Kay Long and Charlene Anderson interview with Margie Broxton, Willie Roney, Ethel Roney, Carrie Tidwell, and Eunice Stevens (part one)

The John Burrison Georgia Folklore Archive recordings contains unedited versions of all interviews. Some material may contain descriptions of violence, offensive language, or negative stereotypes reflecting the culture or language of a particular period or place. There are instances of racist language and description, particularly in regards to African Americans. These items are presented as part of the historical record. This project is a repository for the stories, accounts, and memories of those who chose to share their experiences for educational purposes. The viewpoints expressed in this project do not necessarily represent the viewpoints of the Atlanta History Center or any of its officers, agents, employees, or volunteers. The Atlanta History Center makes no warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the interviews and expressly disclaims any liability therefore. If you believe you are the copyright holder of any of the content published in this collection and do not want it publicly available, please contact the Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center at 404-814-4040 or reference@atlantahistorycenter.com. This is the first of a two-part recording in which Margie Broxton, Willie and Ethel Roney, Carrie Tidwell, and Eunice Stevens, members of a Sacred Harp, a shape-note singing group, perform and discuss how they got into singing. Willie Roney says that they sing using books from the Sacred Harp book company from Troy, Alabama. He also mentions that they travel to state conventions where they elect a chairman and appoint delegates. They then talk about the history of singing in their community, the times they sing during the year, and that out-of-state visitors come to hear them sing. They further explain that their Sacred Harp group sings in the traditional style at religious gatherings and households. Next, Long and Anderson ask the singers how they got into singing. First, at 9:37, Willie Roney details his personal connection to singing with the Sacred Harp, singing as a boy, growing up in Newville, Alabama, and when he likes to sing. At 13:00, Carrie Tidwell explains what Sacred Harp songs mean to her. Unlike others in the group, she did not sing as a child but learned when she married her husband, also a member of the Sacred Harp. Tidwell, an alto singer, states her favorite songs and how Sacred Harp is a part of the community. At 15:30, Ethel Willie Roney talks about singing as a child, her school (she went to school for singing at 16), and when she enjoys singing. At 17:07, Margie Broxton talks about her emotional connection to the Sacred Harp, attending singing schools, her family, and the Sacred Harp songbook they use. At 19:56 Eunice Stevens describes how she became a singer, the communitys relationship with religious singing, her part as a treble singer, and her family. She thinks that her children will continue the tradition of Sacred Harp singing. At 22:14 the group discusses upcoming singing dates, household singing, and Sacred Harps popularity. Willie Rooney says that although there aren't a lot of singers in Dothan, there are 45 to 65 leaders that sing two songs a day at gatherings. Margie Broxton (1912-1996) was born in Newton, Alabama, to William (1878-1950) and Annie (1879-1952) Tidwell and went to Bethel Church when she was 13 to learn how to sing. Willie Roney (1902-1996) grew up in Newville, Alabama. In 1922 he married Ludy Stephens (1904-1952). In 1962 he married Ethel Redding (1909-2001), who ) was born in Dothan, Alabama, to Carrie (1891-1965) and Herbert (1885-1969) Redding. Ethel attended school for singing in Skippervile when she was 16. Carrie Tidwell (1902-1981) was born in Newton, Alabama. In 1921 she married John T. Tidwell (1900-1958) with whom she had five children. One of her children, Eunice F. Stevens (1936-1997), was born in Newton, Alabama, and later lived in Midland City, Alabama. She learned to sing at Bethel Baptist Church when she was young and later married Perry Stevens (1933-1991). Kay Revonda Long (1949-2005) was born in Columbia, South Carolina, to Samuel Harold Long (1921-1987) and Flora Virginia Long (1928-2004). She graduated from Druid Hills High School, then from Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. Long lived in Snellville, Georgia, when she passed away. Additional biographical information has not been determined. Folklore 302 A Colleotion Projeot: Saored Harp Singing in Alabamafs New Hope Community by Kay R. Long and Charlene Anderson for Professor John Burrison II it ViInter. 