Lucy Smith Collier Papers

Dates: 1891-2002 (bulk dates 1928-1966)
Size: 9 linear feet (11 archival boxes)
Repository: Chicago Public Library, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research collection of Afro-American History and Literature, 9525 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60628
Collection Number: 1996/07
Provenance: Donated by Lucy Smith Collier, July 1996. The photographs in Box 8 of the collection were donated by Eugene Smith in September 1999, June Norfleet in December 1999 and Gladys Beamon Gregory in September 1999.
Access: No restrictions
Citation: When quoting material from this collection the preferred citation is: Lucy Smith Collier Papers [Box #, Folder #], Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature, Chicago Public Library.
Processed by: Marcia Walker, Harsh Archival Processing Project
Supervised by: Michael Flug, Senior Archivist, Harsh Archival Processing Project

Biographical Note

Elder Lucy Smith

Elder Lucy Smith was born Lucinda Madden on a plantation in Woodstock, Ga., on January 14, 1875. Her family, which consisted of her mother and five siblings, lived impoverished in a one-room log cabin. In 1896, Lucy Madden married William Smith, and the couple moved to a nearby farm, where in 1898 the couple had their first of nine children. In 1908, the family moved from Woodstock to Athens, Ga., where William Smith abandoned the family. Lucy took in sewing to support her children in Athens and later in Atlanta. Faring no better in Atlanta than she had in Athens, Lucy and the children left for Chicago, arriving in the city on May 1, 1910. William Smith remained in Athens, but later rejoined the family and stayed with them in Chicago until his death in 1938.

A Baptist since age 12, in Chicago Lucy Smith affiliated first with Olivet Baptist Church and then briefly with Ebenezer Baptist. In 1912 she left the Baptist faith altogether and joined Stone Church, a predominantly white Pentecostal assembly at 37th Street and Indiana Avenue. Smith would later model her own church, All Nations Pentecostal Church, after Stone Church, which was racially mixed. At Stone Church, Lucy Smith became a convert to Pentecostal worship and beliefs, particularly faith healing, a gift that she would practice within a few weeks of attending Stone Church.

Sensing a call to start her own ministry, Lucy Smith left Stone Church and formed a small prayer band in 1916 with two other women at her home on Langley Avenue, from which grew the Langley Avenue All Nations Pentecostal Church in 1918. Largely a tent-mission in the early 1920s, the church moved around frequently. In December 1926, All Nations began to worship at a building at 3716 Langley Avenue—the first church ever built by a woman pastor in Chicago and the first new construction of a church building by African Americans in over two decades. With the help of a small band of “saints,” by the 1930s the church grew astronomically, reportedly having as many as 5,000 members, and became a legend on the South Side.

Smith was known for being a faith healer who claimed to have healed over 200,000 people. All Nations Pentecostal Church was also instrumental in providing food and clothing to thousands of Chicagoans during the Great Depression and charity for impoverished black families in Bronzeville. All Nations was known for its spectacular gospel music, which could be heard at the church or through its radio broadcast program, which began in 1933, the “Glorious Church of the Air.” The first live worship program ever to broadcast from a black church, it would air each week until 1955 on stations WIND, WCFL and WGES, respectively. The programs fueled the church’s charitable resources and drew greater attention to Smith’s abilities as a spiritual faith healer. Heard as far away as Mexico, “Glorious Church of the Air” set the pace and format for live broadcast worship services and helped to spawn a number of similar programs by other churches in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

The first black woman to pastor a major congregation in Chicago, Elder Lucy Smith led a congregation that included a significant number of whites and other minorities as well as people from various socioeconomic levels. From its inception, All Nations was almost exclusively administered by women, a sharp contrast to more mainline black churches in Bronzeville, where women’s ministry and leadership were largely opposed. Nevertheless, All Nations and Elder Lucy Smith formed fellowships with other black churches in Bronzeville, including Institutional AME Church, the Rev. Mary G. Evans of Cosmopolitan Community Church, the Rev. Joseph Evans of Metropolitan Community Church, the Rev. Joseph Branham of South Shore Baptist Church, the Rev. J.C. Austin of Pilgrim Baptist Church and the Rev. Clarence Cobbs of First Church of Deliverance.

Elder Lucy Smith died on June 18, 1952. According to the Chicago Defender , Smith’s funeral was “the largest funeral in Chicago history,” with an estimated 60,000 people paying their respects. Her body laid in state at her home at 3810 S. Parkway, A.A. Rayner’s Chapel and All Nations Pentecostal Church. An estimated 50,000 people lined the streets to watch the 75-car processional to the Lincoln Cemetery, where Smith was buried beside her husband and several of her children. She was survived by three of her children: Ardella, Henry and John.

A few years prior to her death in the late 1940s, Elder Lucy Smith relinquished control of All Nations to her youngest daughter, the Rev. Ardella Smith. By 1955, however, conflicts over church debt and property ownership led to the split of the All Nations Pentecostal congregation, which brought an end to its radio broadcast and the ministry of Ardella Smith. Those opposed to Ardella’s leadership eventually left and reformed as a separate All Nations Pentecostal church. Devoted, however, to the memory of Elder Lucy Smith, they still claimed her as their beloved founder. Ardella converted to Catholicism and started a successful catering business called Vogue Catering. As for the building located at 518 Oakwood Boulevard, which housed All Nations Pentecostal Church beginning in the late 1930s, the entire east wall mysteriously collapsed in the late 1950s, and what had been a beautiful “modernistic” structure was demolished.

