Singing for Freedom
A Book by Scott Gac
Meet the Hutchinson
Family Singers, John, Abby, Judson, and Asa. These four siblings from a farming family in
New Hampshire took New England by storm when they chose to sing antislavery music in 1843.
Read a more about Singing for Freedom, including a summary, excerpt, and praise for the book.
News and Events
Singing for Freedom in the American Historical Review
Singing for Freedom: The Hutchinson Family Singers and the Nineteenth-Century Culture of Reform. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press. 2007. Pp. xi, 312. $45.00.
Mark M. Smith
University of South Carolina
In this book, Scott Gac offers a fresh, insightful, and persuasive account of a surprisingly overlooked component of the antebellum reform movement: the Hutchinson Family Singers, arguably the most popular musical troupe of its day. Gac’s book is a powerful study of antebellum “music, careerism, reform,” the history of religion, communication networks, nineteenth-century consumerism, “and the transformation of American culture” (p. 18). Read the rest of this entry »
Read the Review!
Catch the recent review of Singing for Freedom in the Journal of American History.
Singing For Freedom and the Book Club Cookbook
Scott has teamed with the Book Club Cookbook. You can now invite Scott to your bookclub’s discussion of Singing for Freedom! For more details click here.
Pending Review »
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About Scott
Scott’s book on the Hutchinson family reflects his frustration with the reality that too few books successfully capture the importance and vitality of music
in society and that too few academics—the people who are most knowledgeable about historical topics—publish readable books.
Read more about Scott »