Movin' On Up: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Hardback copy of "Movin' on up" with a paper book cover. Paper book cover is burgundy with red and blue type, reading [The warmly personal story of America's favorite gospel singer/Mahalia Jackson/ with Evan McLeod Wylie/Movin' on up]. Front cover has a depiction of Mahalia Jackson in a white short sleeve shirt, with white beads sewn in flower patterns. Jackson holds her hands clasped in front of her chest, looking up towards her right. The reverse of the paper book cover is white with burgundy type and contains a series of excerpted passages from the autobiography. The text begins thus: [MAHALIA JACKSON tells of her life and times.../"I don't believe in God myself," a reporter told me, "but when you/sing it gives me goose pimples." "That's not goose pimples," I/told him. "That's your soul speaking and you don't even know/ it's there!"]. Mahalia Jackson signed the first page (opposite interior cover) in blue ink, reading [May the Love of God keep/you always in Christ/Mahalia Jackson] in script. Interior pages are white with black type. 212 pages.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1968
• Written by: Mahalia Jackson, American, 1911 - 1972
• Written by: Evan McLeod Wylie, American, born 1916
• Subject of: Mahalia Jackson, American, 1911 - 1972
• Signed by: Mahalia Jackson, American, 1911 - 1972
• Published by: Hawthorn Books, Inc., American
• Type: autobiographies
• Medium: Ink on paper, cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W: 9 5/16 × 6 1/4 × 1 in. (23.7 × 15.9 × 2.5 cm)
• Place made: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Gospel (Music)
• Topic: Identity
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: Women
• Object number: 2014.141.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Paul & Claire Blumenfeld
• 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: © 1966 by Mahalia Jackson and Evan McLeod Wylie Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.