Who is Roland Hayes? As each of us on the Boston Symphony Orchestra EducationAdvisory Committee began our journey to create the enclosed materials, this questionwas the driving force that steered our efforts. Our ultimate goal became one thatwould answer this question for teachers and students and simultaneously raiseawareness about the groundbreaking efforts of the first African-American tenor to singon the Boston Symphony stage.

Our hope, as these materials become integral parts of lesson plans, is that all whochoose to use them will meet and come to understand the “quiet hero” known asROLAND HAYES.

Myran Parker-BrassBoston Symphony OrchestraYouth Education Department

Maurice DowneyFramingham Public Schools

Parker MonroeGreater Boston Youth SymphonyOrchestras

Murphy LewisBoston Public Schools

Joanne RizziChildren’s Museum

Edith RoebuckChelsea Public Schools

Marsha Kindall-SmithNatick Public Schools

Susan SmithMelrose Public Schools

Sylvia Watts-McKinneyMuseum of Afro American History

Dr. Sandra NicolucciWellesley Public Schools

This packet has been designed with the following organizational structure from the MassachusettsArts Curriculum Frameworks as a guide:

CORE CONCEPT: Learning in, through and about the arts develops understanding of the creativeprocess and appreciation of the importance of creative work.

Strand I: Creating and Performance

Lifelong learners:LS 1. Use the arts to express ideas, feeling s and beliefs.LS 2. Acquire and apply the essential skills of each art form.

Strand II: Thinking and RespondingLifelong learners:

LS 3. Communicate how they use imaginative and reflective thinking during allphases of creating and performing.

LS 4. Respond analytically and critically to their own work and that of others.

Strand III. Connecting and ContributingLifelong learners:

LS 5. Make connections between the arts and other disciplines.LS 6. Investigate the cultural and historical contexts of the arts.LS 7. Explore the relationship between arts, media and technology.LS 8. Contribute to the community‘s cultural and artistic life.

It was our goal to provide examples that will help you begin exploring the life of Roland Hayesthrough an interdisciplinary approach. We hope that you will build upon each of the suggestedideas and activities as you introduce Roland Hayes to your students.

The following format can be used by teachers as pre-Roland Hayes discussion:

A. Students individually brainstorm a list of characteristics of HEROES.The music of Roland Hayes plays in the background.

B. Class shares brain stormed list as teacher records ideas on board.

C. Class examines answers to decide who qualifies today as a HERO (and why)and they create a list.

D. Teacher then introduces information on Roland Hayes, “a quiet hero”:

1. Provide general biography of Roland Hayes (oral)2. Students then determine what qualifies Roland Hayes as a hero - using

list of characteristics.

E. Teachers may wish to follow this suggested sequence of activities:

1. Pre-discussion2. TimelineTimelin e Timeline lesson activity3. Choose or create interdisciplinary activities from the wide array of

possibilities in this packet.

We measure him against great music;Against impossible odds; by fate againsta wall of prejudice: today a tree of manyrings against the sun. But he who measuredhimself against humanity remains the betterCritic. “If thine eye be single, thy whole bodyshall be full of light.“ So prophesied by his mother,His blood Bible, Angel MO‘. Thine ear be singletoo, she might have added, reckoning for song in onewhose joy has always been interpretation. Thousandsmeasure him, detached and a cappella, in the voice ofcrucifixion. Sometimes, older than the old Testament,he stands delivered of anonymous man‘s grief fardeeper than the spiritual roots go down, like Moses, intodays and deeps unknown. Subliminal revision of hiswork in progress left no octaves open to regret. Heknew where he was going, as the unflown bird ofLabrador unrolls the map of Yucatan. He is and everwas at once one voice, one race, one citizen, onetriumph in belief, one compromise with nothing. Afterhumility, perhaps the crowning gift is giving backwhat one is given. He is a country to himself thatborders not on nations whole or sundered, but onart, on life---on people prizing now and then nobility inman.

David McCord

First read by the author at a celebration in honor of the eightieth birthday of Mr. Hayes,held in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 3, 1967.This poem has been printed by the Anthoensen Press, Portland, Maine, in a limited editionof one hundred copies for the Friends of Roland Hayes.