1970 I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. x. Table of Contents A Brief History of Shape-Note Singing Map and Historical Sketch of Area of Collecting Ne,mes and Addresses of Informants and Collectors Group Interview I Individual Interviews Group Interview II Song Copies Photographs Sacred Harp Convention Minutes Collector's Personal Impressions A Brief History of Shape-Note Singing The "fasola" syllables used by the shape-note singers of today had their origin in the England of Queen Elizabeth. At that time, the scale that we now know' as "do re mi fa so la ti do" was sun~ as "fa sol la fa ~ol la" with the addition of "mi" at the end, leading into the "fa" of the next octe,ve, The use of this early English scale was broup;ht to New England where singing was, at first, strictly a reli~ious activity and the few tunes used were taU~ht by rate. Then, in 1721, the sacred music of New England was revitalized and placed in a more secular environment by the publication of two new song books, John Tufts' !n Introduction to 1h. Sinp;in.<; of Psalm Tunes and Thomas ;,'Ialter' s Grounds !ill Rules of ,Musick, the first books to demonstrate sing;ing by note. Secular singing schools, financed by popular subscription, grew up and their teachers soon replaced the church as the prime teacher of tunes, In an effort to simplify the singing SChool's task of teaching notation to their musically naive pupils, the shape-note system was devised. Each notehead was given its own.particular shape, 80 that a singer could easily tell if the note were "fa", "sol", "113.", or "mi". Although there is some question as to who originally devised the Shape-nato system, the notation used by "lilliam Little and Vlilliam Smith in their joint pUblication The Easy Instructor, gained 1,'1ido popUlarity and is the same as that usod by shape-note singers today. 'rhe sln~ing school and the shape-note system ~lere enthuslastic, c"lly aceepted in Nev.T England for a tlme, but, early in the ninet8enth century more sophisticated muslc systems were imported from Europe, forcinp; the migration of the sin~i.ng school teachers to the West and South. In the West, hovlever, these newer music methods also eventually replaced the singing school and shape-note notation. It was only in the upland South, remote from urban influences, that the schools were able to survive. The growing use of the organ, its tremendous volume greatly reducing the role of singers, had also oontributed to the demise of shape-note singing in other areas, but the primitive roads of the southern uplands nmde transporting such an instrument impossible. Thus, the "fasoJ,.a" singing that had originated in New England and spread across the West became a lasting tradition on]~ in the southern portion of the United states. Shape-note singing was brought to Alabama bw settlers from Georgia and the Carolinas. In Alabama, as elsewhere, shape-note singers are ImoWn as "Sacred Harp" singers because of thei);' e:JCclusive use of the songbook of that name. The first edition of the ~cred Harn songbook was published by B. F. White and E. J. King in Hamilton, Georgia in 1844. Several later versions appeared, including a 1911 version, the Origin~Sacte~.~~~, pUblished by a committee whose most active member waS S. M. Denson. Tids Denson edition became the most widely used. In southeastern Alabama, however. this 1911 edition was replaced by an edition published first in 1902 by W. M. Cooper. Oooperls Sacr~d FmrQ Was SUbsequently reissued in 1907, 1909, 1927, and 1949, and the last e~ition is the songbook presently used by the Sacred Harp singers of southeastern Alab~ma. (The preceding m~terial is basem on White SElrituals in the Southern ~-11ands, bw George Pullen 'Jack.son, 'the TInIvei:'sity of No:r;oth Carih Ina "Press, Chapel Hill, 1933.) The Area of Collecting The New Hope Community l.8 located het~leen Echo and lHdland City, Dale County, Alabama. The community takes l.ts name from the New Hope Free \'lill Baptist Church, established in 1865. The area is rural in nature and mal.nly a farming cornmunlty. The ethnic background of the lnhabltants is, for the most part, Engllsh and Irlsh. The collecting of lnformation for thls report was done at the home of .1rs. Eunlce stevens, Route 1, Midle.nd Clty, Dale County, Alabama, on the Echo-Mldland Clty Hlghway. We contacted these informants th:cough the s.ld of Neil Long of Ht. 1, 1~:1.dland C:i. ty. Names and Addresses Informants: Mrs. Mar~ie Broxton, Box 73, Newton, Alabama Mr. and Mrs. Hillie Roney, 804 South Park, Dothan, Alabama Mrs. Carrie Tidwell, Box 286, Newton, Alabama Mrs, Eunice F. Stevens, Houte 1, r.Jidland City, Alabama Collectors: Kay R. Long. 551 Clairmont Circle, Apt.7, Decatur, Georgia Charlene Anderson, 1850 Alderbrook Hoad N.E., Atlanta, Georgia GROUP INTERVII<lW ANDERSON. Do you do four or seven note singing? STJWENS. Pour note singing. ANDERSON. And what do you oall it? STEVENS. Saored Harp. ANDERSON. And do you all belong to the same ohuroh? STEVENS. No, we don't have to. ANDERSON. And What are the denominations that are involved? STEW~NS. All kinds. ANDI<:RSON. And are there any Negro people that do this type of singing in this area? STEVF~NS. Yes, they do. ANDTmSON. And whel'A do you get the book that you use? MH. RONEY. We got a reglar S.acl'ed .!:!