One of Chicago’s most gifted gospel artists, Lucy Smith Collier grew up in All Nations Pentecostal Church as the granddaughter of Elder Lucy Smith. Lucy Smith Collier was born to Elder Lucy Smith’s eldest daughter, Viola, and her husband, James Austin, in 1924. Just two years later in 1926, Viola passed away. At the age of 2, Lucy served as the mascot for the Smith Jubilee Singers, which included her father, James, and her aunt Ardella. First called “Little Lucy” by her grandmother, Lucy Collier demonstrated a phenomenal talent for music at a young age. Trained at the Chicago Musical College, “Little Lucy” desired to become a classical musician. When asked by her grandmother to join her in the work of All Nations, however, she willingly surrendered that goal. By the age of 12, she was assigned responsibility for directing the music at All Nations.

In her teens, Lucy Smith Collier formed the Lucy Smith Singers, which included herself, Gladys Beamon Gregory, Catherine Campbell and Sarah McKissick Simmons. Later called the “doo wop girls” because of their particular harmonic sound, the group sang and recorded music into the early 1950s. “Come Unto Me,” “Jesus, Lover of My Soul” and “Down on My Knees” were just three of their signature songs. And by 1948 at the age of 24, Lucy had already published her first song, “What a Blessing in Jesus I’ve Found,” and worshippers packed All Nations just to hear her sing, “Tell Jesus All.” Though primarily an organist, Lucy Smith Collier’s classically trained soprano voice captivated the congregation. The music of All Nations Pentecostal Church was a central part of its ministry and was an amalgam of Baptist hymnody, blues intonation and jazz rhythms. A choir of a hundred voices sang in an enthusiastic, “down home” manner and choreographed some of their numbers, including “Ain’t That Good News.”

After the death of Elder Lucy Smith, Lucy Smith Collier joined the Roberta Martin Singers, and in addition to singing and playing piano for the group, she arranged most of their music. “This I Do Believe” and “My Lord and Master” were two of the Roberta Martin Singers’ most recognized songs written by Collier. While a member of the Roberta Martin Singers, Collier played for a number of years for the Barrett Singers and was an integral part of both groups as they reached national and even international acclaim. The crowning achievement of her career came in 1981 when a ceremony in Washington, D.C. inducted most of her gospel songs into the Smithsonian Institution.

Sources

  • Best, Wallace. “Smith, Lucy Madden.” Women Building Chicago 1790 to 1990: A Biographical Dictionary . Eds. Rima Schultz and Adele Hast. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2001.
  • Best, Wallace. Passionately Human, No Less Divine: Religion and Culture in Black Chicago, 1915-1952 . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005.
  • Reagon, Bernice Johnson, ed. We’ll Understand It Better By and By: Pioneering African American Gospel Composers . Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992.

Arrangement/Series Description

This collection has been arranged into several series that document the history of Elder Lucy Smith and family, All Nations Pentecostal Church and aspects of Chicago’s early black gospel music scene. The series include: biography and family records, manuscripts, organizational church materials primarily from All Nations Pentecostal Church (but also includes programs from churches who fellowshipped with and maintained a relationship with All Nations), gospel sheet music, material from Dr. T.R.M. Howard’s 1958 Congressional Campaign, clippings, audio and a number of photographs. Related collections at the Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection include: the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church Archives, the Dr. T.R.M. Howard Papers, the Martin and Morris Music, Inc. Papers, the Loudella Evans Reed Papers, the Melva Williams Papers and the Jubilee Showcase Collection at the Harold Washington Library Center.

Series 1: Biography and Family Records

This series contains a short biography of Elder Lucy Smith but is largely composed of funeral programs of members of the Smith family, including Elder Lucy Smith.

Series 2: Manuscripts

This series includes a history of All Nations Pentecostal Church written by C.C. Holmes, a long-time member of the church, as well as a book manuscript of Wallace Best’s Passionately Human, No Less Divine (2005) that was given to Lucy Smith Collier and included in the papers at her request.

Series 3: Churches

Organizational records including yearbooks and programs of All Nations Pentecostal Church, in addition to other materials related to the church, are included in this series. Following these records are materials related to other churches with whom All Nations maintained close relationships and fellowships, including First Church of Deliverance under the Rev. Clarence Cobbs and Pilgrim Baptist Church.

Series 4: Gospel Music

The vast majority of this series includes gospel sheet music from such artists as Thomas Dorsey, Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Collier), Roberta Martin, William Dawson and James Cleveland. Also included are several gospel music programs, including a 1981 Smithsonian Institution program on Roberta Martin and the Roberta Martin Singers.

Series 5: T.R.M. Howard Campaign

This series contains materials related to the 1958 congressional campaign of medical doctor, philanthropist and civil rights activist Theodore Roosevelt Mason (T.R.M.) Howard. Howard ran as a Republican against Rep. William Dawson, a Democrat affiliated with Chicago’s political leadership. The materials include programs from various Howard fundraisers and document some activities of the ministers who backed Howard in the election.

