The Gospel Truth: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 33 1/3 rpm record album titled “The Gospel Truth” recorded by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The vinyl record (2014.98.15a) has a black label with white lettering. The front of the album sleeve (2014.98.15b) is purple and has [THE GOSPEL TRUTH SISTER ROSETTA THARPE] at the top in large, decorative orange text, followed by [ALL NEW! HER GREATEST GOSPEL HITS] in smaller white text below, followed by the track listing in light blue text: [On My Way (Got On My Travelin' Shoes) / This Is A Mean Old World / This Train / I Heard My Mother Call / Stretch Out / Ring Those Golden Bells / I Look Down the Road and I Wonder / Nobody Knows, Nobody Care]. At the center of the sleeve is a round, tinted black-and-white photographic portrait of Tharpe wearing a white lace dress, hands open and raised in front of her chest, and looking up and away from the camera. The portrait is surrounded by a circular geometric design in the same light blue as the track listing. The back of the sleeve is white with a track listing and biographical information on Sister Rosetta Tharpe printed in plain black text. The album also has a paper sleeve (2014.98.15c), with advertisements for other Verve records on the front and back.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1962
• Recorded by: Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American, 1915 - 1973
• Published by: Verve Records, American, founded 1956
• Manufactured by: MGM Records, American, 1946 - 1976
• Type: record covers
• Type: long-playing records
• Medium: vinyl, ink on paper
• Dimensions: Diameter (record): 11 13/16 in. (30 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (album jacket): 12 3/8 × 12 3/8 in. (31.5 × 31.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (paper sleeve): 11 13/16 × 12 in. (30 × 30.5 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Gospel (Music)
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Mass media
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Topic: Rock and roll (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2014.98.15abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gayle Wald
• 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.