Gospel Songs Hymns & Sermons
Performances in the Berea Sound Archives
Related Berea Sound Archives Sites
- Traditional Music and Spoken Word Performances This link opens in a new windowLISTEN to selected musical performances and storytelling from the Berea Sound Archives.
- Traditional Music Video PerformancesVIEW selected traditional music video performances from the Berea Sound Archives
- Alan Lomax Kentucky CollectionLISTEN to documentary sound recordings of rural Kentucky music and lore collected under the auspices of the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress between 1933 and 1942.
- Oral History Collections GuideBerea's online oral history collections cover a broad range of topics in the areas of Appalachian history and culture, and the history of Berea College. In many instances searchable transcripts accompany the digitized audio recordings.
- Examples of Oral Histories For Use As Primary SourcesSelected interview texts and recordings covering a wide range of topics.
- Sound Recording Analysis WorksheetA teaching / learning resource from the National Archives.
- Berea Sound Archives HomepageBrowse By Topic
- Sound Archives Research GuidesResearch guides are the work of Archives staff and the College's Sound Archives Fellows. Using audio and video illustrations, the guides cover a wide range of topics.
- Sound Preservation ProgramThe program's focus is on Berea's collections of noncommercial recordings that document Appalachian history and culture and the history of Berea College.
Contact the Berea Sound Archives
Gospel Songs, Hymns & Sermons Research Guides
These guides are the work of Archives staff and scholars supported by the College’s Sound Archives Fellowship Program.
Old Regular Baptist lined-out hymns, shaped note singing, gospel music, and sermons are the religious expressions highlighted in these collections and research guides.
African American Rural Hymnody & The Sacred Harp
Documentation of the four-shape-note singing tradition in the "Wiregrass" region of Alabama from the William H. Tallmadge Baptist Hymnody Collection 1968-1980, SAA 33 and Rural Hymnody Symposium Collection, RG 11.02.
Gospel Quartet Radio Performances
Kevin Kehrberg (2007 Appalachian Sound Archives Fellow) focused on the gospel quartets documented in Berea's radio program collections, especially the Renfro Valley Gatherin' and other programs John Lair aired on network radio from Renfro Valley in the 1940s and 1950s.
Studying the Evolution of Rural Hymnody
Meredith Doster (2009 Appalachian Sound Archives Fellow) focused particularly on the conflicts between the four- and seven-shape note traditions of the 19th century as one example of the tension created when traditions and their rituals change. Her work also analyzes the deep-seated ties between land, culture and religion in small, rural communities and the collective impact of those qualities on worship practices.
Gospel Songs, Hymns & Sermons Finding Aids
These collections contain audio and / or video content. Click on the collection title for more information, a complete list of collection materials, and links to the digitized content.
William H. Tallmadge Baptist Hymnody Collection 1968-1980
Include sound recordings compiled by William H. Tallmadge in the process of his study of Old Regular, Primitive, and United Baptist hymnody in eastern Kentucky, western North Carolina, and western Virginia during the 1960s and 1970s.
Symposium on Rural Hymnody Collection, 1974-1982
Includes recordings of Symposium presentations and related musical performances. Also included are recordings of Sunday morning and afternoon worship and singing at the Left Beaver Old Regular Baptist Church at Martin, Floyd County, Kentucky April 29, 1979.
