Celebrate Black Music Month with musicologist Mark Burford discusses the famous American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.

A recent biopic on Mahalia Jackson and her prominent appearance in the acclaimed concert documentary Summer of Soul present an opportunity  to consider the multiple ways this New Orleans–born gospel singer has been remembered. Drawing on archival research, reception history, and documentation of her performances on recordings, this talk will illuminate Jackson's remarkable life and career and the stories we tell about them.

Mark Burford, a San Francisco native, is R. P. Wollenberg Professor of Music at Reed College and the author of Mahalia Jackson and the Black Gospel Field.