Research Catalog

Title

A Singing stream: a black family chronicle [motion picture] / Davenport Films in association with the Curriculum on Folklore, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Publication

Delaplane, VA : Davenport Films, 1986.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Davenport, Tom.

Description

2 film reels (57 min.) : sd., col.; 16 mm.

Summary

Interviews, stories, reunions, gospel concerts, church services and scenes from daily life help trace the history of the Landis Family of Granville County, North Carolina. 86-year-old Bertha M. Landis, its oldest surviving member, used the musical gifts of her family, religious faith, and black cultural traditions to overcome the difficult circumstances of black life in the South. Family members describe the rigors of tenant farming, of becoming the first blacks to own land in Granville County, of getting an education, voting, leaving the South in the 40's and returning home in the 80's. The musical performances in the film span almost a century of black religious song styles, from unaccompanied shape-note singing to contemporary gospel. Family and archival photographs supplement the film's historical perspective.

Subjects

• Music
• African Americans > Music
• Gospel music
• African Americans > Southern States
• African Americans > History
• Families

Credits (note)

• Producer, director, Tom Davenport.

Title

A Singing stream: a black family chronicle [motion picture] / Davenport Films in association with the Curriculum on Folklore, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Imprint

Delaplane, VA : Davenport Films, 1986.

Credits

Producer, director, Tom Davenport.

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Request Access to Reserve Film and Video Collection Special Collections material

Added Author

Davenport, Tom.

Branch Call Number

M16 3983 S