Class Description
Over five weeks, this course seeks to explore how Chicago’s gospel movement grew from two innovative gospel choirs in 1937 to a mainstream cultural and political force by 1963. Each class session includes listening to many recordings of Chicago's gospel artists.
The emergence of the sanctified church among “New Settler” migrants led to the development of a storefront church culture in the Black Metropolis. In the 1930s, Thomas Dorsey and Theodore Fyre organized the first gospel chorus at Ebenezer Baptist Church. A populist movement emerged where New Settler migrants expressed their personal frustration with the class-preoccupied status quo of everyday life. The Bronzeville gospel community gained control over the composition, production, and distribution of gospel music. Of major importance to this class are the rise of religious radio broadcasting, the role of song battles, sexuality in the gospel world, the emergence of Chicago gospel on television, and the changing sound of gospel music. We see how over time Chicago's gospel community merged sacred and secular practices.
Chris Stacey is a cultural historian who taught Chicago history at DePaul University and the University of Illinois Chicago. Since 2021, he has presented a series of virtual public lectures on Chicago's history. Chris has taught courses at the Newberry Library beginning in the Fall session of 2023.
What to Expect
Format: In Person
Class Capacity: 18
Class Style: Mix of lecture and discussion; participation encouraged
Materials List
Required
- Instructor-Distributed Materials
First Reading
- A week in advance of our first class you will receive a playlist of music we’ll listen to in class one, the article "Chicago's New Negroes: Consumer Culture and Intellectual Life Reconsidered" by Davarian L. Baldwin, and a few primary sources.
A Brief Syllabus
- Origins
- The Emergence of Gospel Music
- The Local Power of Gospel Music: Business and Politics
- Gospel Music in Local Popular Culture
- Chicago’s Gospel Music Goes Nationwide
Cost and Registration
5 Sessions, $200 ($180 for Newberry members, seniors, and students). Learn about becoming a member.
We offer our classes at three different price options: Regular ($200), Community Supported ($185), and Sponsor ($215). Following the models of other institutions, we want to ensure that our classes are accessible to a wider audience while continuing to support our instructors. You may choose the price that best fits your situation when registering through Learning Stream.
This class also has a special 40% discount for Black folks. Please email us for more information.
To register multiple people for this class, please go through the course calendar in Learning Stream, our registration platform. When you select the course and register, you’ll be prompted to add another registrant.
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