Series 6: Clippings

Clippings related to the life of Elder Lucy Smith and her youngest daughter, Ardella Smith, as well as those related to Lucy Smith Collier comprise this series.

Series 7: Photographs

One of the largest series in this collection, the photographs are of Elder Lucy Smith, Lucy Smith Collier, Ardella Smith and other members of the Smith family. Also in this series are several photographs of the early leadership and members of All Nations Pentecostal Church. A number of photographs document the funeral of Elder Lucy Smith in 1952. Also included are photographs of gospel groups including the Roberta Martin Singers, the Lucy Smith Singers, the Norfleet Brothers and a rare photograph of Thomas A. Dorsey taken about 1930.

Series 8: Audiovisual (A/V)

This series contains recordings of the “Chicago Gospel Pioneers” on record and compact disc.

Series 9: Oversize

These oversize items include a poster-size flyer of the 1981 Smithsonian Institution’s program on Roberta Martin and the Roberta Martin Singers, clippings on Elder Lucy Smith’s funeral and a 1950 Ebony article chronicling Elder Lucy Smith as a faith healer.

Container List [no index]

Series 1: Biography and Family Records

Box 1 Folder 1 Biography and Family Records, Ardella Smith, 1945-1987
Box 1 Folder 2 Biography and Family Records, “The Biography of Elder Lucy Smith,” Elder Lucy Smith [n.d.]
Box 1 Folder 3 Biography and Family Records, Funeral Program, Elder Lucy Smith, 1952
Box 1 Folder 4 Biography and Family Records, Funeral Program, Evelyn Louise Smith, 1978
Box 1 Folder 5 Biography and Family Records, Funeral Program, Henry Smith, 1969
Box 1 Folder 6 Biography and Family Records, Funeral Program, William Thomas Smith, 1952

Series 2: Manuscripts

Box 1 Folder 7 Manuscripts, C.C. Holmes (?), “History of All Nations Pentecostal Church,” 1993
Box 1 Folder 8 Manuscripts, Wallace Best, “Passionately Human, No Less Divine,” Introduction and Chapter One, 2002
Box 1 Folder 9 Manuscripts, Wallace Best, “Passionately Human, No Less Divine,” Chapter Two, 2002
Box 1 Folder 10 Manuscripts, Wallace Best, “Passionately Human, No Less Divine,” Chapter Three, 2002
Box 1 Folder 11 Manuscripts, Wallace Best, “Passionately Human, No Less Divine,” Chapter Four, 2002
Box 1 Folder 12 Manuscripts, Wallace Best, “Passionately Human, No Less Divine,” Chapter Five, 2002
Box 1 Folder 13 Manuscripts, Wallace Best, “Passionately Human, No Less Divine,” Conclusion and Bibliography, 2002

Series 3: Churches

Box 1 Folder 14 All Nations Pentecostal Church, Second Annual Convention Yearbook, 1928
Box 1 Folder 15 All Nations Pentecostal Church, Radio Special, “The Glorious Church of the Air,” 1935
Box 1 Folder 16 All Nations Pentecostal Church, The Pentecostal Ensign, 1936
Box 1 Folder 17 All Nations Pentecostal Church, “General Principles,” Ardella Smith, c. 1951
Box 1 Folder 18 All Nations Pentecostal Church, 38th Annual Booklet, 1953
Box 1 Folder 19 All Nations Pentecostal Church, Palm Sunday Program, c. early 1950s
Box 1 Folder 20 All Nations Pentecostal Church, Letterhead, c. early 1950s
Box 1 Folder 21 Other churches, Apostolic Faith Church, 1953, 1955
Box 1 Folder 22 Other churches, First Church of Deliverance, 1953, 1994
Box 1 Folder 23 Other churches, First Church of Deliverance, Funeral Program, Rev. Clarence Cobbs, 1979
Box 1 Folder 24 Other churches, Greenwood Baptist Church, 1954
Box 1 Folder 25 Other churches, Pilgrim Baptist Church, 1953
Box 1 Folder 26 Other churches, Progressive Community Church, 1956
Box 1 Folder 27 Other churches, South Park Baptist Church, 1953

