Civil Rights Era Songs & Figures

• Odetta sang "Hold On/Eyes on the Prize."
• Billie Holiday sang "Strange Fruit."

Important People

• Thomas Shipp was a lynching victim in August 1930.
• Abram Smith was a lynching victim in August 1930.
• Abel Meeropol was the poet and composer of Strange Fruit.
  • He was the child of Ukrainian Jewish Immigrants.
  • He was involved in anti-racist work.
  • He was an English Teacher.
• Billie Holiday was a singer.
  • She single-handedly made "Strange Fruit" a well-known song.
  • She had a specific performance style where all focus was on her.

Reconstruction Amendments to the Constitution

• 13th Amendment ended slavery.
• 14th Amendment granted birthright citizenship and equal protection.
• 15th Amendment gave all men the right to vote.
• Jim Crow Laws created segregated spaces, like transportation, public spaces, and restaurants.
• Jim Crow Laws found grounding in the 1896 Supreme Court Case Plessy v. Ferguson.
  • State laws that required the separation of races are constitutional as long as there were equal accommodations made for Black Americans.
  • This established the "separate but equal" doctrine that justified legal segregation in the South.

Important Dates

• 1896: Plessy v. Ferguson, which legalized "separate but equal".
• 1930: Lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana.
• 1939: Billie Holiday recorded "Strange Fruit."
• 1960: Lunch Counter Sit-Ins took place.
• 1961: Freedom Riders.

Music As a Response to Racial Violence:

• "Hold On/Eyes on the Prize" is rooted in the Negro Spiritual of the same/similar name, originally "Hold On/Hand on the Plow".
• "Hold On/Eyes on the Prize" made its way into American Folk traditions.
  • It was often used in the 1960s as a civil rights anthem.
  • It was used during Freedom Rides, where riders were attacked.
  • It was also used during sit-in demonstrations, where non-violent protesters were assaulted.
• "Strange Fruit" is deeply connected to Lynchings.
  • It was written just after the Great Depression and the Great Migration.
  • Unlike previous protest songs, it belonged to one woman and not to the masses.
  • Nina Simone described it: "That is about the ugliest song I have ever heard...ugly in the sense that it is violent and tears at the guts of what white people have done to my people in this country."
  • "Strange Fruit" did not stir the blood; it chilled it.
  • "Strange Fruit" was a modern use of art as a form of protest.

Explore protest songs like "Strange Fruit" and key figures such as Billie Holiday and Abel Meeropol. Learn about lynching victims and the Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, 15th) that sought to end slavery and ensure equal rights. Discover the impact of Jim Crow laws and Plessy v. Ferguson.