About this Event

Join author Kristina R. Gaddy for a presentation on her book Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History, with a special focus on the early banjo in New Orleans. In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina uncovers the banjo’s key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. We'll look at images from New Orleans's music history, hear songs from the early Black musical tradition, and learn how music, dance, and spiritual practice were deeply intertwined in the city. 

 About the Speaker

Kristina R. Gaddy is the author of Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History and Flowers in the Gutter: The True Story of the Edelweiss Pirates, Teenagers who Resisted the Nazis, as well as the forthcoming A Most Perilous World: The True Story of the Young Abolitionists and Their Crusade Against Slavery and Go Back and Fetch It: Recovering Early Black Music for Fiddle and Banjo, co-authored with Rhiannon Giddens. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland. 

 This lecture is made possible with support from the New Orleans Recreation and Culture Fund.