~ book company. Troy, AJ,.abama. ANDERSON. MR. RONEY. Al\1DJ1~HSON MR. HONEY. And you just order the books from there? Order the books and have 'em printed, yes, ma'am. And you don't pl'int any of them around here? No, ma'am. ANDEHSON. Does anybody around here write music for ya'll to sing othel' than in the books? 1ill. HONbY. It'd have to be revised to do that and that's brought into the Sacred Harp - well, you might say the Sacred Harp state convention, but you have to get permission to change anything in it. ANDEHSON. Oh, you do - to change anything in the book? MR. RONJIT. Yes, mal am. You of\in l t take a song out, nor add one in Wit40ut permission or the Sacred Harp singers. ANDERSON. Wen, 'you meen where the boole is pUblished? You'd have to get their permission, or ya'll's Permission? MR. RONEY. The singers. The publisher pUbl1s!;les wha,t you send him. ANDERSON. And so then, they'd have to get permission from the singers to put anything else in? :MR. RONmY'. T:Q.at's right. ANDERSON. Well, which. boo~ do ya'll use mostly? MR. RONlmt. The blUe bac~ Sacre~ Harp regular it's the Cooper book. ANDERSON. Do you know anything ? MR. RONEY. It's revised by W. M. Cooper and others. ANDERSON. Do you Icnow anything about W. M. Cooper? Or about Denl'lon? MR. RON.!t"'Y. I used to knoW W. M. Cooper When I was a Ida, yes, ma'am. ANDERSON. Well, CQuld you tell u.s anything aoout him? MR. RONE. He was just a great singe:r and writeii' .,. now, he was one of the wr:l,ters. ANDJi:RSON. Do you follow the book exactly as it's wr:ttten or do you eVer improvise, I mean, you know, sing it a little bit di:fferent;Ly? MR. RONEY. It's sung di:ffel'ent at t;Lmes. At times, at times, they sing some of the music that is wr9te in 4/4 time, they sing it in 2/4 Ume, put you cain't chuhge a 3/4 time. Y9u ' Ve got to sing it in 3/4 time, if You sing it. ANDERSON. You Imow something about Denl;lon'l ~) ( i BROX~'ON. Yes, I know all the Denson:;!. ANDERSON. Oh, do you? Wen, could you tell us something about them? BROXTON. Well, uh, I was just with them whenever they revised the, uh, new songs for the Penson book and my husband was with them over at Brayman (Bremen) Georgy, and, uh, you knoW. Ruth Denson, Bob Denson, and all of 'em and I just lmew I em like that t I,ONG. How long has Sac:t'ed Harp s;l.:nging been done in the community? STEVENS. As long as I can remember. LONG. Could anyone say how many years itls been? MRS. HONE.Y. Do you knoW how long there I S been a singing in the community? MR. RONEY. Umrnm, no, I donlt. I - long ago as I can remember and before. Aw, they been singing it seventy-five or eighty years around through this country here, or longer. Now, we got books that - songs that's wrote back in 1800 and way back, fifties and thirty-six and back there. MRS. RONEY. We got one 1827. LONG. Has this tradition ever died out in this community and been revived? MRS. RONEY. No, it hasnlt. LON<h It's been in the community continuously since it started. Okay, thank you. LONG. What time of the year do you sing at competitions or at conventions, as a general rUle? MRS. RONEY. Well, we sing all the time, all the year. LONG. You sing ~ll year 'round? J~S. RON}X. Yes, conventions and other, all other Sundays. LONG. Well, do you usu~lly sing in conventions, or in churches, or tn What situations? MRS. RONEY. We sing in chul'liihes, yes. LQNG. You sing in c):lUrches? MRS. RONEY. Yes LONG. Vr!lat is a day like at ~n all d~y singing? It would incluQ. e things l1J~e do you h~ve dinner on the grounds'l MRS. RONEY. Yes, We do MVe dinner /l.t nOOn. LONG. You have dinner on the grounds. Could you tell me about wh~t kind of people come? Is it people from the community or from other churches, or from out of state, do people ever come ? MRS. RONE,Y. People from community and out 9f st~te, f!'om Georgi~ and Florida and everyVlhar. LONG. Oome from ~ll over, okay. Does your group sing in the same style it alwaYs has? Itls a traditional style? MRS. RONEY. yes, it does. ToONG. It is a t:r.-adit:1.ona;L style. You still maintain it. Do you knoW of other groups that w9uld sing an a different style, maybe a more ja,zzed. up or different style from traditional? MRS. RONEY. Not Sacred lfurp, no. LONG. Sac:r.-ed Harpls sung tr~ditionally. (Laughte:r.