Series 4: Gospel Music

Box 1 Folder 28 Gospel Music, Thomas A. Dorsey presents Pilgrim Gospel Chorus Fall Musica1, 1947
Box 1 Folder 29 Gospel Music, Smithsonian Institute’s “Roberta Martin and the Roberta Martin Singers: The Legacy and the Music,” 1981
Box 1 Folder 30 Gospel Music, “Great Living Legends of Gospel Music,” Monument of Faith Evangelistic Church, 1999
Box 2 Folder 1 Sheet Music, “Adoramus Te, Christe,” Fr. Rosselli, 1960
Box 2 Folder 2 Sheet Music, “Afterwhile It Will All Be Over,” Trad./Ralph H. Good Pasteur, [n.d.]
Box 2 Folder 3 Sheet Music, “Ain’-A That Good News,” William L. Dawson, 1937
Box 2 Folder 4 Sheet Music, “All People on Earth That Do Dwell,” Kevin V. Freeman 1990
Box 2 Folder 5 Sheet Music, “Ave Marie (Guide Me and Lead Me),” R. Nathaniel Dett, 1930
Box 2 Folder 6 Sheet Music, “Blessed Assurance Jesus Is Mine,” Trad./Virginia Davis, 1951
Box 2 Folder 7 Sheet Music, “But Lord, I Cannot Speak,” Eugene V. Hancock, 1988
Box 2 Folder 8 Sheet Music, “Calm as the Night (Still wie die Nacht),” Carl Bohm, 1916
Box 2 Folder 9 Sheet Music, “Camelot,” Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, 1960
Box 2 Folder 10 Sheet Music, “Cert’nly Lord, Cert’nly Lord,” Trad./Lena J. McLin, 1968
Box 2 Folder 11 Sheet Music, “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Rogers, 1959
Box 2 Folder 12 Sheet Music, “De Gospel Train,” Trad./H.T. Burleigh, 1921
Box 2 Folder 13 Sheet Music, “Didn’t It Rain,” Roberta Martin, 1939
Box 2 Folder 14 Sheet Music, “Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel,” Trad./Roy Ringwald, 1968
Box 2 Folder 15 Sheet Music, “Every Man Wants to Be Free,” Edwin Hawkins, 1970
Box 2 Folder 16 Sheet Music, “Every Now and Then,” James Cleveland, 1956
Box 2 Folder 17 Sheet Music, “The Failure is Not in God (It’s in me),” Jessy Dixon, 1964
Box 2 Folder 18 Sheet Music, “Father Lead Me (Tis My Prayer),” Elnathan C. Ross, 1963
Box 2 Folder 19 Sheet Music, “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” Trad./Mark Fax, 1939
Box 2 Folder 20 Sheet Music, “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” Trad./Joe Ridenour, 1977
Box 2 Folder 21 Sheet Music, “God Is Everywhere,” Ollie Lafayette, 1961
Box 2 Folder 22 Sheet Music, “God Is Here,” James Herndon, 1963
Box 2 Folder 23 Sheet Music, “God Is Still on the Throne,” Roberta Martin, 1959
Box 2 Folder 24 Sheet Music, “God So Loved the World,” J. Stainer, n.d.
Box 2 Folder 25 Sheet Music, “Great Day,” Trad./Betty Jackson King, 1976
Box 2 Folder 26 Sheet Music, “He’ll Never Let Go My Hand,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Collier), 1951
Box 2 Folder 27 Sheet Music, “He’s Everything You Need (Come Rain or Shine),” James Cleveland, 1959
Box 2 Folder 28 Sheet Music, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hand,” Trad./Roy Ringwald, 1956
Box 2 Folder 29 Sheet Music, “He’s My Light,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Coller), 1951
Box 2 Folder 30 Sheet Music, “He’s Only One Step Away,” Mae Dean Flagler, 1966
Box 2 Folder 31 Sheet Music, “He’s Real (Twenty Four Hours of the Day),” James Cleveland, 1959
Box 2 Folder 32 Sheet Music, “He’s So Divine,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Collier), 1956
Box 2 Folder 33 Sheet Music, “He’s the One,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Collier), 1950
Box 2 Folder 34 Sheet Music, “Hold On,” Trad./Edward Boatner, 1979
Box 2 Folder 35 Sheet Music, “Hold On,” Trad./Margaret Bonds, 1962
Box 2 Folder 36 Sheet Music, “Holy,” Charles Boyd, n.d.
Box 2 Folder 37 Sheet Music, “Holy Is He,” David T. Clydesdale, 1985
Box 2 Folder 38 Sheet Music, “How Great Thou Art,” Stuart K. Hine, 1953
Box 2 Folder 39 Sheet Music, “I Call Him Jesus, My Rock,” Virginia Davis, 1950
Box 2 Folder 40 Sheet Music, “I Can Do All Things Through Christ,” Carrie B. Neeley, 1961
