[African American Music]: Martin, Roberta:

He Will Carry You Through [wrapper title].

Chicago: Martin Studio of Music, 1944. [4]pp., on a single folded sheet. Heavy vertical crease, moderate soiling and staining, a few short closed tears, bottom edge of first leaf trimmed close, affecting a few words in the address of the publisher. Good. Item #3560

Rare sheet music for the hymn "He Will Carry You through" by R.H. Palmer as arranged by legendary gospel music publisher Roberta Martin, owner of Chicago's Martin Studio of Music. The front cover pictures Eugene Smith, who apparently performed the song regularly and to some renown. The inner two pages print the sheet music, and the final leaf prints a catalogue of Martin's other available sheet music. A much-condensed version of Roberta Martin's biography on the Encyclopedia of Arkansas reads as follows:

"Roberta Evelyn Winston Martin Austin was one of the most significant figures during gospel music’s golden age (1945-1960). A performer and publisher, she reached iconic status in Chicago, Illinois, where she influenced numerous artists (such as Alex Bradford, James Cleveland, and Albertina Walker) and had an impact on an entire industry with her innovation and business acumen.... In 1932, Martin joined Thomas Dorsey and Theodore Frye’s Chicago-based Young People’s Choir, and was eventually employed as the choir’s pianist. A 1933 concert featuring the Bertha Wise Quartet led Martin to develop a new style of her own. That same year, Martin and Frye founded the Martin-Frye Quartet. Later renamed the Roberta Martin Singers, the group’s early members included Robert Anderson, James Lawrence, Norsalus McKissick, Eugene Smith, Romance Watson, and Willie Webb. Martin accompanied the group as pianist but also sang the occasional solo.... The Roberta Martin Singers were a hit in the 1940s and 1950s, recording for the Apollo and Savoy record labels and earning several gold records. In the early 1940s, female voices -- namely those of Bessie Folk and Delois Barrett -- were added. In 1939, Martin established her Roberta Martin Studio of Music, a Chicago-based gospel music publishing house, which distributed her compositions as well as those of James Cleveland, Dorothy Norwood, and Alex Bradford.... Martin was honored posthumously by the Smithsonian Institution in 1981 with a colloquium and by the U.S. Postal Service on July 15, 1998, with a commemorative postage stamp."

OCLC records three copies, at Yale, Broward County Libraries, and the Chicago Public Library.

Price: $250