PBS
Pbs: American Roots Music
If teaching a unit about the history of popular music in America, this PBS web site supporting their four-part TV broadcast of a few years ago would make a great resource. Includes lesson plans and oral histories too.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Mahalia Jackson
Learn about the " Queen of Gospel", New Orleans born singer Mahalia Jackson.
Other
Gospel Music Soloist
This site contains a brief look at the Black gospel soloist Rosetta Tharpe. This site also includes several other articles on early black gospel soloists and groups.
Other
Black Gospel Music: The History of Gospel Music
This site explores the history of Gospel music, including how gospel music began and some of the various incarnations it has gone through.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Louisiana
This article provides a brief overview of Louisiana, followed by numerous in depth articles regarding relevant events and traditions from this state.
Black Past
Black Past: Jackson, Mahalia
This encyclopedia article tells the high points of Mahalia Jackson's life. She was a world-renowned gospel singer whose influence was felt in the civil rights movement.
PBS
Pbs: American Roots Music: Lesson Three: Gospel Music Meets a Wide Audience
The third lesson deals with the emergence of gospel as a form of popular music among a general public. Gospel is a musical genre with roots in the African American church, particularly in the South. Between the 1940s and the 1960s,...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: Gospel Music Meets a Wide Audience (Lesson Plan)
A activity that identifies some of the leading figures in post-World War II gospel music. Students compare the differences in style and approach of several gospel musicians and analyze how music has different meanings in different social...
PBS
Pbs: This Far by Faith: Mahalia Jackson
A brief biography of Mahalia Jackson from the producers of a documentary film about spiritual journeys of African Americans, which premiered on PBS in June 2003.
Smithsonian Institution
National Postal Museum: Art of the Stamp: Mahalia Jackson
View the artwork for a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1998 to commemorate Mahalia Jackson, known as the "Queen of Gospel Music". With a short biographical passage.
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia Britannica: Mahalia Jackson
Biographical sketch of gospel great Mahalia Jackson.