Box 2 Folder 41 Sheet Music, “I Can Tell The World,” Trad./Jester Hairston, 1959
Box 2 Folder 42 Sheet Music, “I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray,” Trad./Betty Jackson King, 1965
Box 2 Folder 43 Sheet Music, “I Got Plenty O’Nuttin’,” George Gershwin, 1935
Box 2 Folder 44 Sheet Music, “I Love to Talk About Jesus,” Josephus Robinson, 1951
Box 2 Folder 45 Sheet Music, “I Saw the Beautiful Light,” Edward G. Robinson, 1956
Box 2 Folder 46 Sheet Music, “I Stood by the River Jordan,” Trad./W.M. Henry Smith, 1941
Box 2 Folder 47 Sheet Music, “I Stood on De Ribber Ob Jerdon,” Trad./H.T. Burleigh, 1918
Box 2 Folder 48 Sheet Music, “I Sure Do Love the Lord,” Doris Akers, 1959
Box 2 Folder 49 Sheet Music, “I Wan’ To Be Ready,” William L. Dawson, 1967
Box 2 Folder 50 Sheet Music, “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me,” Trad./Lena J. Mclin, 1949
Box 2 Folder 51 Sheet Music, “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me,” Edward Boatner, 1939
Box 2 Folder 52 Sheet Music, “I Want to See Jesus,” James Cleveland 1949
Box 2 Folder 53 Sheet Music, “If You Believe,” Charlie Smalls, 1975
Box 2 Folder 54 Sheet Music, “I’ll Be Around,” Alec Wilder, 1942
Box 2 Folder 55 Sheet Music, “I’m a Witness for My Lord,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Collier), 1965
Box 2 Folder 56 Sheet Music, “I’m Gonna Keep on Singin’,” Andraé Crouch, 1971
Box 2 Folder 57 Sheet Music, “I’m Troubled in Mind,” Trad./William Arms Fisher, 1926
Box 2 Folder 58 Sheet Music, “Is There Anybody Here,” Trad./Lena J. McLin, 1949
Box 2 Folder 59 Sheet Music, “It Is Well With My Soul,” Philip B. Bliss, 1976
Box 2 Folder 60 Sheet Music, “It’s Amazing,” Joe Williams, 1957
Box 2 Folder 61 Sheet Music, “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” Freddie Perren and Christine Yarian, n.d.
Box 2 Folder 62 Sheet Music, “It’s So Wonderful to Know Jesus Is Mine,” Ralph H. Good Pasteur, 1955
Box 2 Folder 63 Sheet Music, “I’ve Been Changed,” Trad./Josephus Robinson, 1948
Box 2 Folder 64 Sheet Music, “I’ve Got a Home for You,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Collier), 1953
Box 2 Folder 65 Sheet Music, “I’ve Just Seen Jesus,” Gloria Gaither, 1984
Box 2 Folder 66 Sheet Music, “I’ve Weathered the Storm,” R. Moore, 1958
Box 3 Folder 1 Sheet Music, “Jesus Christ is the Way,” Walter Hawkins, 1977
Box 3 Folder 2 Sheet Music, “Jesus is a Rock in a Weary Lan’,” Trad./J.W. Work, 1937
Box 3 Folder 3 Sheet Music, “Jesus is My Way,” Vera Forbes, 1959
Box 3 Folder 4 Sheet Music, “Jesus Lover of My Soul,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Collier), 1955
Box 3 Folder 5 Sheet Music, “Jesus Purchased My Salvation,” R.J. Fryson, 1986
Box 3 Folder 6 Sheet Music, “Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley,” William Dawson, 1927
Box 3 Folder 7 Sheet Music, “Jesus Will Bring Things Out Alright,” Rev. James Cleveland, 1962
Box 3 Folder 8 Sheet Music, “Jesus Will Make it Alright,” Clarence E. Hatcher, 1945
Box 3 Folder 9 Sheet Music, “Jesus, You’re the Center of My Joy,” Gloria Gaither, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 10 Sheet Music, “Joshua Fit De Battle Ob Jericho,” Trad./Noble Cain, 1942
Box 3 Folder 11 Sheet Music, “Just the Two of Us,” Bill Moss, 1965
Box 3 Folder 12 Sheet Music, “Kneel Down at the Alter,” William Austin, 1958
Box 3 Folder 13 Sheet Music, “Lamb of God,” George Bizet, 1922
Box 3 Folder 14 Sheet Music, “Let Everything Praise Him,” Thomas Whitfield, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 15 Sheet Music, “Let Thy Glory Fill This Place,” Gloria Gaither, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 16 Sheet Music, “Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler,” R. Nathaniel Dett, 1926
Box 3 Folder 17 Sheet Music, “Let Us Go Into the House of the Lord,” Edwin R. Hawkins, 1969
