Lawrence Gellert
Encyclopedia
Lawrence Gellert, born September 14, 1898 in Budapest
, Hungary
, died 1979 (Gellert disappeared in 1979, his death date is unknown), was a music collector who in the 1920s and 1930s documented black protest traditions in the South of the United States
. He may have been one of the earliest collectors to make field recordings of this music.
He came to America when he was seven, and grew up in New York City. For health reasons, in the early 1920s he moved to Tryon
, N.C.. From 1933 to 1937, Gellert traveled through North Carolina
, South Carolina
, and Georgia
, collecting folksongs of black Americans.
Gellert, along with his brother Hugo
, was a frequent contributor to the magazine Masses (later New Masses) from 1930 to 1947, writing mainly about traditional black American music.
Part of his recordings has been released on vinyl albums in 1973, 1982 (on Rounder Records
) and 1984 (on Heritage Records), then in the 1990s reissued on CD by Document Records
. Folklorist and ethnomusicologist Dr.Bruce Conforth
of the University of Michigan produced these two recordings and is completing a book on Gellert for the University of Illinois Press.
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, died 1979 (Gellert disappeared in 1979, his death date is unknown), was a music collector who in the 1920s and 1930s documented black protest traditions in the South of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He may have been one of the earliest collectors to make field recordings of this music.
He came to America when he was seven, and grew up in New York City. For health reasons, in the early 1920s he moved to Tryon
Tryon, North Carolina
Tryon is a town in Polk County, North Carolina, United States. According to the 2000 Census the population of Tryon was 1,760. The area is a center for equestrian activity and fine arts....
, N.C.. From 1933 to 1937, Gellert traveled through North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, collecting folksongs of black Americans.
Gellert, along with his brother Hugo
Hugo Gellert
Hugo Gellert was a Hungarian-American illustrator and muralist. A committed radical, much of Gellert's work is agitational in nature and distinctive in style, considered by some art critics as among the best political work of the first half of the 20th Century.-Early years:Hugo Gellert was born...
, was a frequent contributor to the magazine Masses (later New Masses) from 1930 to 1947, writing mainly about traditional black American music.
Part of his recordings has been released on vinyl albums in 1973, 1982 (on Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
) and 1984 (on Heritage Records), then in the 1990s reissued on CD by Document Records
Document Records
Document Records is a British record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres , generally made between 1900 and 1945...
. Folklorist and ethnomusicologist Dr.Bruce Conforth
Bruce Conforth
Bruce Michael Conforth was the first curator of Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is presently a professor of American Culture at the University of Michigan.-Early years:...
of the University of Michigan produced these two recordings and is completing a book on Gellert for the University of Illinois Press.