-.) ANDERSON. Could you tell me how a person becomes a membe!' of the Sacred Harp singers? MR. RON~. Just go to sanging it. ANDERSON. Just start singing it? C) MR. RONEY. Just start singinl it, that's all you got to do. ANDERSON. What ty'pe of organize.tion do you have? MR. RONb"Y. JUst, well, it itls, it's carried on. Each convention's got it's own rules and regalations, although there's not much differ'ence in' em. And in a convention, you elect a chairman, a vice-chairman, and a secrete.ry. Then the chairman appoints the committees. He has that authority and he appoints his al'rangin' COfl1ll1ittee and all and the arrangin' Col11\llittee keeps a leader on the floor all the time And, as a rule, those - the arrangin' cOmmittee - underostands it and you'll sing about, oh, ten ox' twelve, me,ybe fifteen leaders and t;hen the;v'll have a recess and they go back and sing again. He.ve tWQ intermissions :In the mornin , nnd one in the afternoon and then a noon hour. ANDERSON. What is th~ name or the convention that you belong to? MR. nON,lIT. Ever convention's got its name, yes, ma'am. ANDEHSON. And what is the name of y'our oonvention? ~,m. :RONEY. Sou.theasteron, Houston County and. state convention and, I don't Imovi. They's Middle Creek and ANDERSON. There are a whole lot of them, then? MR. RON~Y. Crenshaw County and I, Oh, yeah, they's about sixteen, seventeen of' 'em. And each one of' those conventions they have, ah, what they call an annual session and a semi-annual session. The semi-o.nnual session is usually the - it's the fiNlt session of' the year and they's no business Carried on in that. You don't carroy no business on that day. In the lJ.nnuo.l session, then, they elect their officers and then they Serve t ill the next t lme. ANDEHSON. Whe,t type of bUSiness would be likely to be discussed ~t the time you do discuss business? MR. RONEY. Well, that's the biggest p13.:l,'t there is to it. is electing the chairmnn, the vice~chairman. the president. Ahd, courlje. sometimes the~ have othel:' business, :Like the minutes. the pr~ting of the minutes or e,nything. just little things. Nothin' that they bring before the convention and git the Then each convention is represented in the state convention. And e~ch convention throughout our section here, you appoint tWQ delegates to go to thestl3.te convention and they got yO\ll' votin t power there. And they pay their fee and then they vote in the ~tate convention on the president. the vioe-president. and so on. AND1BRSO~. '1'hanl, you. LONG. l'd 111,e to I3.sk you again how old these convention e,re, hoW old the tradition of Sacred Harp singing is in this conunity? MR. RONEY. The oldest one I know of is a l:lUndred Ilnd seven yea;rs old. TJONG. Thank you. I ) I I INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEW ANDERSON. Could you just tell me a little bit about what Sacred ~arp singing really means to you? RONEY. Really means to ma? Well, no, :tt means so much I can't hardly tell you. ANDEIWON. Yeah. Well, when you have a singing, is it, to you, mostly a religious occasion or social? RONEY. Very much so. ANDERSON. Or kind of both, me.ybe'! RONEY. If a good religious song won't get a holt of ya, no use to listen to the preacher. I won't put that in there. (LAUGHTER.) ANDERSON. No, that's a good COlltrllent. Well, would yoU: rather do this type of singing or regular hymn, just regular singing? ROI~. I like it both. I like it both, but I don't sing it. Used to sing both books and just got down to this. ANDERSON. SO now you just do the Sacred Harp? RON~Y. Yes, just sing Sacred Harp. ANDERSON. Do you know the songs by memory or, I mean, do you need the book to sing them. RONEY. I need a book. I use a book. Lota people don't. They sing 'em by heart. Some of 'em r can. I was taught thataway, to look at the book. ANDERSON. How did you learn to do Sacred, Sacred Harp singing? RONEY. Goin' to singing schools. AImERSON. Could you tell me where you went and, and when. Maybe about how old you were when you did that? i, i. ! ) I~ RONEY. Now 10~tre tryin' to find out how old I am. (Lau$hter.) ANDERSON. No, well, I waS wanting to ~noW if you were a bqy when 10u ~~avned it or if you were, lOU Itnow, grown. RONEY. That's right. I Was a young mah, 1e8, ma'am. ANDERSON. V;'h~J:!e s.bout did you go to singing 110 hoo).? RONEY. Oh, thlilY had them up around home, different plaoe/3. ANDERSON. Well, wh~I'e if\ you~ home? RONEY. Well, Newville, Alabama. A~mERSON. And do you I'emember anything about whq taug1).t the school? RONEY. Well, t1).is Mr. Cooper, W. M. Oooper, taught llome F. M. non~ taUght some, RoY Roney taught some all., ~d Tidwell taught sOme and, oh, several. ANDERSON. What aI'e your favbI'ite aopgs? One, or two. or tm-ee l3.11 of them? RONE):'. "Xe/,\h, I lilce 'em. Well, lId sa'y' one-,twenty" !lnd i;hreethirteen. ANDERSON. All I'ight. AnGi. wllat part dO you sin~? :RoNEY. Tenor. ANDERSON. And whe~ ~o you mOst like to sing? At, rna'y'be at just regulaI' church or at the conventions or when do you enjoy it the most? RONEY. Just;, jUElt when enough gets together to sing, wherever you1 re at. ANDERSON. Any time. Did your parents do Sacred Harp singing? RONEY. Yes, ma'am. ANDERSON. And does anYbody else in your family now? RONEY. Got a sister that sings. ANDERSON. Your sister? All right. And how do you think yalll are passing the tradition on down? I mean, do you have any children that do Sacl'ed Harp singing? RONEY. No, I don't. ANDERSON. Thank you. 13 INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEW MRS. CAHHIE 'rIDWELL LONG. II d like to asle you, if you could tell me, what the songs mean to you? TIDWELL. It means a lot. It's as good as the preacher up in the pulpit preaching a sermon. LONG. Okay, fine. Do you think about anything in particular when you're singing? 