Box 3 Folder 18 Sheet Music, “More Like Jesus,” John P. Kee, 1991
Box 3 Folder 19 Sheet Music, “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone,” C.A. Havens, 1891
Box 3 Folder 20 Sheet Music, “My Heart is a Silent Violin,” Oscar J. Fox, 1933
Box 3 Folder 21 Sheet Music, "My Journey to the Sky,” Dorothy Austin and Virginia Davis, 1944
Box 3 Folder 22 Sheet Music, “My Lord and Master,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Collier), 1966
Box 3 Folder 23 Sheet Music, “My Lord, What a Morning,” Trad./H.T. Burleigh, 1918
Box 3 Folder 24 Sheet Music, “My Tribute,” Andraé Crouch, 1971
Box 3 Folder 25 Sheet Music, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” Langston Hughes, 1942
Box 3 Folder 26 Sheet Music, “Now Behold the Lamb,” Kirk Franklin, 1995
Box 3 Folder 27 Sheet Music, “O Lord, Let Me Ride,” Trad./Phillip McIntyre, 1985
Box 3 Folder 28 Sheet Music, “O Lord, Remember Thou Me,” Rev. W.M. Poe, 1968
Box 3 Folder 29 Sheet Music, “Oh Lord Is It I?,” Robert Anderson, 1953
Box 3 Folder 30 Sheet Music, “Oh What a Beautiful City,” William L. Dawson, 1934
Box 3 Folder 31 Sheet Music, “Oh! What a Time,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Matthews Collier), 1950
Box 3 Folder 32 Sheet Music, “Oh Ma Journey,” Trad./Edward Boatner, 1928
Box 3 Folder 33 Sheet Music, “On My Knees,” Charles R. Gordon, 1954
Box 3 Folder 34 Sheet Music, “One God,” Ervin Drake and James Shirl, 1954
Box 3 Folder 35 Sheet Music, “Only A Look at Jesus,” Anna E. Shepherd, 1941
Box 3 Folder 36 Sheet Music, “Only What You Do For Christ Will Last,” Raymond Rasberry, 1963
Box 3 Folder 37 Sheet Music, “The Ordering of Moses,” R. Nathaniel Dett, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 38 Sheet Music, “Peace be Still,” H.R. Palmer, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 39 Sheet Music, “Plenty Good Room,” Trad./Wm. Henry Smith, 1937
Box 3 Folder 40 Sheet Music, “Praise the Lord,” Darryl Logan, 1994
Box 3 Folder 41 Sheet Music, “Precious Lord,” Thomas Dorsey, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 42 Sheet Music, “Precious Memories,” J.B.F. Wright, n.d.
Box 3 Folder 43 Sheet Music, “Psalm 100,” Lena Johnson McLin, 1971
Box 3 Folder 44 Sheet Music, “Resurrection,” Deacon Roman Holmes, 1949
Box 3 Folder 45 Sheet Music, “Rock-A My Soul,” Trad./Betty Jackson King, 1988
Box 3 Folder 46 Sheet Music, “Rock-A My Soul,” Trad./Theron W. Kirk, 1966
Box 3 Folder 47 Sheet Music, “Rock-a Ma Soul,” Trad./Wayne Howorth, 1951
Box 3 Folder 48 Sheet Music, “Some Day,” C.A. Tindley, 1905
Box 3 Folder 49 Sheet Music, “Somebody’s Knocking at Your Door,” R. Nathaniel Dett, 1921
Box 3 Folder 50 Sheet Music, “Steal Away,” Trad./ Roy Ringwald, 1945
Box 3 Folder 51 Sheet Music, “Summer Time,” George Gershwin, 1935
Box 3 Folder 52 Sheet Music, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” Trad./Kenneth Billups, 1941
Box 3 Folder 53 Sheet Music, “Tell It All to Jesus,” Margaret Aikens, 1961
Box 3 Folder 54 Sheet Music, “There is a Balm in Gilead,” William L. Dawson, 1939
Box 3 Folder 55 Sheet Music, “There’s a Meeting Here Tonight,” R. Nathaniel Dett, 1921
Box 3 Folder 56 Sheet Music, “They That Wait,” Roberta Martin, 1957
Box 3 Folder 57 Sheet Music, “This I Do Believe,” Lucy Matthews (Lucy Smith Collier), 1966
Box 3 Folder 58 Sheet Music, “A Time for Love,” Paul F. Webster, 1966
Box 3 Folder 59 Sheet Music, “Time To Go,” John D. Guyton Jr., 1983
Box 3 Folder 60 Sheet Music, “Walk in Jerusalem,” James Cleveland, 1957
Box 3 Folder 61 Sheet Music, “Walk On By Faith,” James Cleveland, 1962
Box 3 Folder 62 Sheet Music, “Wash Me Lord,” John P. Key, 1991
Box 3 Folder 63 Sheet Music, “We Are Not Ashamed,” Andrae’ Crouch, 1982
Box 3 Folder 64 Sheet Music, “We Shall Behold Him,” Dottie Rambo, 1980
Box 3 Folder 65 Sheet Music, “What A Mighty God We Serve,” James Cleveland, 1961
