“The Nonmusical Message Will Endure With It:” The Changing Reputation and Legacy of John Powell (1882-1963)

• Main Author: Adam, Karen
• Format: Others
• Published: VCU Scholars Compass 2012
• Subjects: John Powell (1882-1963); Powell; John; musical propaganda; Anglo-Saxon Clubs of America; Anglo-Saxon supremacy; white supremacy; Racial Integrity Act of 1924; one drop rule; racial integrity; racial purity; John Powell Foundation; White Top Folk Festival; Annabel Morris Buchanan; Buchanan; Annabel Morris; Radford University; Radford College; Powell Hall; Roy Hamlin Johnson; Johnson; Roy Hamlin; classical music; classical piano; classical pianist; pianist; Virginian; Virginia; Earnest Sevier Cox; Cox; Earnest Sevier; Walter Ashby Plecker; Plecker; Walter Ashby; Sonate Noble; Sonata Teutonica; Symphony in A; Rhapsodie Negre; Richard Brockwell; Brockwell; Richard; At the Fair; Sonata Virginianesque; Marcus Garvey; Garvey; Marcus; John Powell Day; Anglo-Saxon folk music; Anglo-Saxon; racism; racist; Martin Luther King; Jr.; King; Martin Luther Jr.; musical politics; sociopolitical; memory; public memory; public history; reputation; legacy; Richmond; John Powell; Arts and Humanities; History
• Online Access: http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2692; http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3691&context=etd

This thesis explores the changing reputation and legacy of John Powell (1882-1963). Powell was a Virginian-born pianist, composer, and ardent Anglo-Saxon supremacist who created musical propaganda to support racial purity and to define the United States as an exclusively Anglo-Saxon nation. Although he once enjoyed international fame, he has largely disappeared from the public consciousness today. In contrast, the legacies of many of Powell’s musical contemporaries, such as Charles Ives and George Gershwin, have remained vigorous. By examining the ways in which the public has perceived and portrayed Powell both during and after his lifetime, this thesis links Powell’s obscurity to a deliberate, public rejection of his Anglo-Saxon supremacist definition of the United States.