'rIDV1ELL. Well, it just makes you feel good. LONG. Do you think about the music mainly, you know, how you have to keep in tune, or do you thlnlc about what the woras are saying? TIDWELL. Think what the wOl'ds are saying, what the word means. LONG. Which type of singing do you like better, Saored Harp or the regular hymn singing? 'rIDVIELL. r like Sacred Harp. LONG. Sacred Imrp, okay. Could you tell me how you learned this type of. singing? TIDWELL. Well, I didn't slng Sacred Harp until I married and my husband sung Sacred Harp and I was larnt from him. LONG. You were grown, then, before you learned it? TIDWELL. Oh, ah, yeah, I Was about nineteen years old. LONG. Okay. Well, wl~re were you liVing at this time? TIDV1ELL. Near Newton, Alabama. J~ONG. Do you have to use the book to sing or can you do it from memory? ) TIDWELTJ. Well, they's some songs I CB.n sing from memory B.nd some I cain't. LONG. Do you bave B,uy favorite songS? TIDWELL. Yes, ma'am. LONG. Could you tell me what they are please? TIDWELL. One-thirt I mean thirty-six a~, I cain't thhlk of another'n right now. Thirty-six, 'specially. LONG. What part m6 you sing? 'l'IDWELL. Alto. LONG. What kind ot a group do you like to sing to? Do you like to sing mainly in ohurch, at conventions, or just sitting B.round with friends? TID1~,L. We sing at annuB,l ~ll day sings and then at conventions. LONG. Which is your favorHe or does it mEttter to yoU? TIDWELL. It doesn't matter. I,ONG. Does al1yone else in your family sing Sacred Harp? TIDWELL. Yes, they do. My husband sung, but o'course he's done passed on now ana I have one son and one daughter that sings. LONG. Do you think th~tt this type of singing is dying out as a tra,dlt:t<,m? TIDWELL. No, I don't. LONG. You don't? You think it is still as active in the community as it alvre.ys was? TIDWEIJl,. Yes, yes, ma I am. LONG. Tbank you very much. ) ANDERSON. ~DIV!DPAL INTERV!EW All rig:\1t, CQuld you tell me what the songs inl'lsn to I~ yOU? RONEY. They mean a grl'lHt d(lal to ine. ttl S more ot' less like going to church oP Get just as much out of it. I do, as going to preachin. ANDERSCll'!. And which do you prl'lfeJ:', the Sacred Harp singing 6r jus"!; ? RONEY. Sacred Harp. ANDERSON. Tl;lat's YoU!' favorite? RONEY. It sure is. ANDERSON. And. where did you leal'n to do this type 017 singing? RONEY. Well, I went to :;l$.ngipg sohool and then learni1d it at singings, mOX'e ev'I'Y tiJltl? we go I lee.Ph something new. ANDERSON. Where did yoU go to singing $chool? RONEY. At Skipperville, Alabama. Mr. tidge (?) Reilly and ~w. Helms, and I believe that is all the two I went to singing sChOof. ANDERSON. About ~ow old were you When yOU did that? RONEY. I's bout sixteen years old. ANDERSON. And do you know any of the songs by memopy? RONE~. Yes, I do. ANDERSON. ~d which ones aJ:'e youX' favorites? RONEY. Fivl'l- thirty-h,b l,lhd two-tvlenty-two. All of UlntS my ANDERSON. What Part do yOU sir~? RONrgy. Al.to. i ) ANDERSON. lind when do you most enjoy the singing? At the conventions or just ? RON}JY. Well, anytime when there's a good crowd there to sing. ANDERSON. Do any other members of your family sing? RONEY. NQbody but me. ANDERSON. Just you. All right. And do you feel that the tradition is just as active as it's ever been? RONEY. Yes, ma'am I dO .ANDERSON. Thank you. INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEW MRS. MARGnl BROXTON LONG. Could you tell me what these songs mean to you? BROXTON. Well. they just mean eVerything. I think. In other words. that's what I live for from one Sunday to the next. LONG. It means that much to yoU? That's very nice. Do you think about anything speoial while you're singing - about the songs. the words of it? BROXTON. Well. let me put it this away. V~en I'm a singin'. I'm not. I just don't hav~ a oare nor a worry in the world. LONG. That's very nice. Yeah. Do you like the Sacred Harp singing better or the regular hymn singing? BROXTON. Saored Harp, by all means. LONG. Where and how did you learn this type of singing? BROXTON. Well. I went to s ing in' ~oh~ol. LONG. Do you remember where it wal:l? BROX'l'ON. Yes, I went to Bethel Church, out four miles south of Newton. to Oohee (?) Tidwell. Then, I went up in north Alabamer some. to Mr. George Phillips. LONG. And how old wel'e you when you learned? BROXTON. Well. let1 s see. I, rilY fh'st. singin sohoo1. I was a.bout thirteen. LONG. 