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Bernice Johnson Reagon (b. 1942)

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@ New Georgia Encyclopedia

Hatfield, Edward A

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Encyclopedia article about Bernice Johnson Reagon who distinguished herself during the civil rights movement as a committed student activist and gifted musician whose powerful voice led freedom songs in her native Albany and beyond. Since then, she has made significant contributions to the field of African American cultural history as a historian at the Smithsonian Institution and at American University, both of which are located in Washington, D.C. Reagon was born on October 4, 1942, in Albany, Georgia, where she received religious training and was introduced at an early age to the power of song in the black choral tradition. In 1959 she entered Albany State College (later Albany State University), where she studied music and became politically active in the student chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and later became a student leader in the Albany Movement. She also participated in Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) demonstrations in 1961 for which she was arrested and expelled from Albany State. After a brief stint at Spelman College in Atlanta, she joined the Freedom Singers, an Albany-based choral group that toured the country to raise money for SNCC's civil rights campaigns. When her marriage to Cordell Reagon, a fellow Freedom Singer, ended in divorce in 1967, Reagon returned to Atlanta to continue her education, and founded the Harambee Singers, an all-female choral group that experimented with black-nationalist themes. After completing her degree at Spelman in 1970, she moved to Washington D.C., where she entered a...
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New Georgia Encyclopedia

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Digital Library of Georgia

Keywords

  1. African American Choral Conductors
  2. African American Civil Rights Workers
  3. African American Historians
  4. African American Political Activists
  5. African American Singers
  6. African American Students
  7. African American Women Singers
  8. African Americans
  9. Albany
  10. Albany Movement (Albany, Ga.)
  11. Albany State College
  12. American University
  13. Arrest
  14. Black Consciousness Movement Of South Africa
  15. Choirs (Music)
  16. Civil Rights
  17. Civil Rights Demonstrations
  18. Civil Rights Movements
  19. Civil Rights Workers
  20. D.C. Black Repertory Company
  21. Employees
  22. Eyes On The Prize (Television Program)
  23. Faculty
  24. Freedom Singers (Musical Group : Albany, Ga.)
  25. Fund Raising
  26. Georgia
  27. Government
  28. Harambee Singers
  29. History
  30. Howard University
  31. Intellectual Life
  32. Museum Curators
  33. Museums
  34. Music
  35. National Association For The Advancement Of Colored People. Albany Chapter
  36. Officials And Employees
  37. Political Activity
  38. Political Participation
  39. Politics And Government
  40. Protest Songs
  41. Race Relations
  42. Religion And Politics
  43. Religion And Social Problems
  44. Singers
  45. Smithsonian Institution
  46. Social Change
  47. Social Conditions
  48. Social Life And Customs
  49. Songs And Music
  50. Spelman College
  51. Student Expulsion
  52. Student Movements
  53. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.)
  54. Sweet Honey In The Rock (Musical Group)
  55. United States
  56. Universities
  57. Universities And Colleges
  58. Vocal Groups
  59. Wade In The Water (Television Program)
  60. Washington (D.C.)
  61. We Shall Overcome (Television Program)
  62. Women
  63. Women Singers

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