Southern and Western American Sacred Music and Influential Sources (1700-1870) (SWASMIS) is an index that documents southern and western American music from the latter part of the Colonial Period to the period of Reconstruction following the American Civil War (1750-1870).  Comprising 60,000 entries, it catalogs every known southern and western sacred music composition appearing in manuscript and printed sources, as well as the significant material that directly influenced these compilers.  Not confined to English-language Protestant tunebooks, this index also includes German-language source material, and sacred music appearing in collections for or by African Americans, Catholics, Jews, and Native Americans.  SWASMIS chronicles the history of the practice of sacred music in its relationship to cultural, denominational, and geographic dispersal of United States’ culture over a larger 170-year period of time. Using the index, researchers can document folk and popular movements over space and relate them to the cultural and social fabric of American society.

Project Collaborators: Nikos Pappas (Music), Jason Battles (Library Technology), Franky Abbott (ADHC), Kim Smalley (Library Technology), Bill Friedman (Library Technology)