Souvenir Program 14th Annual Session of National Convention of Gospel Choirs & Choruses Incorporated . . . [Cover title]

Chicago: Bowles Music House Record Print Shop, 1946. Very good. 12" x 9". Stapled self-wrappers. pp. [16]. Very good: wrappers dust soiled and with a few small chips.

This is a program for the 14th Annual Session of National Convention of Gospel Choirs & Choruses Incorporated (NCGCC). The group exists to this day, and per its website was founded in 1933 when choir unions from Chicago, St. Louis and Cincinnati came together to adopt bylaws and elected Thomas A. Dorsey its first president. Not to be confused with the big band leader, Thomas Andrew Dorsey was a musician and composer who was also influential in the development of early blues music and served as the music director for Chicago's Pilgrim Baptist Church for 50 years. Called the "Father of Gospel Music" by some, and sometimes credited with creating it, Dorsey helped create a movement that popularized gospel blues throughout Black churches in the United States, which in turn influenced American music and society at large.

This program is filled with 21 photographic images including portraits of Dorsey, NCGCC officers, and several choirs. There's also a group shot of the Thomas A. Dorsey Singers. There is a list of events, lists of committees and officers and other important data. There are also some advertisements for Black-owned businesses including two that were owned by women which also includes their portraits.

Also notable is the printer, Bowles Music House (BMH). Lillian M. Bowles-Pannell was African American and little is known about her save for the fact that her company was part of Chicago's major role in the promotion of gospel music along with Dorsey's publishing house and the Martin and Morris Music Studio (MMMS). Importantly, BMH has a half-page ad on the back cover of this program which includes Bowles-Pannell's portrait, a list of recent publications, and the names of staff members. MMMS has a full page photographically illustrated ad in the book as well.

OCLC locates no copies.