William Grant Still

1915-1919

1915

William Grant Still marries Grace Bundy.

Publication of Jelly Roll Blues, a jazz arrangement by Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton.

1916

William Grant Still works as an arranger for W. C. Handy during the summer.

Publication of Charles A. Tindley's New Songs of Paradise, the first collection of gospel hymns by a black composer.

Publication of a collection of solo spiritual arrangements, Jubilee Songs of the United States of America, by Henry Thacker Burleigh.

1917

William Grant Still begins studies at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio; his studies are interrupted by service in the U. S. Navy in 1918; he returns to Oberlin after World War I.

H. T. Burleigh awarded by the NAACP the Spingarn Medal for highest achievement by an American citizen of African descent for the year 1916.

Thelonius Monk born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.

Nat "King" Cole born in Montgomery, Alabama.

First jazz band recording made by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band.

Scott Joplin dies in New York City.

1918

William Grant Still serves in the U. S. Navy during the year.

Carol Brice, contralto, born in Sedalia, North Carolina.

Pearl Bailey born in Newport News, Virginia.

James Reese Europe's 369th Infantry Band performs in Paris.

1919

William Grant Still rejoins Pace and Handy for a two-year stint.