Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"Kumbaya" is a classic song found across North American sacred and secular music traditions. The earliest known recording of "Kumbaya" was made in 1926 from Gullah Geechee community member Henry Wylie in coastal Georgia and is now held in the collections of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Recently, the Kronos Quartet incorporated this 1926 version of "Kumbaya" into their new work, Three Bones. In this video, Steve Winick of the American Folklife Center shares a brief history of the song, Dr. Griffin Lotson discusses its meaning within Gullah Geechee communities, and David Harrington explains why the ensemble chose "Kumbaya" for Three Bones.
For transcript and more information, visit loc.gov/item/video-12002
"Kumbaya" is a classic song found across North American sacred and secular music traditions. The earliest known recording of "Kumbaya" was made in 1926 from Gullah Geechee community member Henry Wylie in coastal Georgia and is now held in the collections of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Recently, the Kronos Quartet incorporated this 1926 version of "Kumbaya" into their new work, Three Bones. In this video, Steve Winick of the American Folklife Center shares a brief history of the song, Dr. Griffin Lotson discusses its meaning within Gullah Geechee communities, and David Harrington explains why the ensemble chose "Kumbaya" for Three Bones.
For transcript and more information, visit loc.gov/item/video-12002
