Sheryl Kaskowitz's Books

God Bless America

The Surprising History of an Iconic Song

By: Sheryl Kaskowitz

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God Bless America

The Surprising History of an Iconic Song

By: Sheryl Kaskowitz

The song 'God Bless America' has come to inhabit our collective consciousness. This book tells the fascinating story behind the song, from its composition in 1918 by Irving Berlin, to its first performance by Kate Smith in 1938, to its post 9/11 popularity.

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Page Count

210

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ISBN 10

0199345597

ISBN 13

9780199345595

God Bless America

The Surprising History of an Iconic Song

By: Sheryl Kaskowitz

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God Bless America

The Surprising History of an Iconic Song

By: Sheryl Kaskowitz

God Bless America" is a song most Americans know well. It is taught in American schools and regularly performed at sporting events. After the attacks on September 11th, it was sung on the steps of the Capitol, at spontaneous memorial sites, and during the seventh inning stretch at baseball games, becoming even more deeply embedded in America's collective consciousness. In God Bless America, Sheryl Kaskowitz tells the fascinating story behind America's other national anthem. It begins with the song's composition by Irving Berlin in 1918 and first performance by Kate Smith in 1938, revealing an early struggle for control between composer and performer as well as the hidden economics behind the song's royalties. Kaskowitz shows how the early popularity of "God Bless America" reflected the anxiety of the pre-war period and sparked a surprising anti-Semitic and xenophobic backlash. She follows the song's rightward ideological trajectory from early associations with religious and ethnic tolerance to increasing uses as an anthem for the Christian Right, and considers the song's popularity directly after the September 11th attacks. The book concludes with a portrait of the song's post-9/11 function within professional baseball, illuminating the power of the song - and of communal singing itself - as a vehicle for both commemoration and coercion. A companion website offers streaming audio of recordings referenced in the book, links to videos of relevant performances, appendices of information, and an opportunity for readers to participate in the author's survey. Based on extensive archival research and fieldwork, God Bless America sheds new light on cultural tensions within the U.S., past and present, and offers a historical chronicle that is full of surprises and that will both edify and delight readers from all walks of life.

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Page Count

225

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0199339554

ISBN 13

9780199339556

A Chance to Harmonize

How FDR's Hidden Music Unit Sought to Save America from the Great Depression—One Song at a Time

By: Sheryl Kaskowitz

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A Chance to Harmonize

How FDR's Hidden Music Unit Sought to Save America from the Great Depression—One Song at a Time

By: Sheryl Kaskowitz

The remarkable story of a hidden New Deal program that tried to change America and end the Great Depression using folk music, laying the groundwork for the folk revival and having a lasting impact on American culture. In 1934, the Great Depression had destroyed the US economy, leaving residents poverty-stricken. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt urged President Roosevelt to take radical action to help those hit hardest—Appalachian miners and mill workers stranded after factories closed, city dwellers with no hope of getting work, farmers whose land had failed. They set up government homesteads in rural areas across the country, an experiment in cooperative living where people could start over. To boost morale and encourage the homesteaders to find community in their own traditions, the administration brought in artists to lead group activities—including folk music. As part of a music unit led by Charles Seeger (father of Pete), staffer Sidney Robertson traveled the country to record hundreds of folk songs. Music leaders, most notably Margaret Valiant, were sent to homesteads to use the collected songs to foster community and cooperation. Working almost entirely (and purposely) under the radar, the music unit would collect more than 800 songs and operate for nearly two years, until they were shut down under fire from a conservative coalition in Congress that deemed the entire homestead enterprise dangerously “socialistic." Despite its early demise, the music unit proved that music can provide hope and a sense of belonging even in the darkest times. It also laid the groundwork for the folk revival that followed, seeing the rise of artists like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Odetta, and Bob Dylan. Award-winning author and Harvard-trained American music scholar Sheryl Kaskowitz has had the unique opportunity to listen to the music unit’s entire collection of recordings and examine a trove of archival materials, some of which have never been made available to the public. A Chance To Harmonize reveals this untold story and will delight readers with the revelation of a new and previously undiscovered chapter in American cultural history.

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Page Count

213

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1639365729

ISBN 13

9781639365722

A Chance to Harmonize

How FDR's Hidden Music Unit Sought to Save America from the Great Depression—One Song at a Time

By: Sheryl Kaskowitz

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A Chance to Harmonize

How FDR's Hidden Music Unit Sought to Save America from the Great Depression—One Song at a Time

By: Sheryl Kaskowitz

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N/A

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Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

213

Publisher

Simon and Schuster

Published Date

ISBN 10

1639365729

ISBN 13

9781639365722

Book's by Sheryl Kaskowitz

God Bless America

God Bless America

God Bless America

God Bless America

A Chance to Harmonize

A Chance to Harmonize

A Chance to Harmonize

A Chance to Harmonize

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