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Choral Music Contributions

  • Photograph of the Tuskegee School of Music faculty, 1934-1935
  • Photograph of the Tuskegee Choir and Orchestra performing "The Death of Minnehaha" at the Tuskegee Institute Chapel on April 1, 1939,
  • "One of the greatest choral organizations in the world," relays the Dunbar News of the Tuskegee Choir in January 1933.
  • The Tuskegee Institute Choir in Carnegie Hall, January 1933.
  • Listen to Dawson speak about some of the concerts his Choir gave, including Sunday radio shows, a performance at the New York residence of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, and a performance for President Hoover at the White House. (3:20 min.)
  • Wedding photograph of Cecile Demae Nicholson
  • William Levi Dawson and Ed Sullivan on the set of the Ed Sullivan Show, 6 April 1952.
  • Listen to selections from the Tuskegee singers' first performances for the NBC network in 1937 (29:55 min.).
  • The Tuskegee Choir performing on the NBC television show “Coke Time,” December 1950.
  • Inscription in Invisible Man from Ellison to William Levi Dawson
  • Photograph of Dawson conducting, 1979
  • The Tuskegee Choir at Carnegie Hall with Leontyne Price, March 20, 1955
  • "There Is a Balm in Gilead," sheet music, 1967
  • "Ain'-a That Good News," manuscript
  • "Ain'-a That Good News," in Folk Songs of the American Negro, 61
  • Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Photograph of the Tuskegee Choir and Orchestra at a performance of "The Death of Minnehaha" at the Tuskegee Institute Chapel, 1 April 1939

Photograph of the Tuskegee Choir and Orchestra performing "The Death of Minnehaha" at the Tuskegee Institute Chapel on April 1, 1939,

As Tuskegee’s Choir Director, Dawson expected that his students would work with rigor and diligence. “Everything dropped when a choir rehearsal was called,” a student recalled. The high caliber of his choruses and the national prominence they gained through performances and broadcasts contributed greatly to Tuskegee’s reputation. Just one year after Dawson assumed his position as director, the choir was selected for a four-week engagement for the 1932 opening of Radio City Music Hall.