| Summary |
Using the rich southern folklore collection at the University of Chapel Hill, the recorded interviews in Living Blues, the historic Library of Congress field recordings, the Alan Lomax Archives, newspapers, extensive musicology as well as a quantitative collective biography of key performers of the blues, this thesis focuses on both the artistry of the blues performers themselves as well as their contributions as culture brokers during the twentieth century. Not only did blues performers provide an important connection between the rural south and the urban north for the thousands of African Americans during the great migration, they also helped to build a cultural bridge of understanding to the larger white society. The secular music of the blues performed by a cadre of talented musicians helped to ease the transitions of African Americans from the rural culture of the south to the cities of the north. By infusing familiar tradition music of protest, survival and persistence with a new dynamic lyrical form they reminded migrant blacks of their cultural heritage and history. At the same time however the blues and blues performers helped African Americans to understand and adjust to their new urban world. In addition, the blues became a cultural bridge between the white and black communities and blues performers were their ambassadors. In the segregated, Jim Crow societies of the north and the south, it was the blues that often provided an emotional connection between people. As both whites and blacks gathered together in train stations, tobacco markets and public parks--tapping their toes and clapping their hands to this new musical form, racial hatred and suspicion disappeared for a brief moment. The collective effect of these moments of integration was a small but important element that eventually would lead to greater understanding between the races. |
