Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR) Collection, 1919-1974

This file contains a finding aid for the Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (BASOR) Collection. To access the collection, please contact the archivist (asorarch@bu.edu) at the American Schools of Oriental Research, located at Boston University.

Khirbet et-Tannur Excavation Records

The Khirbet et-Tannur Excavation Records document the 1938 excavation of a Nabataean temple. The excavation was directed by Nelson Glueck. The collection includes level books, excavation diaries, artifacts, and photographs. The collection is being processed. A finding aid for the document portion of the collection is available.

Edmund Irwin Gordon Papers, 1936-1984

The Edmund Irwin Gordon papers document Gordon’s studies and professional work. The collection contains correspondence, EIG’s writings for publication and otherwise, course materials from the University of Pennsylvania and teaching at Harvard University, photographs of tablets and from digs, translations and notes from writings and tablets in ancient languages, forms and papers related to various grants, and materials from EIG’s work in Signal Intelligence during World War II.

William F. Albright Papers

This file contains a finding aid for the William F. Albright Collection. To access the collection, please contact the archivist (asorarch@bu.edu) at the American Schools of Oriental Research, located at Boston University.

American Palestine Exploration Society Photograph Collection, 1875

This file contains a finding aid for the American Palestine Exploration Society Photograph Collection. To access the collection, please contact the archivist (asorarch@bu.edu) at the American Schools of Oriental Research, located at Boston University.

G. Ernest Wright Papers, 1957-1972

This collection primarily contains correspondence from Wright’s years as president of ASOR. Material dates as far back as 1957, and proceed into the early 1970’s. Some of Wright’s more notable correspondents include William F. Albright, A. Henry Detweiler, Paul W. Lapp, William Reed, and Dean Seiler. Subject-specific correspondence includes records of expenditures, budget planning, corporate memberships, and the Jerusalem School.

Carl H. Kraeling Papers, 1947-1955

This file contains a finding aid for the Carl H. Kraeling Collection. To access the collection, please contact the archivist (asorarch@bu.edu) at the American Schools of Oriental Research, located at Boston University.

Singing Through Struggle: Music as a Mode of Cultural Exchange in African American Border City Churches After Emancipation, 1862-1890

This project investigates how religious music, invested with symbolic and cultural meaning, provided African Americans in border city churches with a way to negotiate conflict, assert individual values, and establish a collective identity in the post- emancipation era. In order to focus on the encounter between former slaves and free Blacks, the dissertation examines black churches that received large numbers of southern migrants during and after the Civil War. Primarily a work of history, the study also employs insights and conceptual frameworks from other disciplines including anthropology and ritual studies, African American studies, aesthetic theory, and musicology. It is a work of historical reconstruction in the tradition of scholarship that some have called "lived religion." Chapter 1 introduces the dissertation topic and explains how it contributes to scholarship. Chapter 2 examines social and religious conditions African Americans faced in Baltimore, MD, Philadelphia, PA, and Washington, DC to show why the Black Church played a key role in African Americans' adjustment to post-emancipation life. Chapter 3 compares religious slave music and free black church music to identify differences and continuities between them, as well as their functions in religious settings. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 present case studies on Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Baltimore), Zoar Methodist Episcopal Church (Philadelphia), and St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal Church (Washington, DC), respectively. Informed by fresh archival materials, the dissertation shows how each congregation used its musical life to uphold values like education and community, to come to terms with a shared experience, and to confront or avert authority when cultural priorities were threatened. By arguing over musical choices or performance practices, or agreeing on mutually appealing musical forms like the gospel songs of the Sunday school movement, African Americans forged lively faith communities and distinctive cultures in otherwise adverse environments. The study concludes that religious music was a crucial form of African American discourse and expression in the post-emancipation era. In the Black Church, it nurtured an atmosphere of exchange, gave structure and voice to conflict, helped create a public sphere, and upheld the values of black people.