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. Soon the group captured international stardom. And yet, even as the most popular singing family of the 1840s, the Hutchinsons remained true to their ultimate goal: the abolishment of human slavery in the United States.
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Early Reviews of Singing for Freedom
“Scott Gac is a splendid narrative craftsman, schooled in history and musicology. His Singing for Freedom is a unique and compelling book—the first work to carefully uncover the busy, fascinating intersection of music, popular culture, commerce, celebrity, and abolitionism. Behold: a time long before Bob Dylan when lyrics really mattered, and singing abolitionists were rock stars with political clout.”
—David W. Blight, Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition, Yale University
Singing For Freedom Book Excerpt
Theme: Leisure and
Politics in 1844
Though the Hutchinson Family Singers feared a small turnout on 3 January 1844, they knew before showtime that their “antislavery friend” James Miller McKim—a Garrisonian abolitionist—had sold nearly enough tickets to cover their expenses. To the Hutchinsons’ surprise, the two or three hundred Philadelphians who showed at the group’s performance proved an excitable bunch; Asa called them “one of the most enthusiastic audience ever I saw.” About 150 swarmed the singers after the show, and the next day the Public Ledger reported that “their performances are something in the style of the Rainers; but the Hutchinsons have greater versatility of talent.”