Robert D. Rhoad sheet music collection

Robert D. Rhoad was born in Ohio in 1916 and spent the majority of his life in Maryland. He graduated from Loyola College in 1939 with a degree in chemistry. He was president of the Glee Club and was the School Activities photographer, and worked on the Greyhound student newspaper and Green and Grey yearbook. He also participated in Chemistry Club and intramural softball. He served in the Army Air Force during World War II, and later owned Charles Chips and Rhoad Paving Co. in Silver Spring, MD. From a young age, he trained to be a bass singer and studied under Frank LaForge. The sheet music in this collection was taught to Robert by Lucien Odend'hal in the 1930s. Towards the end of his time in the Air Force, Rhoad was the music director of Silver Spring's Clifton Park Baptist Church, ending this position in 1975. He was a choral member and soloist at Silver Spring's Woodside United Methodist Church until his death in 2002. He died on September 11, 2002 of leukemia.

File names with an additional month/day/year include notes written by Rhoad about when he learned that particular piece of music.

Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes. (This language used with permission from: Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in HTC Collections, https://www.dorothy-berry.com/minstrel-description)

The Robert D. Rhoad sheet music collection contains numerous examples of minstrel show music and other songs containing racist, xenophobic, sexist, and other objectionable content. Researchers may encounter harmful or offensive language and imagery, especially in the series containing popular music and male chorus sheet music. This material is preserved in order to honestly and accurately reflect the collection's content, and to provide researchers the opportunity to study the impact of this music on 19th and 20th century American culture.