Over the course of her 60-year career, Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) became known to fans and colle
Five-String Fretless Banjo
Grade Range: K-12
Resource Type(s): Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
1/27/2009
Although some know of the banjo's use by African Americans, the popular consciousness of the banjo has been dominated by images of white Southern musicians and urban folk singers. But the story is more complex. The banjo migrated from Africa to America in the hands and memories of slaves. Through the popularity and commercialization of minstrelsy in the nineteenth century, white musicians adopted the instruments and it was transformed into a popular mass-produced and mass-marketed product of the manufacturing and entertainment industries.
National Standards
Historical Thinking Standards (Grades K-4)
United States History Standards (Grades 5-12)
Era 4: Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)
1: United States territorial expansion between 1801 and 1861, and how it affected relations with external powers and Native Americans
2: How the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions
3: The extension, restriction, and reorganization of political democracy after 1800
4: The sources and character of cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period
2: How the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions
3: The extension, restriction, and reorganization of political democracy after 1800
4: The sources and character of cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period
