Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Doctoral Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA)

Department

Music

First Committee Member

Alfonse Anderson

Second Committee Member

Tod Fitzpatrick

Third Committee Member

Monica Williams

Fourth Committee Member

Richard Miller

Fifth Committee Member

Nancy Uscher

Sixth Committee Member

Kymberly Mellen

Number of Pages

159

Abstract

This text seeks to explore the origins of Negro spirituals, and how they evolved, highlighting their arrival to Las Vegas, Nevada. It outlines the primacy of vocal music, particularly in reference to African American spirituals, and how they were shaped via the influence of African and European traditions. As it is impossible to address every type of spiritual created, the text focuses on a few types of spirituals—namely joyous accounts and spirituals that use codes for messages. Moreover, it seeks to create a comprehensive understanding of the origins of Las Vegas, because without acknowledging the contributions of the Mormon Church, Helen J. Stewart, and the railroad magnates W. A. Clark and E. H. Harriman, one would not understand the circumstances that brought blacks to the west coast from the south. And with the arrival of African Americans came their culture and rich musical traditions.

This text seeks to explore the origins of Negro spirituals, and how they evolved, highlighting their arrival to Las Vegas, Nevada. It outlines the primacy of vocal music, particularly in reference to African American spirituals, and how they were shaped via the influence of African and European traditions. As it is impossible to address every type of spiritual created, the text focuses on a few types of spirituals—namely joyous accounts and spirituals that use codes for messages. Moreover, it seeks to create a comprehensive understanding of the origins of Las Vegas, because without acknowledging the contributions of the Mormon Church, Helen J. Stewart, and the railroad magnates W. A. Clark and E. H. Harriman, one would not understand the circumstances that brought blacks to the west coast from the south. And with the arrival of African Americans came their culture and rich musical traditions.

Finally, I conducted several interviews with persons known and unknown. I received quite a wealth of information from Claytee White, who is the Director of the Oral History Research Center at UNLV Libraries. Further, I was fortunate to interview two surviving legacy members of the historical Zion United Methodist Church: Clara Scott, who is now the retired Director and Minister of Music, and long-time member Shirley Hampton, who was born in Las Vegas in the 1940s.

There were many discoveries made through this research. I learned about a major sawmill in Arizona that drew blacks here. I discovered a crucial interview that was documented of one Clarence Ray from the 1990s. Through that interview, I learned of Block 17 and the Historic Westside of Las Vegas. I even found a number of vintage newspaper articles pointing to key moments in the history of this vibrant city, including the tour by the Jubilee Singers from Normal, Mississippi.

The final pages of the dissertation are a series of appendices featuring images of various persons referenced, and transcripts from the interviews I conducted.

Keywords

Education; Employment; Establishment; Persecution; Religious; Traveling

Disciplines

Music | Music Performance | Other Music

File Format

PDF

File Size

5200 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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