African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics

In African American Folksong and American Cultural Politics: The Lawrence Gellert Story, scholar and musician Bruce Conforth tells the story of one of the most unusual collections of African American folk music ever amassed—and the remarkable story of the man who produced it: Lawrence Gellert.

Bruce M. Conforth grew up during the folk/blues revival of the 1960s as experienced in New York City's Greenwich Village. He received his PhD in ethnomusicology and folklore from Indiana University and served as the first Curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. He is now a member of the faculty of the American Culture Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.