Sheet music for "Before the White Man Came" by Suliaman El-Hadi: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Handwritten sheet music for the piece "Before the White Man Came". Handwritten at top of sheet music is, [BEFORE THE WHITE MAN CAME / Written by / Suliaman El-Hadi]. Handwritten on bottom of sheet music is, [© Spoet Publishing Corp. 1972 Copyright]. Handwriting appears on front and back of paper, with folded inside being blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1972
• Written by: Suliaman El-Hadi, American, 1936 - 1995
• Published by: Spoet Publishing Corp.
• Type: sheet music
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W (Folded): 12 1/2 × 9 5/8 in. (31.8 × 24.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Unfolded): 12 1/2 × 19 in. (31.8 × 48.3 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Resistance
• Topic: Slavery
• Topic: Spoken word (Poetry)
• Object number: 2014.40.8.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Qaddafi El-Hadi in memory of Suliaman El-Hadi
• 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: © Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.