]
]
This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This collection has use restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
Expand/collapse
Collection Overview
| Size | 18.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 10,000 items) |
| Abstract | Music educator Sam Barber wrote his doctoral thesis, The Choral Style of the Wings Over Jordan Choir, in 1978 and continued to collect material about the choir. Wings Over Jordan, the first full-time African-American choir in the United States, was founded in 1938 by the Reverend Glenn T. Settle and performed weekly, 1938-1947, on the WGAR, a CBS affiliate radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, and on other CBS affliate stations across the country. Worth Kramer, WGAR program director, became the original conductor and musical director of the choir, which chiefly sang spirituals and hymns. In 1988, the Wings Over Jordan Celebration Chorus was formed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original choir. The collection consists of research materials of Sam Barber relating to Wings Over Jordan. Materials include general files, photographs, slides, recorded interviews on audio cassettes and video, and original recordings of the choir on instantaneous discs. Files include information on the history of the choir; information on Glenn T. Settle, Worth Kramer, and CBS radio; radio scripts; clippings chiefly from the Call and Post, a weekly Cleveland African-American newspaper; and other items. |
| Creator | Barber, Sam. |
| Language | English |
Expand/collapse
Information For Users
Expand/collapse
Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Expand/collapse
Biographical Information
Sam Barber, a professor of music, wrote his doctoral thesis, "The Choral Style of the Wings Over Jordan Choir," in 1978 at the University of Cincinnati and continued to collect material about the choir. Wings Over Jordan was founded in 1938 by the Reverend Glenn T. Settle, pastor of Gethsemane Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and performed weekly on WGAR, a CBS affiliate radio station in Cleveland and on other CBS affiliate stations across the country. Worth Kramer, WGAR program director, became the original conductor and music director. The group was the first, full-time, professional African-American choir in the United States. Throughout the 1940s, it toured the United States, Europe, Canada, and Mexico. The choir received numerous awards including the Peabody Award. In 1988, the Wings Over Jordan Celebration Chorus was formed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original choir.
Back to Top
Expand/collapse
Scope and Content
The collection consists of research materials of music educator Sam Barber relating to the African-American choir Wings Over Jordan of Cleveland, Ohio, that chiefly sang spirituals and hymns. Materials include general files, photographs, slides, recorded interviews on audio cassettes and video, and original recordings of the choir on instantaneous discs. Files include information on the history of the choir and of the Wings Over Jordan Celebration Chorus; information on founder Glenn T. Settle, conductor and music director Worth Kramer, and CBS radio; radio scripts; clippings chiefly from the Call and Post, a weekly African-American newspaper in Cleveland; and other items.
Back to Top
Expand/collapse
Series 1. General Files, 1930s-2004.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
General files of Sam Barber relating to his research on the Wings Over Jordan Choir. For the most part, the files maintain Barber's original alphabetical order and label names, with the exception of files labeled "Film Negatives" or "Photographs" and related material, removed and re-filed for preservation purposes. Files in boxes 8 and 9 were originally filed separately most likely because of their legal size. Each file name is listed.
Note that original file folder titles have, for the most part, been retained.
Expand/collapse
Series 2. Audiovisual Material, 1930s-2004.
Arrangement: by media type.
Items include slides (kept in original carousels or trays), audiocassettes, VHS video tapes, Betacam video tapes, open reel audio tapes, audio disks, etc. Most are recorded interviews with persons associated with the choir or music performed by the choir.
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.1. Slides, 1930s-20041930s-2004.
Arrangement: in original carousels or trays.
| Box 10 |
Slides #05188, Subseries: "2.1. Slides, 1930s-20041930s-2004." Box 10 |
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.2. Audiocassettes, 1939-1998 and undated.
Arrangement: roughly alphabetical.
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.3. Open Reel Audio Tapes, undated.
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.4. Miscellaneous Audio Discs, 1938-1939 and
undated.
Arrangement: by type.
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.5. VHS Video Cassettes, 1992-1994,
1997-1998, and undated.
Arrangement: roughly alphabetical.
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.6. Super VHS Video Cassette, 1990.
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.7. Betacam, 1990.
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.8. Betacam SP Video Tapes, 1990, 1996, and
undated.
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.9. Film, undated.
| Film F-5188/1 |
16mm, unidentified #05188, Subseries: "2.9. Film, undated." F-5188/1 |
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.10. Photo CD.
| Data Compact Disc DCD-5188/1 |
"Wings Over Jordan Photo Scans with Viewer" #05188, Subseries: "2.10. Photo CD." DCD-5188/1 |
Expand/collapse
Subseries 2.11. Other Media.
| Optical Disc Cartridge ODC-5188/1 |
"Wings" #05188, Subseries: "2.11. Other Media." ODC-5188/1 |
Expand/collapse
Items Separated
Items separated include oversize papers (OP-5188), audiotapes (T-5188), audiodiscs (D-5188), a film (F-5188), and an optical disc cartridge (ODC-5188).
Back to TopProcessed by: Ashley Doar, December 2004
Encoded by: Ashley Doar, December 2004
Back to Top