Professor Michael Johnson, in his book Can’t Stand Still: Taylor Gordon and the Harlem Renaissance, tells the story of Taylor Gordon, an African American who grew up in White Sulphur Springs, Montana. Gordon, who lived 1893–1971, was discovered by John Ringling, and went on to become an internationally famous singer at the height of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. Together with Rosamond Johnson, he introduced white audiences to African American spirituals. Later in his life, following a bout of mental illness, he returned to live in White Sulphur Springs, which he portrayed with a tinge of idealism in the book he wrote, Born to Be. He always thought of self as Westerner. At the end of his presentation, Johnson played a clip from a privately held recording of Taylor Gordon singing, which we do not have rights to share here.

Recorded at Montana State University on October 22, 2019.