This exploration was created by Kate Duffus Stein for Smithsonian Music in celebration of the opening of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.
For more information on the history of African American music and the new Musical Crossroads gallery at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, see Steven Lewis's "Musical Crossroads" essay.
For additional reading, consider the following materials:
National Museum of African American History and Culture website
Floyd, Samuel A. Black Music in the Harlem Renaissance: A Collection of Essays. New York: Praeger, 1990.
Maultsby, Portia K. "A Map of the Music." African American Review 29, no. 2 (1995): 183?84. doi:10.2307/3042289.
Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black Americans: A History. 3rd edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997.
Thompson, Krissah. "Painful but Crucial: Why You'll See Emmett Till's Casket at the African American Museum." The Washington Post, August 18, 2016.
White, Shane, and Graham White. Stylin': African American Expressive Culture, from Its Beginnings to the Zoot Suit. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1998.