Thomas W. Talley

Thomas W. Talley
Born (1870-10-09)October 9, 1870
Shelbyville, Tennessee
Died July 14, 1952(1952-07-14) (aged 81)
Nationality United States
Alma mater Fisk University
Scientific career
Institutions Fisk University

Thomas Washington Talley (October 9, 1870 – July 14, 1952) was a chemistry professor at Fisk University and a collector of African American folk songs.

Early life and education

Thomas W. Talley was born on October 9, 1870, in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He was one of eight children born to Charles Washington and Lucinda Talley.[1]

Talley attended public school for six years, followed by high school and college at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he received an A.B. in 1890 and a master's degree in 1893. Starting in 1888 he participated in the Fisk music program, singing with the New Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Mozart Society, as well as the Fisk Union Church. He also conducted the Fisk choir for a number of seasons.[2]

Talley received a Doctor of Science degree from Walden University in 1899. He completed his dissertation at the University of Chicago many years later, at the age of 61.[1]

Interests

Chemistry

Talley held teaching positions at several black colleges: Alcorn A&M College in Lorman, Mississippi, in 1891; at Florida A&M in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1893; and Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1900.[2]

From 1903 to 1942, Talley taught chemistry and biology at Fisk.[1] He chaired the chemistry department at Fisk for 25 years.[2] Talley-Brady Hall on the Fisk campus is named for Talley and St. Elmo Brady, another Fisk alumnus who was a student of Talley's.[3]

Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise and Otherwise)

Talley began collecting rural black folk songs later in his life. Talley's 1922 volume Negro Folk Rhymes (Wise and Otherwise) containing 349 secular folksongs, spirituals already being well-known, was the first such collection assembled by an African-American scholar,[2] The book was seen at the time as a "masterpiece of the field".[4] It was not only the first compilation of African-American secular folk songs, but also of folk songs of any kind from Tennessee.[2] An edited edition of Negro Folk Rhymes\" was re-released in 1991. Additional published works about music by Talley include The Origin of Negro Traditions and A Systematic Chronology of Creation.[1]

The publication of Negro Folk Rhymes marked a turning point in the study of African-American verse. Before its publication, little note had been taken of black secular traditions. Talley's book, along with a later collection by Howard Odum and Guy Johnson, called attention to these works.[5]

Personal life

Talley married Ellen Eunice Roberts on August 28, 1899. The couple had two daughters.[2]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Thomas W. Talley Collection Papers, 1891–1951" (PDF). Fisk University. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Thomas Washington Talley (1870–1952)". The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. January 5, 2010. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Historic Markers Across Tennessee". Latitude 34 North. Retrieved February 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Chicago Samuel A. Floyd Jr. (27 June 1995). The Power of Black Music : Interpreting Its History from Africa to the United States: Interpreting Its History from Africa to the United States. Oxford University Press, USA. pp. 49–. ISBN 978-0-19-802437-8.
  5. ↑ Christopher Bigsby (12 October 2006). The Cambridge Companion to Modern American Culture. Cambridge University Press. pp. 360–. ISBN 978-1-107-49498-5.
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