Scholars Gild

The Scholars Gild November

Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo’s Hidden History Speaker: Kristina R. Gaddy

Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, at 7:30 pm LIVE at the Arden Gild Hall AND via Zoom

Scholars Gild welcomes author and historian Kristina R. Gaddy to speak about her just-published book, Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (W.W. Norton 2022). In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo’s key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the banjo’s beginnings from the seventeenth century, when enslaved people of African descent created it from gourds or calabashes and wood. Gaddy will talk about how the enslaved carried this unique instrument as they were transported and sold by slaveowners throughout the Americas, to Suriname, the Caribbean, and the colonies that became U.S. states, including Louisiana, South Carolina, Maryland, and New York. African Americans came together at rituals where the banjo played an essential part. White governments, rightfully afraid that the gatherings could instigate revolt, outlawed them without success. In the mid-nineteenth century, Blackface minstrels appropriated the instrument for their bands, spawning a craze. Eventually, the banjo became part of jazz, bluegrass, and country, its deepest history forgotten. Join us at the crossroads of slavery, religion, and music for Kristina Gaddy’s re-discovery of the banjo’s history.

Kristina Gaddy plans to play some banjo for us on the historic reproduction instrument created for Amazon Prime’s The Underground Railroad. You can get a preview of some of the visuals she’ll be sharing by visiting her website: kristinagaddy.com.

Kristina Gaddy is an award-winning writer who believes in the power of narrative nonfiction to bring stories from the past to life in order to inform the world we live in today. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Baltimore magazine, Baltimore Sun, Atlas Obscura, and other history and music publications.

Zoom information:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87184438860?pwd=ZTJpN050Y1dvTDhoUGlHZ2pUUEVZZz09
Meeting ID: 871 8443 8860
Passcode: 442167
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kb688tz1xb

The Scholars Gild meets on the third Tuesday of the month, from September through June.

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Scholars Gild Archives

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Speaker: Kristina R. Gaddy
Scholars Gild welcomes author and historian Kristina R. Gaddy to speak about her just-published book, Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History (W.W. Norton 2022). In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo’s key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion.
Watch this fascinating talk here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oZRLLZMLVw

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Watch this fascinating talk here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oZRLLZMLVw

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Watch this fascinating talk on YouTube

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Listen and watch this fascinating talk here!

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