{"id":5706,"date":"2021-10-18T12:20:54","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T17:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/?p=5706"},"modified":"2021-10-18T12:20:54","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T17:20:54","slug":"the-harp-do-you-see-it-as-a-white-instrument-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/americanmusic\/2021\/10\/18\/the-harp-do-you-see-it-as-a-white-instrument-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"The Harp: Do You See It as a White Instrument? Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome back to Part II of my blog series \u201cThe Harp: Do You See it as a White Instrument?\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As we have previously discussed, if the average American were asked what they envision when they think of harp music, it is likely that their description would most closely match Western classical music. Their image of a harpist would most likely match that of a white woman, angel, or cherub.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Conversely, if the average American were asked what instruments they think of when they think of jazz or swing music, the harp would unlikely be named at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Silhouette

Silhouette of five players in a jazz band, none of whom are playing the harp1<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Allow me to challenge these prevailing images by introducing you to Olivette Miller, a Black swing harpist born in 1914.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

From left to right: Gene Sedric, Cliff Jackson, Olivette Miller, and Josh White2<\/sup><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

What do we know about Olivette Miller?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was very difficult to find scholarly secondary sources about Olivette Miller. In fact, Catalyst, the library interface for St. Olaf and Carleton Colleges, shows only 15 results for \u201cOlivette Miller\u201d, and they are mostly references in the context of her famous father or ex-husbands (I smell academic sexism). Google results for Miller include a sparse Wikipedia page3<\/sup><\/a>, IMDB page4<\/sup><\/a>, and an African American Registry entry5<\/sup><\/a>, each listing very few, if any, credible secondary source references. One of the best scholarly sources I could find was The New York Public Library Archives and Manuscripts6<\/sup><\/a>, which only briefly mentions Olivette Miller under the biographical information for her father, saying she \u201cwas a renowned jazz harpist\u201d. I searched for a recording of Miller playing the harp for a very long time, but only found a recording of her singing7<\/sup><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n