Description

An exterior view of the John W. Work III Home on the campus of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, circa July 1978. Forms part of the Claynita Harris Slide Collection. John Wesley Work, III was a composer, educator, choral director, and ethnomusicologist, born on June 15, 1901, in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to a family of professional musicians. He taught at Fisk University for 39 years, was chairman of the Music Department for a number of years, and was director of the Fisk University Jubilee Singers. He was an internationally known composer and arranger, publishing more than 50 compositions before 1946 and 1956, including “The Singers,” based on a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which received an award from the Fellowship of American Composers at its premier in Detroit in 1946. Some of his musicology findings have been published in the book “Lost Delta Found” and the album “John Work III: Recording Black Culture, winning the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes. Also, John W. Work, III authored an African American folk music book titled “American Negro Songs and Spirituals” published by Crown Publishers in 1940. Forms part of the Claynita Harris Slide Collection. The original is a 35 mm color transparency (2 x 2 in. slide mount)

Record Contributed By

Nashville Public Library

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Tennessee