A Sound History: Lawrence Gellert, Black Musical Protest, and White Denial traces the rise and fall of Lawrence Gellert, a little-known left-wing independent music collector as it explores changing perceptions of African American musical resistance in the twentieth century.

At a time of institutionalized suppression, he worked to introduce white audiences to a tradition of black musical protest that had been denied and overlooked by prior white collectors. Steve's book digs into Gellert’s life, his work collecting songs in the Jim Crow South, and the controversy surrounding both.

Steven Garabedian is an associate professor of history and intern coordinator of history / public history / American studies for Marist. He holds a PhD in American Studies from the University of Minnesota and is a historian of the twentieth century of the United States with a specialization in race, music, and radicalism.