Ain'-a That Good News: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

An eight-page booklet of printed sheet music, black ink on off-white paper, for "Ain'a That Good News" by William L. Dawson and printed by the music press of Tuskegee Institute as part of the Tuskegee Choir Series.

The first, or cover page, features a printed listing of all the song titles in the series, appearing typewritten within an illustrated graphic border. Decorative text at the top reads [TUSKEGEE CHOIR SERIES / Edited and Arranged / By / WILLIAM L. DAWSON]. Printed text at the very top reads [No. 103 AIN'-A THAT GOOD NEWS (Mixed Chorus) : .20]. The remaining pages contain the printed music without decoration, marks, or inscriptions.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1937; printed later
• Created by: Tuskegee Institute, American, founded 1881
• Written by: William L. Dawson Composer, American, 1899 - 1990
• Type: sheet music
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 10 1/2 x 7 1/4 in. (26.7 x 18.4 cm)
• Place printed: Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Education
• Topic: HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
• Topic: Spirituals (Music)
• Object number: 2011.21.15.3
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Arthur Tyrill Farrell Family
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown – Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.