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Arlein Ford Straw

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Arlein Ford Straw
A Black woman with dark hair cut in a short bob with bangs
Arlein Ford Straw, from a 1967 publication
BornJanuary 15, 1920
New York City
DiedFebruary 10, 2009 (aged 89)
New York City
Other namesArlene Ford Straw
Occupation(s)Music teacher, composer
SpouseIrving Straw
Parent(s)Arnold Josiah Ford, Olive Nurse Ford

Arlein Ford Straw (January 15, 1920 – February 10, 2009) was an American music teacher and composer. She helped create The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) songbook.

Early life and education

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Ford was born in New York City, the second daughter of Arnold Josiah Ford and Olive Nurse Ford. Her father was from Barbados, a musician and religious leader known as "Rabbi Ford".[1][2] After her parents separated in 1924, she lived in Barbados for a few years, then in Harlem, where she played piano with her father and her sister Enid.[2]

Ford graduated from Wadleigh High School for Girls in 1936, and won a Rachel Herstein Scholarship from the NAACP to attend Hunter College.[3][4] She graduated from Hunter in 1940,[5] and earned a master's degree there in 1962; her thesis was a composition, a musical setting of Psalm 139.

Career

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During and after college, Ford and her older sister Enid played piano for children's shows called Ella Gordon's "Peter Pan Kiddies".[6][7][8] She taught music at schools in Queens,[9] and chaired Negro History and Brotherhood Week observances for the Jamaica branch of the NAACP.[10] In 1952, her work was performed at the annual meeting of the National Association of Negro Musicians.[11] She contributed music to a 1958 event organized by composer Margaret Bonds, in tribute to poet Langston Hughes.[12] She served on the committee to develop Lift Ev'ry Voice, the NAACP's official songbook.[13] She was a church music director in her later years.[14]

Straw composed several works, including "Sudan" (1951),[9] "Lullaby Little One" (1953), with Rena Greenlee Govern,[15] "Crucifixion" (1957) for three female voices,[16] "Two Songs of Freedom" (1967), with lyrics by her NAACP colleague Florence V. Lucas,[17][18] and Bent Twig (1998), a "folk opera" with lyrics by her neighbor, social work professor Helen Roberts Williams.[14][19] When Bent Twig was performed in Baltimore in 1998, she and other members of her church in Queens took a bus together to attend the performance.[14]

Personal life

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Arlein Ford married railroad worker Irving Straw in 1940. They had two children, Clyde and Gerald. She died in 2009, at the age of 89, in New York City.

References

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  1. ^ "Negroes of Harlem Seek Financial Pilot for Craft". The Knoxville Journal. 1930-12-09. p. 15. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Dorman, Jacob S. (2016). Chosen People: The Rise of American Black Israelite Religions. Oxford University Press. pp. 118–121. ISBN 978-0-19-049009-6.
  3. ^ "Win College Scholarships". The Crisis: 271. September 1936.
  4. ^ "NAACP Awards 2 N.Y. Scholarships". The New York Age. 1936-08-08. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "21 Harlem and Bronx Residents Among 900 Graduates at Hunter". The New York Age. 1940-07-06. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Finger, Mary (1939-01-21). "Ella Gordon's Peter Pan Kiddies Captivate Large Number at Heckscher Theatre Recital". The New York Age. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Ella Gordon's Peter Pan Kiddies Shine in Renaissance Recital". The New York Age. 1940-06-15. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ Finger, Mary (1942-03-07). "Winter Wonderland is Background for Semi-Annual Revue of Peter Pan Kiddies". The New York Age. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b Feingold, Ben (1951-06-09). "Broadway Patrol". The New York Age. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Jamaica NAACP Plans History Celebration". The New York Age. 1958-01-25. p. 6. Retrieved 2024-01-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Diton, Carl (1952-08-15). "For N. Y. Honors Musicians Slated". The St. Louis Argus. p. 17. Retrieved 2024-01-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Musical Tribute to Poet, Author Langston Hughes". The New York Age. 1958-05-03. p. 19. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "NAACP Songbook Sales on Rise". The Crisis: 319. November 1972.
  14. ^ a b c Green, Judith (1998-02-05). "It's a Grand Weekend for Singing". The Baltimore Sun. pp. 1E, 5E. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1953). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. p. 682.
  16. ^ "Harlemites Pay Tribute to a Pioneer Musician". The Call. 1957-11-22. p. 9. Retrieved 2024-01-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "New Song Published". Indianapolis Recorder. December 30, 1967. p. 7. Retrieved February 27, 2022 – via Hoosier State Chronicles.
  18. ^ "Florence Lucas Dead at 71; Worked for Rights Division". The New York Times. 1987-09-09. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  19. ^ "Bent Twig". The Baltimore Sun. 2008-10-09. pp. C6. Retrieved 2022-02-27 – via Newspapers.com.
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