Roland Hayes was born in Curryville, Georgia in 1887. His mother, Fannie Mann Hayes, and hisfather, William Hayes, were both ex-slaves. Roland’s parents were tenant farmers on the plantationwhere his mother had once been a slave. Roland’s father, who was his first music teacher, oftentook him hunting and taught him to appreciate the musical sounds of nature. Roland’s motherfounded the Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Curryville and it was here that Roland first heard the musiche would cherish forever, the Negro Spiritual. It was Roland’s job to learn new spirituals from theelders and teach them to the congregation. This is how he learned the spirituals that would becomea part of his concerts throughout his career.

Roland’s father died in 1900 and Fannie Hayes moved her family to Chattanooga, Tennessee.Roland was twelve years old at the time and his mother, whom he called Angel MO’, was a greatinfluence in his life. She instilled in Roland a sense of the greatness, as well as the nearness, of God.The family attended the Monumental Baptist Church where Roland continued singing and learningspirituals.

At the age of twelve Roland discovered a musical influence that would change his life forever, arecording of the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. Hearing the renowned tenor revealed a world ofmusic he never knew existed. It was European classical music, far from the fields of Georgia andTennessee, but Roland knew that he wanted to make it his own. Roland began taking singinglessons with Arthur Calhoun, an organist and choir director in Chattanooga, for fifty cents a lesson.This was a wonderful opportunity for Roland, but his mother thought he was wasting money. Shebelieved that African-Americans could not make a living from singing.

In 1905 Roland enrolled in Fisk University. He only had a sixth grade education; however, his voiceand musical talent gained him enrollment and a lifetime devoted to music had begun. In 1911 theFisk Jubilee Singers traveled to Boston to perform and Roland decided that he would stay in Bostonand continue his study.

Roland got a job as a page at the John Hancock Insurance Company. The job was part of Roland‘smaster plan. He used some of his earnings to pay for singing lessons and began studying withArthur Hubbard. Mr. Hubbard agreed to give him lessons only if Roland came to his house. He didnot want Roland to embarrass him by appearing at his studio for lessons among his white students.Hubbard warned Roland that most teachers did not believe it possible for an African-American to beaccepted as a serious singer, echoing the words of his mother.

Roland, however, was not to be discouraged. In 1916 Roland was ready to give his first publicrecital. Unable to find a sponsor, he used two hundred dollars of his own money to rent Jordan Hallfor a classical recital. He lost the money, but won critical praise. To raise money for anotherconcert, Roland went on a tour of black churches and colleges in the South. In 1917 he announcedhis second concert which would be held in Boston’s Symphony Hall. His friends begged him not todo it, afraid he would embarrass himself. Instead of being discouraged, Roland was now moredetermined than ever to perform at Symphony Hall. He paid four hundred dollars to rent

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Symphony Hall, placed advertisements in newspapers and mailed concert announcements to 3,000people. On November 15, 1917, every seat in the hall was sold and Roland’s concert was a successboth musically and financially. For the first time, he had included a group of Negro spirituals in hisprogram. He called them Aframerican folk songs, and he sang them with a pride and dignity thatbrought out the artistry in the music. Getting these songs out before the public became a lifelongmission.

Hayes was beginning to make a name for himself, performing spirituals and classical art songsmostly at Black colleges and churches throughout the country. But white America still wouldn’ttake him seriously. No one would promote his tours, and most of the money he did make was eatenup by expenses. Just as he had left home 15 years earlier in pursuit of his dream, Roland knew itwas once again time to move on. In April of 1920 he traveled to Europe, determined to earn therecognition he felt was due him. Europe would prove to be the gateway to his acceptance as aconcert artist.

Roland began studying with Sir George Henschel, who was the first conductor of the BostonSymphony Orchestra, and gave his first recital in London’s Aeolian Hall in May 1920. Roland feltthat most people came out of curiosity; however, the audience cheered him on. After this concertRoland attracted attention for the beauty of his voice. Almost a year to the day after his arrival inEurope, Roland got his first big break, a concert at London’s Wigmore Hall. The next day, hereceived a summons from King George and Queen Mary to give a command performance atBuckingham Palace. No African-American artist had ever received such an invitation. SingingEuropean art songs impeccably in their native languages, while introducing the Negro spiritual to anew audience, his fame grew quickly throughout Europe.

