Bernice Johnson Reagon

1942-
Composer, Songleader, Historian, Curator
Birthplace: Albany, GA
Graduate of Spelman College (B.A.); Howard University (Ph.D.), 1975 As a composer and songleader in the 19th century Southwest Georgia choral tradition, Dr. Reagon founded "Sweet Honey In The Rock" in 1973. As an historian and scholar, she is a Distinguished Professor of History at the American University and Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History. She has many publications. Dr. Reagon has served as consultant composer and performer in many films, two of which were award-winning programs on PBS, "Eye on the Prize" and "We Shall Overcome." She received a MacArthur Fellowship (1989), was awarded the Presidential Medal, and earned the Charles Frankel Prize for outstanding contribution to public understanding of the humanities (1995). Reagon received an Isadora Duncan award for the score to Rock, directed by Alonzo King for LINES Contemporary Ballet Company (1996).

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