Bernice Johnson Reagon: Singer, Songwriter and Preeminent Historian of African American Sacred Music

Bernice Johnson Reagon was a multifaceted individual: singer, songwriter, civil rights activist, historian, college professor, and documentarian.

Born in Georgia during the dawning of the modern Civil Rights Movement, she recognized the power of music in activism and co-founded the Freedom Singers. The ensemble performed across the South and at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival.

In 1973, she formed another a cappella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock, which started as a quartet and expanded to five members with Reagon remaining until her retirement in 2004.

She wrote "Ella's Song" in 1988 as a tribute to civil rights pioneer Ella Baker, who was active in the NAACP and other civil rights organizations.

You can go here to watch Sweet Honey in the Rock perform "Ella's Song," and please check out the comments too. Here's a good one: "This group Sweet Honey in the Rock taught me the meaning of a cappella (without instruments) their harmony was amazing...It was a JOY to see them perform live. I sing this song when feeding the birds and they always respond!"

Reagon's many accomplishments included earning a doctorate in 1975 and becoming a cultural historian at the Smithsonian Institution, focusing on music history. She also produced a 26-part series titled "Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions."

The image in this episode's thumbnail and chapters is a public domain photo of Reagon that's available on Wikipedia.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.

Chapters

• 0:00 A multifaceted life
• 0:47 The power of a song
• 1:15 Sweet Honey in the Rock
• 1:34 A doctorate and more
• 1:58 "Ella's Song"
• 2:19 Closing remarks

Transcript

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Where do you start when you describe Bernice

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Johnson Reagon's accomplishments?

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She was a singer, songwriter, composer, civil rights

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activist, historian

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at the Smithsonian

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Institute and National Museum of American History,

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a college professor,

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a documentarian.

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Reagon died July 16 in Washington, D.C. She

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was 81.

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The Song of the Day is paying tribute

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to the singers, songwriters and musicians who died

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in 2024.

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Reagon was born in Georgia during the early

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days of the civil rights movement.

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She was dismissed

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from the all Black Albany State College in

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1962

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after she was arrested during a protest.

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She learned how important songs were to the

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protest

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and joined with her future husband to form

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the Freedom Singers.

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They traveled the South playing concerts.

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They performed at the 1963 Newport

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Folk Festival singing "We Shall Overcome."

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"I learned that if you bring Black people

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together,

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you bring them together with a song," she

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said in an interview for the documentary

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"Eyes on the Prize."

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Reagon formed another

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a cappella group in 1973,

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Sweet Honey in the Rock.

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The all-girl group

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began as a quartet

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and later added a fifth member.

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Reagon remained with the group until retiring

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in 2004.

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Reagon's life was more than music and activism.

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She received her doctorate in 1975.

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She joined the Smithsonian

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Institute where she became a cultural historian

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in music history.

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She produced "Wade in the Water:

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African American Sacred Music Traditions,"

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a 26-part series about African American music.

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Reagon wrote "Ella's Song" in 1988

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for the Sweet Honey in the Rock.

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She wrote the song as a tribute to

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Ella Baker.

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Baker was a civil rights pioneer who joined

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the NAACP

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in 1940

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and several other civil rights groups through the

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years.

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That was Song of the Day creator Sheldon

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Zoldan.

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And I'm Kate Jones, host of Everyday Creation.

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Thank you for joining us today.