In 1922 Roland returned to the United States to visit his mother, Angel MO’, who was eighty yearsold. While in Boston he performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; this was the premiereperformance of an African-American with a major American symphony orchestra and theperformance brought him outstanding reviews.

In 1923 Roland returned to Europe and gave successful concerts in Vienna, Italy, and France. Histrue test came however in Germany, where Roland discovered that racial prejudice existed inEurope as well. In Germany, some people protested his concert in Berlin. A newspaper writercriticized him as “an American Negro who has come to Berlin to defile the name of the Germanpoets and composers.” The night of the concert Roland faced an angry audience who hissed andcalled him names for about ten minutes. Hayes stood still until they stopped and then he begansinging Schubert’s Du bist die Ruh. Roland’s remarkable voice and musical talent won over theGerman audience and his concert was a success.

Roland returned to the United States near the end of 1923 and continued to break barriers as hewon the hearts of American audiences. In 1932, while in Los Angeles for a Hollywood Bowlperformance, he married Alzada Mann. One year later they had a daughter, Afrika. The familymoved into a home in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Roland continued to perform until the age of eighty-five when he gave his last concert at the LongySchool of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Roland died five years later on January 1, 1977.

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Harry T. Burleigh (1886-1946) - the grandson of aslave, Burleigh learned spirituals from his parentsin his hometown of Erie Pennsylvania. Later hebecame a scholarship student at the NationalConservatory of Music in New York City. Burleigh,a composer and arranger, was the first to arrangespirituals for the solo voice, beginning with “DeepRiver.”

Marian Anderson (1897-1993) - born in Philadelphia, shebecame the world’s leading concert contralto in thetwentieth century. Roland Hayes took an interest in hercareer as early as 1916 and she gave her debut recital inBerlin in 1933, ten years after Roland Hayes’s concert inBerlin. She gave a legendary concert in 1939 at theLincoln Memorial after being refused permission to sing inConstitution Hall because of her color. She was the firstAfrican-American to sing at the New York MetropolitanOpera House in 1955 and in 1957 traveled to Asia as“good will” ambassador for the US State Department.

Paul Robeson (1898-1976) - born in Princeton, New Jersey, won distinction as both a singerand an actor. A graduate of Rutgers University, Robeson gave his first recital in 1925 in NewYork. He had had no vocal training, but the success of the concert assured him of apromising career as a baritone. His numerous acting credits include Othello, EmperorJones, The Song of Freedom and Showboat. Robeson is also remembered as a humanrights activist and was accused of being a “communist sympathizer” during the 1950s.

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1R Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943) - achieved recognition as acomposer, arranger, pianist, and choral conductor. Dettwas born in Drumondsville, Ontario and received his Bachelors degree in music from Oberlin. He continued hisstudies at the American Conservatory of Music andHarvard. After touring briefly as a concert pianist, Dett 1

accepted the position of director of music at HamptonInstitute in 1913 and remained there for eighteen years. IDett published two collections of spirituals he had arrangedduring his career, Religious Folksongs of the Negro (1926)and The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals (1936).

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Dorothy Maynor (1910- ) - a soprano whoseearly musical training was received in herfather’s church in Greensboro, NorthCarolina. Maynor's talent was first discoveredby R Nathaniel Dett at the Hampton Institute,from which she graduated in 1933. Aftersinging at a concert in 1939 during theBerkshire Music Festival, Koussevitsky, thenconductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra,helped place her with top management, andMaynor performed extensively in the US andabroad and appeared with leading symphonyorchestras. After retirement Maynor foundedthe Harlem School of the Arts (1966) to shareher talent and experiences with young people.

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Fisk Jubilee Singers - students from the Fisk School founded in 1865, now known as Fisk University.The members of the Fisk Jubilee Singers went on their first concert tour in 1871 to raise money for 1the almost bankrupt Fisk School. The tour was organized by their music teacher, Geaorge L. White, aCaucasian American. Although the ensemble sang artistic music, it was during this tour that theyadded spirituals to their repertoire and conquered audiences both at home and abroad. The pilgrimage, which began in 1871, ended seven years later and the Fisk Jubilee Singers had raised$150,000 to help found what is now Fisk University. Roland Hayes came to Boston with the FiskJubilee Singers and embarked on his career as a concert singer.

