Songs of the Underground Railroad
A musical presentation by a member of our trumpet section, John Fitzgibbon
John has researched Antebellum Folk Songs and stories of the Underground Railroad and put a great deal of work into preparing a presentation. This presentation includes song clips, song lyrics, interpretations, and more.
Presentation Viewing Instructions
- Click here to show the presentation on my dropbox account
- Select the “Download” button to copy the presentation to your computer
- Open the presentation on your computer
- Select the “Show Presentation” icon in the lower right corner to start the presentation
Additional Background from John
Several years ago, I talked with a history professor at Millerstown University who was delivering a talk about the Underground Railroad. I provided her some arrangements I had done of Folk Songs that were popular in Antebellum times. She told me there were a series of Songs related to the Underground Railroad that are purported to have secret messages encoded in the lyrics. These messages provided advice and directions about how the slaves could escape to freedom.
I have spent the last few weeks researching the songs and their stories. I have also written original arrangements of these songs (African-American Spirituals) that are intended for a Brass Quintet. All of this information has been collected into a Powerpoint presentation. I have also embedded musical clips of my arrangements in the presentation slides. These are played as background during the presentation.