Box 3 Folder 66 Sheet Music, “When I Get Home,” Lucie E. Campbell, 1948
Box 3 Folder 67 Sheet Music, “Your Grace and Mercy,” Franklin D. Williams, 1993
Box 4 Folder 1 Sheet Music, “Album of Negro Spirituals,” (Collection), Franco Colombo, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 2 Sheet Music, “Bowles Favorite, Songs of Triumph, No. 23,” (Collection), Bowles Music House, 1947
Box 4 Folder 3 Sheet Music, “Bowles Favorite, Gospel and Spiritual Melodies, No. 3,” (Collection), Bowles Music House, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 4 Sheet Music, “The Brewster Book, Vol. 2,” (Collection), Word’s House of Music, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 5 Sheet Music, “Edward Hawkins, Have Mercy,” (Collection), Lexicon Music, 1986
Box 4 Folder 6 Sheet Music, “Favorite Spirituals, Vol. One,” (Collection), Zondervan Publ. House, 1961
Box 4 Folder 7 Sheet Music, “Friendship,” (Collection), General Words and Music, 1972
Box 4 Folder 8 Sheet Music, “Frye’s Echoes, No. 12,” (Collection), Theodore R. Frye, 1953
Box 4 Folder 9 Sheet Music, “Frye’s Echoes, No. 17,” (Collection), Anderson and Frye, 1959
Box 4 Folder 10 Sheet Music, “The Golden Gate Quartette,” (Collection), Leeds Music Corp., 1946
Box 4 Folder 11 Sheet Music, “Gospel Mass,” (Collection), Jenson Publ., 1981
Box 4 Folder 12 Sheet Music, “The Greatest of These is Love,” with “Doxology,” and “Let the Words of My Mouth,” n.d.
Box 4 Folder 13 Sheet Music, “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” with “Jesus Never Fails,” and “It is Well with My Soul,” n.d.
Box 4 Folder 14 Sheet Music, “Jessy Dixon, It’s All Right Now,” (Collection), Lexicon Music, 1977
Box 4 Folder 15 Sheet Music, “The Love of God,” with “Stand Steady Brethren,” (Collection), Bowles Music House, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 16 Sheet Music, “My Mother,” and “I Need the Prayers,” (Collection), Bowles Music House, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 17 Sheet Music, “National Gospel Hymnal,” (Collection), Martin Studio of Gospel Music, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 18 Sheet Music, “New Inspirational Soul,” (Collection), Lexicon Music, 1984
Box 4 Folder 19 Sheet Music, “The New National Baptist Special Five in One Song Book,” (Collection), H. & T. Music House and Publ., n.d.
Box 4 Folder 20 Sheet Music, “No One Ever Cared...” and “No One Understands Like Jesus,” (Collection), Bowles Music House, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 21 Sheet Music, “They Found No Fault In Him...” and “Praying Time Will Be Over Afterwhile,” (Collection), Bowles Music House, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 22 Sheet Music, “Roberta Martin Album Special,” (Collection), Roberta Martin Studio of Music, n.d.
Box 4 Folder 23 Sheet Music, “Roberta Martin Sings from the Pen of James Cleveland, Vol. 6,” Roberta Martin Studio of Music, 1961
Box 4 Folder 24 Sheet Music, “Sandra Crouch and Friends, We Sing Praises,” (Collection), Lexicon Music, 1983
Box 4 Folder 25 Sheet Music, “Sandra Crouch, We’re Waiting,” (Collection), Lexicon Music, 1986
Box 4 Folder 26 Sheet Music, “Sing Songs of the Southland, No. 2,” (Collection), Rodeheaver Hall-Mack, 1955
Box 4 Folder 27 Sheet Music, “Rev. Clarence H. Cobbs, Songs of Love and Faith, No. 1,” (Collection), First Church of Deliverance, 1952
Box 4 Folder 28 Sheet Music, “Songs of the Roberta Martin Singers, Vol. 1,” (Collection), Roberta Martin Studio of Music, 1951
Box 4 Folder 29 Sheet Music, “Songs of the Roberta Martin Singers, Vol. 2,” (Collection), Roberta Martin Studio of Music, 1952
Box 4 Folder 30 Sheet Music, “Songs of the Roberta Martin Singers, Vol. 3,” (Collection), Roberta Martin Studio of Music, 1953
Box 4 Folder 31 Sheet Music, Untitled Volume of Gospel Sheet Music, 1937-1951