'l'hirteen? Was there any pB.I'tioUlar reason you took to learning Saored Harp singing? Was it ? BROXTON. Well, I more or less grew up in a family of it. LONG. And you just followed the tradition? BROXTON. Um huh, think so. III IC) LONG. Do you ul\e the bQolt or do you sing f),'om memory? BROXTON. Oh, yes, I si~sing in a book. LONG. You use the book. Do you have any favorit$ songs? BROX~roN. I couldn't jU;'lt 'spcie.lly name fJ:r1-Y one favorite. I love lam all. I,ONG. You :Love them 13).1. '1'ha t' ,s very nice. Vll:\at -part do you sing? BROtWON. T),'ibble (treble). LONG. Viliat type of group 0.0 you like to si~to? Oonvent~ons BROXTON. Just so they're, just what's a claSS. It doesn't matter. Just so they're a gOod class, I love to sing with them. LONG. Wh~t do you mean by a class? 13ROX'l'ON. Well, thQ.t'13 enough to c!l.rry all parts, four parts of it. LONG. Oh, as long as yOu're singing with a good group, you don't cure what, where it's at? BROXTON. That's right, that's right, honey. LONG. Okay. Does ,anyone elae in your familY /3ing Sacred Harp? BROXTON. Oh, yes. LONG. Couid you tel~ me whO they are, please? BROXTON. W~ll, ~ brother and, Um, my mother, my gr~dmother, and bout three or foUr Of my ~lcles Was teachers. So, in other words, We all just lqve it. J~ONG. It went ba.clcinto your family then, qUitEl b~cl<, yO),l know, far 'back? BRQXroN. On. yeah. LONG. Do you think this ty-pe of singing is dying out as !l. tradition o:t' is it strong? ! ! BROXTON. No, malam, hit wbn't neVer die. LONG. It's as stror~ as it ever was? BHOX'roN. Right. LONG. Thanl< you. INDIVIDUAL INTERVIEW MRS. EUNICE STEVF.:NS ANDERSON. Could you te;Ll me what the :longs mean to you? STEVENS. '1'hey mea\). a great deal to me. They mean, well, they are religious. They're all wrote from the Scripture of the Bible. ANDERSON. And which type of singing do you like better, this or regular? S'rEVENS. Sacred Harp. ANDERSON. And where did you learn to :ling? S'l'EVENS. Well, it's hard to tell. I grew up in it, ancil. by going every Sunday with my family, I just automatically learned it and I've been singinl aince I was about n:tne. ANDEHSON. Well, since you don' t have a s:tnging school in this community now, would you say this is th$ way people are picll:ing it up now, tOO? STEVENS. I would say yes, juat attend:tn' singings and sittin' in the class and you co.n learn a lot by going to singinl ever Sunday. ANDERSON. Do you Use the book or do you know some of the songs by heart? STB~VENS. I use the book. ANDERSON. And what are some of your favorite songs? STEVENS. Well, they're all my favorite. I like fast singin' but 'they' a some of the slow songs that I lil<e. But my favorite are faster. ANDERSON. What part do you sing? STEVENS. Tribble (treble). If you like it, you ~ike it. te~. D9 any othe+, members of 'j'our family lila Saored Harp \ i I ANDERSON. And 'linen do you most enjoy smg;tng? STEVJ~NS. You me$.n tne conventions and.... Well, now, the convention and the annualS, and all that a~e just simular, alllce te~lly. They just have ~ d~ferent name ~nd so it's all just alike really. It's just an all d~y singing. ANDl~RSON. So,:Ii' Y9U like it at all, yOll l:!,1te it. 'eSJ.):l.. STEVF,N$. ANDE:RSON. sirlgitig'l S'l-'EVENS. Wen, now, I haVe a b:t;'Other that !'lings, but that is all. And, and my mother sings and my father ;:lang before he Passed fj.way. ANJjl'lRSON. And Q.o you feel that the trad;l.tion is as str9ng as it be.s beel,1.'l S'l'l5VENS. I really do beCause when you go you have a church fUll of singers and, and plenty of good listeners and the listeners le.arn mOlle 0V'ry time the, t they go. ANDERSON. Well, are there some, say teen~age, o~pebple IiIbout our age that; al;'e dOing this too? STEVENS. Yes, We have several teen~agers attriding reg'lar, I ):Jel ieve noW. ANDERSON. So they will be carrying the tradition on, won't they? STEVENS. Yes, th(3Y will. ANDERSON. Thal;lk Y9U. G:ROUP INTERVIEW SECOND SIW'1'!ONLONG. Anyth~ng else yould 1i4e to ~dd? STEVENS. Ile11, now, that l s all I can rel:!-lly think of right off hand. MRS. RONEY. We have a lunch (+aughter) and plenty to eat when welrethere. We 8UrE;l do. tONC. Does it seem to, dOes the tradition seem to play an important part in the social life of the community? I mean, yoU knoW, do people seem to really ;Lool{ fc;>rVlard to going and talk about it a lot? MRS. RONEY. Yes, yel?, they do. LONG. You think they, it dO(')$ then? MRS. RONEY. Welre going to have one tomorrow week at Piney Grove and we all :\.061{;in l forward to goin l and hav~nl a good singinl W~sh ya1 l1 could Come down. ANDERSON. How ronny people are usually there, not at one of Your big state things, but like the one you're planning to go to ne~t week, Would you say? MRS. RONEY. You have a ohu!'ch full and a yu):'d full, so I really woUldn't know how to estimate it. BROXTON. ~ other words, this sing ne~t Sunday is actually the Roney sing ~ that's your fllmily sing, ilmlt it? MR. RONF;Y. ThatIs right. ANDERSON. Whll.t:l.