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1 0

4 Listen analytically to one spiritual and Schubert’s “Du Bist Die Ruh” (listening

lessons)

7 After listening lesson, talk about musical style-how are pieces

different, dialect/language used in both, story told in both, etc.?

9 Compose a new song/spiritual in authentic style and perform it with

explanatory comments to the audience (HS).

y Understand the place of music in the slave culture-religion, work,secret messages, etc.

3: Understand the relationship of spirituals and work songs to African

songs.

p Identify what Lieder are. Identify famous Lieder composers.

7 Listen to a spiritual, determine its most important line, and illustrate it.

Create a dramatic monologue in which Roland Hayes explains (role play) to

today’s youth why he chose the type of music he did to express himself.

Conduct an interview with Roland Hayes for "MTV."

Have students research the following people:

- Roland Hayes

- Paul Robeson

- Martin Luther King

and develop a staged conversation between

s

- Hayes and Robeson

- Hayes and King

or

- Hayes, Robeson, and King.

If you had the chance to go back in time, and you met Roland Hayes, what

questions would you have for him and what do you think his responses would

be? Role play activity.

1 1

Dance/Movement

bll spirituals tell a story; create an interpretive dance representing one of the spirituals/stories.

Visual Art

J& Analyze works of art by African-American artists that contain themes reflected in Roland Hayes’ life.

J@ As you listen to Roland Hayes sing, create a painting which reflects your response to the music.

* Create a:

- political cartoon - illustrated timeline

- concert poster - mural

- diorama

of African-American “ground-breaking,” "risk-taking" heroes throughout history

J$b Create some quotation posters that would reduce prejudice.

4!k Use “guided imagery” (relaxation) to allow students to project themselves into the Berlin concert

setting. Then have them express their vision in a personal way (dance, song, drama, journal entry,

visual art work)

Ilk Use an art print expressing an issue related to slavery/racism as a catalyst writing, dance,

composing, etc.

NOTES

12

w You are Roland Hayes in 1996, and you have to make a speech-what would

your message be to young people and why?

w Would you have wanted Roland Hayes as your friend? Explain why or why not.

m Create a big book for young children that captures events of Roland Hayes’ life.

~3 You are a journalist covering Roland Hayes’ performances-write a news article

on his Berlin concert or on his premiere BSO concert.

~3 Discuss the characteristics of “heroes” and “role models" - research and identify

other people who “risked” much or defended their principles like Roland Hayes.

w Create a badge with identifying characteristics about Roland Hayes to see if

people can identify who you are.

~3 Who are the “superheroes” sung about in spirituals (e.g., Moses, Daniel, Noah,

Joshua, etc.). Why did the slaves admire these figures?

NOTES

13

w Create an acrostic poem using the name Roland Hayes and facts about his life.

Research the history of the “Christianization” of the

represent a personalization of the process (HS).

Compare and contrast other “pioneers” in breaking

points in US history, e.g.

- Marion Anderson

- Jackie Robinson

- Colin Powell

Track the travel of Roland Hayes from the South, tra

concert tours; create a string map.

Discuss why an African-American would specialize

culture that repressed his race.

Trace African-American role/influence in American music (music/history).

Discuss evolution of “descriptive” words to characterize

African-American, from slavery to today.

slaves and how spirituals

the color line at various

vels in Europe, and

in the art music of a

a race of people, i.e.

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NOTES

I3ii’ Discuss psychological/emotional impact of racist acts.

B’ Discuss “resilience” in terms of living in a racially biased society:

- Project how Roland Hayes demonstrated emotional resilience

- What “risk taking” behavior did Roland Hayes exhibit-were the results

positive or negative?

8“I Discuss what is necessary to maintain the health of the singing voice.

QA Learn about the vocal (singing) mechanism and the process of adolescent voice

change.

