Louise Shropshire family papers
Scope and Content
This collection contains documents related to the lives of Louise Shropshire and her family. The collection contains copies of Shropshire's original choral compositions including His Precious Blood, I Know Jesus Pilots Me, Are You Worthy to Take Communion, Come On (Jesus Will Save You Right Now), Crucified for Me and her best-known composition, If Jesus Wills. The collection also contains other choral arrangements acquired by Shopshire throughout her career as a choral director. Correspondence, family photographs, certificates, and booklets in the collection also document Shopshire's life, her family, and her friendship with people involved in the Civil Rights Movement including Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are also several items in the collection relating to her son, Jackie L. Shopshire, founder of the Queen City Boxing Club.
Dates
- circa 1910-2014
Creator
- Shropshire, Louise (Person)
Language of Materials
The records are in English
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research.
Biography of Louise Shropshire
Louise Shropshire was born Louise Jarrett on February 15, 1913 in Coffee County, Alabama to a family of sharecroppers. Her grandparents had been slaves. In 1917, her family moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Louise married Robert Shropshire Sr. who was a bail bondsman.
Shropshire was a choral director and composer of religious hymns. While attending the 1935 National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses in Cincinnati, she was discovered by Reverend Thomas A. Dorsey. Shropshire went on to publish several gospel compositions and co-wrote some with Rev. Dorsey. Her compositions include: I Know Jesus Pilots Me, Are you Worthy to Take Communion, Come on, Jesus Will Save You Right Now, Crucified for Me, and His Precious Blood. The song, If My Jesus Wills, which she wrote sometime in the 1930s or early 1940s is argued to be the base of the Civil Rights Movement hymn, We Shall Overcome.
Extent
4 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection contains documents related to the lives of Louise Shropshire and her family. The collection contains copies of Shropshire's original choral compositions including her best-known composition, If Jesus Wills. Correspondence, family photographs, certificates, and booklets in the collection also document Shropshire's life, her family, and her friendship with members of the Civil Rights Movement including Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are also several items in the collection relating to her son, Jackie L. Shropshire, founder of the Queen City Boxing Club.
Statement of Arrangement
This collection is arranged into 12 series in alphabetical order by subject matter: Series 1: Advertisements-Contains flyers and print advertisements for events and products Series 2: Certificates-Contains certificates awarded by various private, state, and religious organizations Series 3: Choral Arrangements/Hymn Lyrics-Contains arrangements for hymns; organized alphabetically by title Series 4: Financial-Contains budgets, bank statements, and other documents related to finances Series 5: Legal Documents-Contains law-related documents such as contracts and birth and death certificates Series 6: Letters-Contains correspondence both personal and official Series 7: Photographs-Contains personal photographs belonging to the Shropshire Family Series 8: News-Contains newspaper articles Series 9: Orders of Worship-Contains orders of worship for the observances of special religious functions Series 10: Leaflets/Booklets-contains leaflets and booklets relating to special functions Series 11: Other Papers-Contains miscellaneous papers which did not fit into any of the above categories Series 12: Other Items-Contains non-manuscript items too large to fit in folders
Physical Location
Archives and Rare Books Library
- African American composers Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Choruses, Sacred Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Civil rights movement Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Finding aid for the Louise Shropshire family papers
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by ARB Intern
- Date
- 2014
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
Revision Statements
- 2022-10-06: Finding aid was updated to show some changes to the collection. An additional award added to collection which added an additional box. Photographs were rehoused in a smaller box for better preservation. Some duplicate series were combined in order to make it easier for researchers to find materials..
Repository Details
Part of the Archives and Rare Books Library Repository
8th Floor Blegen Library
2602 University Circle
P.O. Box 210113
Cincinnati Ohio 45221-0113
513-556-1959
archives@ucmail.uc.edu
