Helen Walker-Hill's unique study provides a carefully researched examination of the history and scope of musical composition by African-American women composers from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Exploding the assumption that black women's only important musical contributions have been in folk, jazz, and pop, From Spirituals to Symphonies focuses on the effect of race, gender, and class, and notes the important role played by individual personalities and circumstances in shaping this under-appreciated category of American art. The study also provides in-depth exploration of the backgrounds, experiences, and musical compositions of eight African-American women including Margaret Bonds, Undine Smith Moore, and Julia Perry, who combined the techniques of Western art music with their own cultural traditions and individual gifts. Despite having gained national and international recognition during their lifetimes, the contributions of many of these women are today forgotten.

Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Historical overview -- 2. Undine Smith Moore (1904-89) -- 3. Julia Perry (1924-79) -- 4. Margaret Bonds (1913-72) -- 5. Irene Britton Smith (1907-99) -- 6. Dorothy Rudd Moore (b. 1940) -- 7. Valerie Capers (b. 1935) -- 8. Mary Watkins (b. 1939) -- 9. Regina Harris Baiocchi (b. 1956) -- Conclusion -- Appendix. Selected list of composers -- Selected bibliography/discography -- Index.