Willis Laurence James (September 18, 1900 – December 27, 1966) was an American musician, composer and educator. He was on the faculty of

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman rece ...

for more than three decades.Megan Hill
"Willis Laurence James – MBC visits the Spelman College Archives"
MBC (Music by Black Composers) Blog, May 17, 2017.

Biography

Willis James was born in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, United States, and was raised in

Pensacola Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...

and

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. Educated at the Florida Baptist Academy in Jacksonville, he studied

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

with Sidney Woodward. Woodward recognized his musical talent and took James for further study to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, where from the age of 16 he was the protégé of

Kemper Harreld William Kemper Harreld (January 31, 1885, Muncie, Indiana – 1971) was an American concert violinist. He was also a pianist and organist. A graduate of Chicago Musical College, Harreld performed until 1911 when he became head of the music dep ...

, a concert violinist and head of the Morehouse College music department. James enrolled at Morehouse in 1919, and his studies included the traditional core of music courses, as well as the violin and several other instruments. He was a member of the Morehouse Quartet and

Glee Club A glee club in the United States is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it w ...

, and played violin in the college orchestra. James showed great promise as a concert violinist and performed as a recitalist and soloist throughout his career. After receiving his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from Morehouse in 1923, James pursued further study with Oswald Blake and Edwin Gerschefski at the

Chicago Musical College Chicago Musical College is a division of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. History Founding Dr. Florenz Ziegfeld Sr (1841–1923), founded the college in 1867 as the Chicago Academy of Music. The institution h ...

. James began his teaching career at

Leland College Leland College was founded in 1870 as a college for blacks in New Orleans, Louisiana, but was open to all races. With . The college facilities had become derelict by the time of listing. In the early 21st century, only the ruins of the two dormi ...

in Baker, Louisiana (1923–29), and it was while living in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

that he began collecting

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

and folksongs, particularly along the levees of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

. In 1927 the Paramount Record Company of Chicago released a record on which he sang folksongs and for which he and James Edward Halligan transcribed the music and texts. In 1928 James married a fellow teacher at Leland College, Theodora Joanna Fisher. From 1929 to 1933, he taught at the Alabama State Teachers College at Montgomery, before accepting a teaching position at

, where he would stay for the remainder of his career, serving as chairman of the music department and director of the Spelman College Glee Club. After the retirement of Kemper Harreld, he assumed the duties of director of music at both Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, and secured Joyce Johnson as Spelman College organist. With

Horace Mann Bond Horace Mann Bond (November 8, 1904 – December 21, 1972) was an American historian, college administrator, social science researcher and the father of civil-rights leader Julian Bond. He earned a master's and doctorate from University of C ...

, president of Fort Valley State College, James co-founded the Fort Valley State College Folk Festival (1940–55), and was a member of the summer faculty there from 1941 to 1949. James continued investigating folksongs over the years and was noted for his compositions and arrangements. His theory that "the cry" was the most distinctive feature of black folksong attracted some attention. He lectured at college campuses, before professional societies, at the

Newport Jazz The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hir ...

and

Folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

Festivals, and at the Roundtables of the Tanglewood music festival. He received awards from the General Education Board and the Carnegie Foundation and in 1955 received an honorary doctorate from

Wilberforce University Wilberforce University is a private historically black university in Wilberforce, Ohio. Affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), it was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. It participates ...

. In April 1966, he lectured at the opening of the Center for the Arts in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. At the time of his death on December 27, 1966, he left a completed

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

, '' Stars in De Elements'', which was published in 1995 as a special issue of the journal '' Black Sacred Music''.

References

* Eileen Southern (1997). ''The Music of Black Americans: A History''. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition.

External links

Library of Congress
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Willis Laurence American male composers African-American musicians Musicians from Montgomery, Alabama People from Jacksonville, Florida 1900 births 1966 deaths Morehouse College alumni Wilberforce University alumni Roosevelt University alumni Fort Valley State University 20th-century American composers American expatriates in Nigeria Alabama State University faculty Place of death missing Spelman College faculty 20th-century American male musicians