Global InformationWings Over Jordan Choir information
Wings Over Jordan Choir | |
|---|---|
 1939 publicity photo of the Wings Over Jordan Choir. The Rev. Glenn Thomas Settle is standing at front right, with "WGAR" and "CBS" microphones at opposite ends. | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Negro Hour Choir |
| Origin | Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
| Genres | Spirituals |
| Instrument(s) | A capella |
| Years active | 1935–1978[a] |
| Labels |
|
| Past members | See list of personnel |
| Other names | The Negro Hour |
|---|---|
| Genre | Spirituals |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | WGAR, Cleveland, Ohio |
| Syndicates |
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| Starring | Wings Over Jordan Choir |
| Announcer | Wayne Mack (all WGAR-produced episodes)[2] |
| Created by |
|
| Recording studio | Hotel Statler (WGAR main studio);[5] CBS and Mutual affiliates[6][7] |
| Other studios | Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio (summer 1941)[8] |
| Original release | July 11, 1937 – December 25, 1949[c] |
| No. of episodes |
|
| Audio format | Monaural sound |
| Opening theme | "Go Down Moses"[9] |
| Sponsored by |
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The Wings Over Jordan Choir was an African-American a cappella spiritual choir founded and based in Cleveland, Ohio. The choir was part of the weekly religious radio series, Wings Over Jordan, created to showcase the group.
Debuting over Cleveland radio station WGAR in 1937 as The Negro Hour, the radio program was broadcast on the Columbia Broadcasting System from 1938 to 1947 and the Mutual Broadcasting System through 1949. Wings Over Jordan broke the color barrier as the first radio program produced and hosted by African-Americans to be nationally broadcast over a network. The program was the first of its kind which was easily accessible to audiences in the Deep South, featuring distinguished black church and civic leaders, scholars and artists as guest speakers. One of the highest-rated religious radio programs in the United States, it also had an international shortwave audience on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the Voice of America (VOA), and Armed Forces Radio. The program has been credited with WGAR and CBS receiving inaugural Peabody Awards in 1941.
Founded in Cleveland by Baptist minister Glynn Thomas Settle (1894–1967),[10][11] the choir performed concerts throughout the country during its height (often defying Jim Crow laws) and toured with the USO in support of the American war effort during World War II and the Korean War. Billed as one of the world's greatest Negro choirs, the Wings Over Jordan Choir is regarded as a forerunner[12] of the civil rights movement[13] and a driving force in the development of choral music[14] helping to both preserve[15] by introducing traditional spirituals to a mainstream audience.[16] Other versions of the group began to emerge during the 1950s, and a Cleveland-based tribute choir of the same name has performed since 1988.
- ^ Price 1995, p. 229.
- ^ Price 1995, pp. 21, 82.
- ^ "Rev. Glenn Settle, Minister born". African American Registry. April 16, 2020. Archived from the original on September 6, 2021. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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- ^ Price 1995, pp. 374–377.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Detr490108was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Price 1995, pp. 76–77.
- ^ Price 1995, pp. 85–86, 90–91, 163.
- ^ https://case.edu/ech/articles/s/settle-rev-dr-glenn-thomas
- ^ https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-pittsburgh-courier-obituary-for-glyn/49484458/
- ^ Hill, Edward (April 1, 1990). "Heyday of Negro spirituals highlighted singer's mission". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. Retrieved September 9, 2021 – via NewsBank.
- ^ Barnett, David C. (March 3, 2008). "Radio Show Chronicled Blacks' Harsh Realities". NPR.org. NPR Music. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ^ Hlavaty, Kaylyn; Fenner, Bob (February 25, 2021). "John Foxhall, member of prominent Black choir Wings Over Jordan, dies at 94". WEWS. Cleveland, Ohio: E. W. Scripps Company. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ^ "Wings Over Jordan Choir (WOJC)". Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. Case Western Reserve University. May 25, 2018. Archived from the original on September 2, 2021. Retrieved September 2, 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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