me
W. Raphaelson
Presented to Henry Wood, Esq. Adapted to Wallace's beautiful melody "Music Murmurings" by W. Raphaelson.
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Home Delights
John Pond Ordway
As performed by Ordway's Aeolians of Boston; Wood's Minstrels; also Geo. Christy & Wood's Minstrels New York. To Mrs. Henry Wood.
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Come Take a Sail
H. Avery
A new Ethiopian melody in the key C major designed for the Home Circle by H. Avery. Composed for voice and piano.
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The Hazel Dell
G. Friedrich Wurzel
Sung by Wood's Minstrels of New York. Composed by George Frederick Root, who chose to go by the pseudonym G. Friedrich Wurzel (Wurzel is German for "root") to capitalize on the popularity of other German composers.