Zilphia Horton
Encyclopedia
Zilphia Horton was American musician
, community organizer, educator, Civil Rights
activist, and folklorist. She is best-known for her work with her husband Myles Horton
at the Highlander Folk School where she is generally credited with turning such songs as "We Shall Overcome
", "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
," "We Shall Not Be Moved, " and "This Little Light of Mine
" from hymn
s into songs of the Civil Rights movement
.
She was born Zilphia Mae Johnson in Paris
, Arkansas
. She was trained as a classical musician.
Zilphia was a graduate of the College of the Ozarks
. She was determined to use her talents for the better good of the southern working class. She was disowned by her family after she tried to organize her father's coal mine. In 1935, she attended a labor education workshop at the Highlander Folk School. Two months later, she married the school's founder, Myles Horton.
As a member of the staff, Zilphia served in many ways. She directed workers' theatre
productions, junior union camps, and various community programs, organized union locals, and led singing at workshops, picket lines, union meetings, and fund-raising concerts. She had students collect folk songs, religious music
, and union songs around the South which she then re-wrote or re-worked to turn into anthem
s of the Civil Rights movement.
She and Myles Horton had two children. In 1956, she died of kidney failure after accidentally drinking a glass of typewriter
cleaning fluid she mistook for water.
" into a Civil Rights anthem in 1946. Other musicians credited with transforming the song are Frank Hamilton
, Guy Carawan
, and Pete Seeger
. Other songs she re-worked were "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize," "We Shall Not Be Moved, " and "This Little Light of Mine." She collected hundreds of songs. Her papers are deposited in the Tennessee State Library and Archives
in Nashville
.
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, community organizer, educator, Civil Rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activist, and folklorist. She is best-known for her work with her husband Myles Horton
Myles Horton
Myles Horton was an American educator, socialist and cofounder of the Highlander Folk School, famous for its role in the Civil Rights Movement . Horton taught and heavily influenced most of the era's leaders. They included Dr...
at the Highlander Folk School where she is generally credited with turning such songs as "We Shall Overcome
We Shall Overcome
"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
", "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
"Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" is a folk song that became influential during the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Although the song was composed as a hymn well before World War I, the lyrics to this version were written by civil rights activist Alice Wine in 1956...
," "We Shall Not Be Moved, " and "This Little Light of Mine
This Little Light of Mine
"This Little Light of Mine" is a gospel children's song written by Harry Dixon Loes in about 1920. Loes, who studied at the Moody Bible Institute and the American Conservatory of Music, was a musical composer, and teacher, who wrote, and co-wrote, several other gospel songs. The song has since...
" from hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...
s into songs of the Civil Rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
.
She was born Zilphia Mae Johnson in Paris
Paris, Arkansas
Paris is a city in Logan County, Arkansas, United States, and serves as the county seat for the northern district of Logan County; its southern district counterpart is Booneville. The population was 3,707 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. She was trained as a classical musician.
Zilphia was a graduate of the College of the Ozarks
College of the Ozarks
College of the Ozarks is a private, Christian liberal-arts college, with its campus at Point Lookout near Branson and Hollister, Missouri, United States. It is south of Springfield on a campus, overlooking Lake Taneycomo...
. She was determined to use her talents for the better good of the southern working class. She was disowned by her family after she tried to organize her father's coal mine. In 1935, she attended a labor education workshop at the Highlander Folk School. Two months later, she married the school's founder, Myles Horton.
As a member of the staff, Zilphia served in many ways. She directed workers' theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
productions, junior union camps, and various community programs, organized union locals, and led singing at workshops, picket lines, union meetings, and fund-raising concerts. She had students collect folk songs, religious music
Religious music
Religious music is music performed or composed for religious use or through religious influence.A lot of music has been composed to complement religion, and many composers have derived inspiration from their own religion. Many forms of traditional music have been adapted to fit religions'...
, and union songs around the South which she then re-wrote or re-worked to turn into anthem
Anthem
The term anthem means either a specific form of Anglican church music , or more generally, a song of celebration, usually acting as a symbol for a distinct group of people, as in the term "national anthem" or "sports anthem".-Etymology:The word is derived from the Greek via Old English , a word...
s of the Civil Rights movement.
She and Myles Horton had two children. In 1956, she died of kidney failure after accidentally drinking a glass of typewriter
Typewriter
A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical device with keys that, when pressed, cause characters to be printed on a medium, usually paper. Typically one character is printed per keypress, and the machine prints the characters by making ink impressions of type elements similar to the pieces...
cleaning fluid she mistook for water.
Accomplishments
She is best known for helping to transform the song "We Shall OvercomeWe Shall Overcome
"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement . The title and structure of the song are derived from an early gospel song by African-American composer Charles Albert Tindley...
" into a Civil Rights anthem in 1946. Other musicians credited with transforming the song are Frank Hamilton
Frank Hamilton (musician)
Frank Hamilton is an American folk musician and co-founder of the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, Illinois. As a performer, he has recorded for Folkways Records and, as a member of the folk group The Weavers, for Vanguard Records, as well as for Philips and several other labels and...
, Guy Carawan
Guy Carawan
Guy Carawan is an American folk musician and musicologist. He serves as music director and song leader for the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, Tennessee....
, and Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
. Other songs she re-worked were "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize," "We Shall Not Be Moved, " and "This Little Light of Mine." She collected hundreds of songs. Her papers are deposited in the Tennessee State Library and Archives
Tennessee State Library and Archives
The Tennessee State Library and Archives , established in 1854, currently operates as a unit of the Tennessee Department of State. According to the Tennessee Blue Book, the Library and Archives "collects and preserves books and records of historical, documentary and reference value, and encourages...
in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
.