Eileen Southern: Master Scholar of Black Music

Eileen Southern (1920-2002) was an American musicologist, researcher and teacher. Her work focused on Black musical styles, musicians and composers. She is best known for her classic work, The Music of Black Americans: A History (1971). This year marks the 50th anniversary of the book.

NOTE: This informational blog is compiled by and reprinted with the permission of Abdul Alkalimat

50th anniversary of Southern’s book “The Music of Black Americans: A History

wiki https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eileen_Southern

Background https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7mOYphvYOQ

Digital archive at Harvard https://eileensouthern.omeka.fas.harvard.edu/

The Eileen Southern Initiative Harvard University https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/musicofblackamericans

University of Chicago Alumni Portrait https://mag.uchicago.edu/arts-humanities/note-note

Harlem newspaper story https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2018/07/26/dr-eileen-southern-classical-pianist-historian-and/

Mapping her influence https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/e06d44257869449993e009eb4f56272c

Essays in her honor https://www.si.edu/object/siris_sil_432860