We have a detailed history of Tin Pan Alley thanks to invaluable information from the Historic Districts Council in their “Brief-ish History of Tin Pan Alley” written in 2008, and Michael Minn in his piece “Tin Pan Alley”, part of his “New York City” photography collection project. As both accounts cover both overlapping and different information, we present them both below. Many thanks to them both for their thorough and dogged research and insightful presentation.
Education and Resources
Free Wraparounds and Sheet Music for Download
The Blueprint Wraparound is a unit planning tool for a single piece of repertoire that outlines suggested learning activities and curricular ideas when teaching a piece of music in the classroom.
Wraparounds are invaluable as they collect and curate possibilities for fun and engaging scope and sequence planning. The Tin Pan Alley Project’s Education Committee has developed a library of wraparounds for several iconic Tin Pan Alley songs. Each wraparound is fully aligned to Strands of the New York City Public School's Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Music with SEL and CRSE connections and linked digital resources.
CLICK EACH PDF ICON BELOW TO DOWNLOAD THESE RESOURCES!
Alexander's
Ragtime
Band
Wraparound
Alexander's
Ragtime
Band
Sheet Music
Ballin' the Jack
Wraparound
Ballin' the Jack
Sheet Music
The Band
Played On
Wraparound
The Band
Played On
Sheet Music
Come, Josephine In My Flying Machine
Wraparound
Come, Josephine In My Flying Machine
Sheet Music
I Don't Care
Wraparound
I Don't Care
Sheet Music
Take Me Out
To The
Ball Game
Wraparound
Take Me Out
To The
Ball Game
Sheet Music
Ring with the Harmonies of Liberty!
Celebrating 250 years with a goal to form a more perfect union
The Education Committee of the Tin Pan Alley American Popular Music Project celebrates the Johnson Brothers,
J. Rosamond and James Weldon Johnson, writers of Tin Pan Alley hits like “Under the Bamboo Tree,” “Lazy Moon,” and “The Old Flag Never Touched the Ground.” For more than half of the United States' existence, we have been marching to the Johnson's landmark hymn, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” 125 years and counting. Premiering on February 12, 1900 at the Stanton School in Jacksonville, Florida, sung by a chorus of 500 African-American elementary school children, the “National Hymn for the Colored People of America,” as it was published later that year, is a celebration of Black Excellence that built this nation and still calls for us all to march on till the victory of true equality is won.
Education Committee member Melanie Edwards, granddaughter of J. Rosamond Johnson, and Education Committee Chair, Robert Lamont discuss the dual legacy of this keystone American work, and of the Modern School in Harlem, founded by Edwards’ mother, Mildred Johnson, from the stage of the 2023 Brooklyn Borough Arts Festival with a special performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by the chorus of the Brooklyn School for Music & Theatre.
Click HERE to view the entire performance.
Left: J. Rosamond Johnson and James Weldon Johnson c. 1937.
James Weldon Johnson and Grace Nail Johnson papers, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Below: Melanie Edwards at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Education Committee:
Robert Lamont, Chair
Susan Joyce Carpenter
Barbara Cohen-Stratyner
Melanie Edwards
Michael G. Garber
Dennis Green
Paul M. Kaplan
Marilyn Lester
John T. Reddick
Maria Schwab
Harold Stephan
Sing Out, Reach Out program for seniors
The Tin Pan Alley American Popular Music Project helps provide weekly singalong sessions for senior citizens, often with community members of many generations joining in. Some programs are in the memory support unit of an assisted living facility, and others are in a community center for active older adults. For both, kindergarteners and pre-K students and their parents join in. At the community center, so do adults with intellectual disabilities, of all ages.
The sessions are led by Education Committee members, Michael Garber, PhD, and Sue Carpenter, PhD. Mike is the author of books on the history of popular music and often tells the stories behind the songs. Sue focuses on intergenerational and inclusive programs, documented in her dissertation about the Community Music Engagement Program of the Australian National University.
Mike and Sue encourage the groups to make requests for favorite songs -- and to dance!
All attendees fully participate in the music. At the memory support unit, even staff and visiting family members get involved.
The memory support residents may not remember the day of the week or the month of the year, but they have no trouble remembering, for example, all the lyrics to “Take Me Out to the Ball Game," “As Time Goes By,” or “Yes Sir! That’s My Baby.” Research shows the many benefits of music-making, in particular with these much-loved Tin Pan Alley songs, for adults with dementia.
The TPAAPMP is proud to partner with Reach Out Arts for these programs.
Magic in Music
Provided by The Memory Tree, a program of the Early Alzheimer's Foundation Inc.
Magic in Music is a weekly class for people living with mild memory loss and early-stage Alzheimer's disease. Using music, history and cultural context, the class helps the brain develop new neural connections that may slow the progress of memory loss, elevate mood, and provide a means for socialization, while offering respite for caregivers.
To attend or learn more, contact Elizabeth Fine at 917-656-0558 or eafoundation@gmail.com
The Tin Pan Alley American Popular Music Project
is proud to announce our production of two new Tin Pan Alley videos sponsored by the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) as part of its New York Music Month Extended Play, a program offering free, online events to support the music community and enthusiasts during the pandemic.
The Hands on History After School Program
A second through fifth-grade program designed by educator Lesley Doyel to introduce both the iconic,
street, the voluminous output of songwriting, song plugging, music publishing, and the unique
symbiosis forged between commerce and music from the later 19th Century onward.
The Tin Pan Alley Mapping Project
This unique interactive map explores both the entertainment boom and its migration through Manhattan from 1880 to 1940 using songs from the Lester Levy Sheet Music Collection.
Map and exhibit created by Sam Bessen
with thanks to JHU Libraries Data Services team for their assistance with this project.
CLICK HERE
Experiencing Tin Pan Alley: A Virtual Walking Tour: 1895 – 1915 and Beyond
with Miriam Berman