Slave Songs Of The United States by William Framcos Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, Lucy McKim Garrison

When this book was first released in 1867, one critic (unknown) said these songs were "trash, vulgarity and profanity" totally unworthy of publication. Yet, this book triumphed over such harsh criticism by bringing black folk music to widespread public attention and whetting the interest in collecting, studying and performing black folk music that has not abated since 1867. Perhaps this book was not all it should have been but it was a truly remarkable work, especially when one considers that it was put together by people who were ignorant of white folksongs, who knew little of the South, who were pleaders for a special cause, abolition, who were in no sense professional collectors, and who were working before there were trained folklorists, anthropologists, or musicologists.