South Carolina served as a portal for a vast majority of African and Caribbean slaves entering this country, and with them came a wealth of musical traditions and identities. Our history and identity as a nation and region are told in this music, in the spirituals, blues, ragtime, jazz and protest songs that developed from these early slave traditions. USC Music Library's Southern African American Music Collection (SAMC) will establish the centricity of Southern African-American music by collecting and preserving this music, asserting its importance both as a historical and living tradition.The SAMC archive comprises print, audio-visual, and primary source materials related specifically to African-American music of the south.
Watch videos from the early 20th century courtesy of the USC Newsfilm Library and Fox Movietone News.
African-American-related sheet music available from our Digital Sheet Music Project site.
African-American resources at the University of South Carolina and across the internet.
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