From Cotton Fields to Lunch Counters: Protest Music Through History

Using music and visual presentations, Park Guide Amy Genke presented a program to local library patrons about the use of protest music through history. She started the program with music used as a "Field Call" and "Complaint Call" commonly heard in the cotton fields of the south. "Follow the Drinking Gourd," a tune telling slaves how to find the Underground Railroad, was played. The audience was able to interpret the hidden meaning in the words, such as the 'drinking gourd' referring to the Big Dipper constellation in the sky. Genke finished the program with protest music used during the Civil Rights Movement, including "I'm On My Way" and "Blowin' In the Wind."