Series 5: T.R.M. Howard Campaign

Box 5 Folder 1 T.R.M. Howard Campaign, Anti-TRM Howard Flyer, Independent Republican Voters for Honest Government, 1958
Box 5 Folder 2 T.R.M. Howard Campaign, Citizens for Howard Committee, 1958
Box 5 Folder 3 T.R.M. Howard Campaign, Dorcas Art and Charity Club, 1958
Box 5 Folder 4 T.R.M. Howard Campaign, Pastor’s Meeting, 1958
Box 5 Folder 5 T.R.M. Howard Campaign, T.R.M. Howard For Congress brochure, 1958
Box 5 Folder 6 T.R.M. Howard Campaign, Women for Howard Tea, 1958

Series 6: Clippings

Box 5 Folder 7 Clippings, Rev. Elder Lucy Smith, 1952
Box 5 Folder 8 Clippings, Lucy Smith Collier, 1976
Box 5 Folder 9 Clippings, Ardella Smith, 1963

Series 7: Photographs

Box 6 Photo 001 Evelyn L. Collier’s daughter, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 002 Beverly and LaSalle, children of L. Collier, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 003 Lucy Smith Singers, c. 1942
Box 6 Photo 004 Lucy Smith Singers, 1940
Box 6 Photo 005 Leola Smith (Howard) and Cleveland Otis Howard, c. 1930
Box 6 Photo 006 Rev. Paul Turner at All Nations, c. 1950s
Box 6 Photo 007 M. J. Carter and Mamie Dixon, 1948
Box 6 Photo 008 Anniversary Dinner at All Nations, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 009 Lucy Smith, Ardella Smith, Marjorie Stewart Joyner, c. 1950
Box 6 Photo 010 Lucy Smith, Ardella Smith, Marjorie Stewart Joyner, c. 1950
Box 6 Photo 011 Anniversary Dinner at All Nations with Rev. Joseph Branham, Lucy Smith, Ardella Smith and Marjorie Stewart Joyner, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 012 Rev. J. C. Austin at Willie Smith funeral, 1952
Box 6 Photo 013 Daughter of Henry Smith, 1945
Box 6 Photo 014 Ardella Smith, c. 1935
Box 6 Photo 015 Ardella Smith and the Barrett Sisters, c. 1955
Box 6 Photo 016 L. Collier(?) and Ardella Smith (?), n.d.
Box 6 Photo 017 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith, 1927
Box 6 Photo 018 Willie Mae Ford Smith, c. 1940s
Box 6 Photo 019 Lucy Collier, Ardella Smith, Willie Mae Ford Smith, c. 1940s
Box 6 Photo 020 A.A. Rayner and Ardella Smith, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 021 A.A. Rayner, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 022 “Singing” Sammy Lewis, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 023 Dick Carruthes, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 024 “Boobie” Smith, granddaughter of Lucy Smith, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 025 Judy, child evangelist, n.d.
Box 6 Photo 026 W.T. Brown, c. 1930s
Box 6 Photo 027 All Nations Pentecostal Church, 1950s
Box 6 Photo 028 All Nations Pentecostal Church, 1950s
Box 6 Photo 029 Ardella Smith at the Wake of L. Smith, 1952
Box 6 Photo 030 Ardella Smith at the Wake of L. Smith, 1952
Box 7 Photo 031 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 032 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 033 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 034 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 035 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 036 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 037 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 038 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 039 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 040 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 041 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 042 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 043 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 044 Ardella Smith at Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 045 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 046 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 047 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 048 Evelyn Louise Smith, n.d.
Box 7 Photo 049 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral, 1952
Box 7 Photo 050 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith graveside, 1952
Box 7 Photo 051 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith graveside, 1952
Box 7 Photo 052 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith graveside, 1952
Box 7 Photo 053 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith graveside, 1952
Box 7 Photo 054 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith graveside, 1952
Box 7 Photo 055 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith graveside, 1952
Box 7 Photo 056 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith graveside, 1952
Box 7 Photo 057 Smith Jubilee Singers, c. 1933
Box 7 Photo 058 “Take My Hand, Precious Lord,” Thomas Dorsey, n.d.
Box 7 Photo 059 Unidentified woman at the piano, n.d.
Box 7 Photo 060 Langley Avenue Tent Meeting of All Nations Pentecostal Church, 1921(?)
Box 7 Photo 061 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith, c. 1927
Box 7 Photo 062 Robbie, Viola, Lucy, Evelyn Smith, 1920s
Box 7 Photo 063 Langley Ave All Nations Pentecostal Church tent revival, 1921
Box 7 Photo 064 Rev. R. J. Porter and Lucy Collier, 1926(?)
Box 7 Photo 065 Thomas Dorsey, c. 1930
Box 7 Photo 066 Anne Johnson, n.d.
Box 7 Photo 067 Rev. Elder Lucy Smith funeral program, 1952
Box 7 Photo 068 Unidentified family, 1960
Box 7 Photo 069 Lucy Smith Collier Portrait Photo, n.d.
Box 8 Photo 070 Norfleet Brothers, c. 1952
Box 8 Photo 071 Roberta Martin Singers, 1945
Box 8 Photo 072 Roberta Martin Singers, Italy, 1963
Box 8 Photo 073 Roberta Martin Singers, c. 1954
Box 8 Photo 074 Thomas A. Dorsey preaching at Roberta Martin’s funeral 1969
Box 8 Photo 075 Roberta Martin Singers, Italy, 1963
Box 8 Photo 076 Roberta Martin, “What a Friend,” 1940s
Box 8 Photo 077 Roberta Martin Singers, c. 1930s
Box 8 Photo 078 Roberta Martin Concert Flyer, Smithsonian Institution, 1981
Box 8 Photo 079 Roberta Martin Singers, Italy, 1963
Box 8 Photo 080 Roberta Martin Singers, Smithsonian Institution, 1981
Box 8 Photo 081 L. Collier, C. Campbell, S. McKissick, G. Gregory at De Lisa, 1940s
Box 8 Photo 082 Lucy Smith Singers, c. 1950
Box 8 Photo 083 Arthur Norfleet, c. 1940s
Box 8 Photo 084 Stanley Keebler, n.d.
Box 8 Photo 085 Rev. C. L. Franklin, 1950s
Box 8 Photo 086 James Lee, n.d.
Box 8 Photo 087 Willie Webb, c. 1940
Box 8 Photo 088 June Richmond, n.d.
Box 9 Photo 089 Ardella Smith Portrait
Box 9 Photo 090 Ardella Smith Photo Album - 1
Box 9 Photo 091 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 2
Box 9 Photo 092 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 3
Box 9 Photo 093 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 4
Box 9 Photo 094 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 5
Box 9 Photo 095 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 6
Box 9 Photo 096 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 7
Box 9 Photo 097 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 8
Box 9 Photo 098 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 9
Box 9 Photo 099 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 10
Box 9 Photo 100 Ardella Smith Photo Album – 11
Box 9 Photo 101 Barons of Harmony Sextet

Series 8: Audiovisual (A/V)

Box 10 AV 001 Chicago Gospel Pioneers, compact disc, n.d.
Box 10 AV 002 Chicago Gospel Pioneers, Record Album, 1987

Series 9: Oversize

Box 11 Oversize Smithsonian Institution “Roberta Martin and the Roberta Martin Singers” Flyer (1981); Rev. Elder Lucy Smith Funeral Clippings (1952); “Faith Healer” article from Ebony Magazine on Rev. Elder Lucy Smith (1950)
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