Discuss adolescent voice change

- Physical

- Psychological

El‘I’ Listen to and develop descriptions of adult voice categories: soprano, mezzo-

soprano, alto, contralto, tenor, baritone, and bass.

ElIii Discuss the tenor voice (entree to the color of voice). Use tenors students already

know, e.g., Boyz II Men and Michael Jackson.

u How does enunciation/pronunciation during singing differ from speaking, and why

NOTES

1 5

Research the process for developing a recording in the early

compare with today’s technology

1900s and

- What technological advances were made during Roland Hayes’s life

- How would today’s technology have influenced events in Roland

Hayes’s life

NOTES

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Study the dialect of several spirituals. Why is it important to understand the

dialect of the slaves and what it derived from?

D How do dialects relate to “Black” English spoken today?

D Sing a spiritual in authentic dialect and then an Anglicized version; discuss the

differences.

D Sing part of a “German Lied" in German.

D Listen to R. Hayes singing “Mister Banjo," discuss the French language usage,

have students sing portions of song.

NOTES

1 7

.1. Southern, Eileen; The Music of Black Americans, A History

2. Boston: A Chronology of Historical 1 Events

3. Clift, Virgil A. And Low, Augustus W.; Encyclopedia of Black America

. .4. Hayden, Robert C.; African Americans in Boston; More than 350 Years_

.5. Smith, Eunice Young; A Trumpet Sounds: A Novel Based on the Life of Roland Hayes

6. Black Firsts

.7. Reagon, Bernice Johnson; Wade in the Water, Afr ican American Sacred Music Traditions

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We would like to thank the following organizations for funding which helped make this curriculumpacket possible:

The Massachusetts Cultural CouncilThe Polaroid FoundationThe Ruth Batson Educational FoundationAT&T Foundation

A very special thanks to WCVB TV, Channel 5 for developing the Roland Hayes video:

Liz Cheng - Executive ProducerStan Wojcik - ProducerChris Finn - Graphic Design

We thank Diane Ota, The Boston Public Library and the Detroit Public Library for use of theirarchival photos and materials.

Special thanks to Patti Polisar, Researcher for the Roland Hayes Tribute project.

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We have provided copies of the spirituals heard on the video and included in the sample lessonactivities. Along with the song we have provided narration from Roland Hayes which talks abouteach of the spirituals, their meaning and significance to him. We hope this information is helpful inpreparing your lesson activities.

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I. I’ll Make Me a Man(Genesis 1.26)

Just as the late James Welson Johnson, the Aframerican poet, heard some of

the mastersinging ministers of my people in his childhood in Florida, so it was

my childhood experience in my “Angel Mo” community in Georgia to hear the

same sermons sung-preached by Charles Foster and others. These great song

sermons and prayers, too, of the mighty Aframerican preachers of pre-Civil

War days became Ritual and thereafter were given by all the great and near - great who followed.

The particular song sermon, “I’ll Make Me a Man,” which is the first

song of this collection, is an excerpt from the “Creation” sermon. M r . Johnson’s

collection of poems called God’s Trombones contains the words of this sermon

in its entirety.

When I recall the mastersinger types, the original creator of the song

sermon, “Creation,” stands vividly before me, a giant in stature, commanding

in presence and eloquent in delivery. Yes, I see him in magnificent, dynamic

gesture fired by the Divine Spirit as he strides (even prances) over the pulpit

platform with the Holy Bible on his shoulder, depicting the manner of God’s

creative methods in these thunderously eloquent tones: “Tben God walked

around. " In these words are majesty, and the sonorous simplicity of utterance such as to stir the imagination. This great master of oratory, as with the plastic

strokes of a sculptor, carved out sentence upon sentence which seemed to pause

in their cosmic flight to embrace a loving image tenderly, “Like a mamlmy

bending over her babe".

"And man become a living soul.” With these words, given as with a hammer stroke in a stirring outburst of eloquence, ends this truly great song sermon.

It was born of masterful imagery of a heaven-taught Soul - but otherwise untutored. The music in this song realizes its mood in a setting spare and tense which alternates between chant and dramatic recitation; where all is bound

together by an inevitable rhythmic pulse that rises to an emotional climax with

the reiterated, exultant "Amen."