Compiled by Frederick J. Work
Introduction by John W. Work, Jr.
Published by Work Bros. & Hart Co.
Nashville, 1907
Book cover
Fisk University in Nashville, through its famous Jubilee Singers, played a central role in establishing the "Negro Spiritual" as a recognized genre of American music. Brothers John Wesley Work, Jr. (1873-1925) and Frederick Jerome Work (1880-1942) were members of a musical family with a long and important association with Fisk. The item shown here is one of two companion volumes of songs published by the brothers in 1907, and both are today quite rare. A later analytical study by John, the similarly-titled Folk Song of the American Negro from 1915, is better known.