Program for "Slave Songs of the South" by the Hampton Colored Students: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This song program is a bifolio sheet with text and images on all four pages. The front page has text at the top that reads "Slave Songs of the South by the Hampton Colored Students." The page is divided into three sections of text. The middle section is titled "PROGRAMME -Part First” and the last section "PART SECOND." Under first and second parts are numbered lists of songs, some with notations. The entire text is surrounded by a thin line border with decorative corners. The two inside pages are covered with printed text in the form of handwritten script. The back page has text at the top that reads "HAMPTON / Normal and Agricultural Institute." Underneath is a lithographed image of a large building with the caption "VIRGINIA HALL- Now being erected."

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1873
• Created by: Hampton Singers, American, founded 1870
• Subject of: Hampton University, American, founded 1868
• Subject of: Henry Ward Beecher, American, 1813 - 1887
• Type: programs
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W (folded): 9 3/4 × 6 7/16 in. (24.8 × 16.4 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (open): 9 3/4 × 12 9/16 in. (24.8 × 31.9 cm)
• Place depicted: Hampton, Virginia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Education
• Topic: HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
• Topic: Reconstruction, U.S. History, 1865-1877
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: Slavery
• Topic: Spirituals (Music)
• Object number: 2018.48
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• 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 displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.