~ a f$.niHy ~ing? 13ROX'rON. Well, HI~ jU$t that they TIDWJ:LL. It's been handed down for yelJ.r~ und years. BROXTON. It I s just been hun<'ied down from year from t hne () /}. (~ ,.) to time, from the older people down. Right now, ~r. Roney's the cha1rlllfm of it and he's the Ohe that carries:l.i; on, and his uncle ahd perhaps his daddy, put anyway the older people that started the sing. In other words - let me give the history of your fa~ily. (Laughter). Okay? In other worda, you've h~d it ~ Pothnh ever since I can remember - at the courthouse, until they renewed the coUrthouse. Am 1 right? . MR. RONE,'Y". Um, hum. BROXTON. The Roney sing was a~waya held in Dothan, weren't it, in the courthouse? MR. RON~Y. Um, hum. BROX1'ON. Until they pemodeled the courthouse 8.J;ld theYi you moved it out to Piney Grove Church. That right? And it's been a1goin' on all of my life. I remember going when I WaS 8. little girl and, oh, that's been a long t~ne ago. (Laughter.) MR. RONEY. Ye'll have to oome bacl< to hear if you want. Come Pack tomorrow week. There'll be some people there from Atlantar. LONG. Do you think that you get more out 01' the singing when you sing with a group like at a state Convention Or you sing with a group of people thp. t you really know well, l:qlC!, that you've slmg with, you Imow, all along ahd, Sing in a comm~nity that you really knoW. MR. RONEr . Well, we l~now 'em ever where we go, state convention and, ~ll. We sing to~ether ever S~nday, somewhere. LONG. Do you get Idnd of a famUy feeling t'J:'()m tM.s then? 1ffi. RONbY. It gets to be a family affair, the singel'$ do. LONG. That's very nice. ANDEHSON. How JlUany people are there around, in :bhis community that do the singing with you, that actually sing? MR. RONEY. Well, some communities donlt have too many SacreQ Harp singers. We don't around Dothan. But, uh, they come in from everwhere. You still have, usually, lead from fifty-five to sixty-five leaders a day and they sing two songs each. ANDERSON. 'rhe-nk you. The following The songs are pages are taken trom the S~cre~ Har2 sOngbook. arranged as they appear on tbe tape, not in the numbered order of the book. MR. RONEY, MRS .BROX~J'ON, MRS. STEVENS, MRS. RONEY 43 COLLEC'rION SITE MR. RON:B.Y . MRS. BROXTON, MRS. STEVENS, MRS. RONEY, MRS. TIDWELL My. Ovenrie\'1 of Th1s Collection Project by Kay Long \<that stands out most in mym1nd about th1s col1ect1ng session, is the great pride that the singers have in their art. Our group Nas constantly stating that they didn't want to sing because they l'lOuldn't sound theIr best under the c IrcUlnstances, and that we should come back to hear them when they could have a full group and someone to sound the proper pitch for the songs. 'I'he important role that Sacred Harp singing plays in the religIous Ilfe of the singer,was brought out very clearly In talking to our group about 'fThat the singing meant to them. My uncle even made the remo.rk that to these people, Saored Harp slng1ng ~ t1'1e1r religlon. This vl0uld eKplain why the singers were so reluctant to tell us I'That church denomination they belonged to. ThIs slnging is obviously a truly religious expression, as well as a form of soolal entertainment. The fact that these people refuse to faoe up to the decline of Saored Harp singing among the younger generation, Is very revealing of theIr attltude toward this trcuiitlon. The common 1m0\1- ledge is that very few people under thirty still carryon the tradl tlon in I;his area, but the people \1e intervlewed prefered not to admIt it. This reluctance to face the reality of the situation is understandable, in vievl of the lmportant part that this traditIon plays In both the relig10us and social life of these people. I feel that the most ll11Portrint thing I have learned from this projeot J.l~ not only Nhat "shape note s1np;ing" is, but something about the values and. way of 11fo of members of a folk 9u1turo. My Personal Reaction '1'0 '1'his Project by Charlene AndorfJOn For an indi1ridual who has grown up surrounded by a modern urban envl.ornment "Thlch increasingly de-emphasizes any expression of rell.gious feeling, exposure to a ll.vlng tradl.tion of sacred musl.c singl.ng can be a revelation. A trip to southeast Alabama gave me the opportunity to meet the heirs and bearers of such a traditl.on and to listen to some of their songs. ~1y first impress ion of the group of Sacred Harp singers we met was that they were not. after all, such strangers as I had expected. The home we gathered in was a quite modern brick house. The singers, though mostly elderly, were dressed much like their urban counterparts --the ladies I skirts I'rere fashionabl.y short. It l'ms not until they began to talk about their singl.ng and later, to actually sing some of the Sacred Harp songs, that I realized that these people still possess a depth of religious feeling rarely seen today in urban enviornments. F'or them, Sacred Harp singing seems to be both the vehicle for expression and, perhaps, the main sustainer of their religion. The Sacred Harp singers are extremely proud, both of the tradition of Sacred Harp slnging and of their ONn