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Richard Proulx

1937 - 2010 Person Name: Richard Proulx (b. 1937) Harmonizer of "[Knocks like Jesus]" in Lift Every Voice and Sing II Richard Proulx (b. St. Paul, MN, April 3, 1937; d. Chicago, IL, February 18, 2010). A composer, conductor, and teacher, Proulx was director of music at the Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, Illinois (1980-1997); before that he was organist and choirmaster at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Seattle, Washington. He contributed his expertise to the Roman Catholic Worship III (1986), The Episcopal Hymnal 1982, The United Methodist Hymnal (1989), and the ecumenical A New Hymnal for Colleges and Schools (1992). He was educated at the University of Minnesota, MacPhail College of Music in Minneapolis, Minnesota, St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota, and the Royal School of Church Music in England. He composed more than 250 works. Bert Polman

R. H. Cornelius

1872 - 1933 Person Name: R. H. C. Arranger of "[Knocks like Jesus]" in Songs of the Cross R.H. Cornelius, known as Rufus Cornelius by his friends, was born in Blount Co., AL., January 24, 1872. He was educated in the public schools of Oneonta, the county seat. He began teaching in the public schools at an early age and at one time was associate Principle of the Oneonta High School. It was while teaching in the high school that he became interested in church music and began to study with some of the best teachers of the time. His first major teacher was the late A J showalter in one of his normals at Eden, AL. He continued his study with this wellknown teacher until he had finished the courses a second time. He soon felt that the study of harmony was his first love in his study and soon became one of the best harmon teachers of his time. Near the close of the century, he moved to Texas and settled in Midlothian, Ellis Co., where he established a publishing house and published many fine gospel song books that sold by the thousands. However, before coming to Texas, he was associated with The Showalter-Patton Co. who published his first compositions. Soon after coming to Texas, he devoted much time to teaching singing schools (Cornelius Normal Musical Institute) and soon became one of the best known teachers of that great state, often having many more calls for schools than he could have time for. In many cases his schools were dated years ahead. he had possessed a beautiful tenor voice and was of a very pleasant personality. This caused his to be loved by all who knew him. About 1914 he was called to Southwestern Baptist Seminary as head of the music department. After several years here in the Baptist School in Ft Worth, Texas, he felt he was more needed back in the field of teaching and songbook publishing. Soon after coming to Texas, he married Maycon Temperance Burleson, who was a fine singer and musician and wrote many songs.During the first 32 years of the 20th Century, this couple of musicians blessed the State of Texas with their singing and teaching. Of all the fine song written by Mr. Cornelius, "Oh, I want to See Him" will carry his memory for years to come. The Cornelius' were members of the Baptist Church and were devoted Christians. Mr. Cornelius passed away in 1932. Mrs. Cornelius lived only about two years, passing away in 1934. In the passing of these fine gospel singer and teachers, church music suffered a great loss. By C C Stafford --www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/ (excerpts)

John Wesley Work

1873 - 1925 Person Name: John W. Work, Jr., 1872-1925 Arranger of "[Knocks like Jesus]" in One in Faith John W. Work, Jr. (b. Nashville, TN, 1872; d. Nashville, 1925), is well known for his pioneering studies of African American folk music and for his leadership in the performance of spirituals. He studied music at Fisk University in Nashville and classics at Harvard and then taught Latin, Greek, and history at Fisk from 1898 to 1923. Director of the Jubilee Singers at Fisk, Work also sang tenor in the Fisk Jubilee Quartet, which toured the country after 1909 and made commercial recordings. He was president of Roger Williams University in Nashville during the last two years of his life. Work and his brother Frederick Jerome Work (1879-1942) were devoted to collecting, arranging, and publishing African American slave songs and spirituals. They published two collections: New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers (1901) and Folk Songs of the American Negro (1907). Bert Polman

J. Jefferson Cleveland

1937 - 1986 Person Name: J. Jefferson Cleveland, 1937- Harmonizer of "[Knocks like Jesus]" in Songs of Zion Judge Jefferson Cleveland (1937-1986) was one of the most important scholars and editors of African-American congregational song of the 20th century. Along with Verogla Nix, he edited what is arguably the most groundbreaking collection of African-American song in the last half of the 20th century, Songs of Zion (1981/1982). Lutheran hymnologist Marilyn Stulken provides a biographical sketch of Cleveland’s life and accomplishments. Born in Georgia, Cleveland graduated from Clark College (Atlanta), Illinois Wesleyan University and received his doctorate in education from Boston University. He served on the faculty of three historically black Christian colleges: Claflin College (South Carolina), Langston University (Oklahoma), and Jarvis Christian College (Texas), before teaching at the University of Massachusetts and Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. Cleveland’s musical arrangements, historical research and scholarship on the performance practice of African-American song have proven invaluable for the advancement of black gospel song, not only among African Americans, but also in Anglo hymnals to the present day. For example, Cleveland’s essay, “A Historical Account of the Hymn in the Black Worship Experience,” in Songs of Zion is a helpful introduction for laypersons and scholars alike. In addition to serving as a hymnody consultant for the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, he toured the United States and Africa in 1981 and Europe in 1984 as a teacher, lecturer and performer. --www.umportal.org/

Joy F. Patterson

b. 1931 Arranger of "SOMEBODY'S KNOCKIN'" in The Presbyterian Hymnal Joy F. Patterson (b. 1931), of Wassau, Wisconsin, is an elder in the Presbyterian Church who has written many texts and tunes; twenty-nine are collected in Come, You People of the Promise (Hope Publishing, Co., 1994); another collection, Teach Our Eyes New Ways of Seeing, was published in 2005 (Selah). Patterson has enjoyed a varied career as a French professor, homemaker, and claim representative for the Social Security Administration. Sing! A New Creation

Verolga Nix

1933 - 2014 Person Name: Verolga Nix, 1933- Harmonizer of "[Knocks like Jesus]" in Songs of Zion Verolga Nix (Apr. 6, 1933-Dec. 9, 2014) Born in Cleveland, Verolga moved with her family at an early age to Philadelphia. She studied for two years at New England Conservatory of Music and then earned a music degree from Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 1955. She was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Bennett College in 2000. After retiring from twenty years as a full-time music teacher in Philadelphia public schools she served as minister of music at several churches in Philadelphia, trained and conducted many choirs and served as a seminar leader nationwide. She was a member of Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), National Association of Negro Musicians and the Hymn Society in U.S. and Canada. In 1980 the United Methodist Church asked her to co-edit with J. Jefferson Cleveland the supplemental hymnal Songs of Zion. She published nearly 200 original songs an arrangements. (further details in The Philadelphia Tribune, Dec.19, 2014 obituary). Mary Louise VanDyke