singing skill. Their reluctance to have their singl.ng tape recorded in less than ideal conditions('rhere l~as no one to sing the bass part) revea;ls both their pride and a certain self-consciousness about their performance. All seemed to feel, also, that this short and incoml) lete sample of singing could not effectively convey to us the true power for lifting the spirit that Sacred Harp singing can possess. )I \.J , I As each singer ans',1ered our questions and talked about his ovm fe01inp;s tOHard Sacred Harp singing, I realized that this singing, far from being a meaninp;less religious form , is a truely vital and important pHrt of their lives. They feel that it carries 81'iay all worries and cares, replacing them with a marvelous sense of Hell-bein.,. Indeed, 8,13. one 1'Jom"n told us, 3acred Harp singIng 1s her lIfe. Certainly they sino; "lith 811 their hearts ano all their ntrength. Yet though the sin<1:ing has tremendous volume, the aocuracy of the harmony and rhythm makes listening a pleasurable experience. You seem to be completely surrounded, engulfed, by the tioe of music and even to an outsider, the inspiratIonal power of such singing is clearly evident. Particularly striking is the distinct enunciation of each syllable when the. verses are sung. The singers told us that most of their songs come directly from the Scriptures and as they sing, they seem to feel a responsibili ty to ring out the I,rords of the Bible. Al though the general feelin,,>; is that the tradition of Sacred Harp si.nging can not much longer survive in our modern l'Iorld, the singers themselver emphatically deny" that their tradition in dying. They pointed out thAt more co pies of the Sacred Har12 songbook Nere printed last year than ever before. It seems sadly signifi.cant, hOlqever, that fel'l chi ld ren do Saored Harp singing now. es pee ially stnce all but one member of the group were old enough. to have not only children, but I>;randohi.ldren. The importanoe and meaning that sinQ;i.ng has to them will not a1lo\'l any recognition of the J.dea that Saored Harp singinrr, will one day disappef3.r. f.1lELEASEny letting us collect your trnditions--stories, songs, music, sayings, riddles, or beliefs f earlier days--you have made a valuable contribution to preserving and understanding Southern history, and especially the history and way of life of your conunity. Because you have given unselfishly of your time to do this, the Georgia Folklore Archives, \1hose representatives are dedicated to preserving these traditions, wants to protect your rights to this lnaterial by guaranteeing that it will not be used for unscrupulous couercial profits. By signing this sheet, you are giving us permission to use this mater~ ial for educational purposes so that people who are interested can understand how life was in the old-timey days. Your material will probably not be printed or issued on a record, but if it is, and you don't want your name to be used, say so--we respect your right to privacy. Thank you for the time you have given to help us record a heritage that is an important part of American life. If you remenmer any more old-timey things that you want to send along to us so that it will always be preserved, \1rite to: Georgia Folklore Archives c/o Prof. John Burrison Georgia State University 33 Gilmer Street South East Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Qigned Address l2!M. Y1 1 //(iAJ < For Ga. Fl. l1itness Date iic 0 ii, ;] ( , /'1 '20 ) A PDF transcript exists for this recording. Please contact an archivist for access. Professor John Burrison founded the Atlanta Folklore Archive Project in 1967 at Georgia State University. He trained undergraduates and graduate students enrolled in his folklore curriculum to conduct oral history interviews. Students interviewed men, women, and children of various demographics in Georgia and across the southeast on crafts, storytelling, music, religion, rural life, and traditions. As archivists, we acknowledge our role as stewards of information, which places us inaposition to choose how individuals and organizations are represented and described in our archives. We are not neutral, andbias isreflected in our descriptions, whichmay not convey the racist or offensive aspects of collection materialsaccurately.Archivists make mistakes and might use poor judgment.We often re-use language used by the former owners and creators, which provides context but also includes bias and prejudices of the time it was created.Additionally,our work to use reparative languagewhereLibrary of Congress subject termsareinaccurate and obsolete isongoing. Kenan Research Center welcomes feedback and questions regarding our archival descriptions. If you encounter harmful, offensive, or insensitive terminology or description please let us know by emailingreference@atlantahistorycenter.com. Your comments are essential to our work to create inclusive and thoughtful description.