Louise Shropshire

Louise Shropshire
Louise Shropshire, circa 1962
Born	Louise Jarrett (1913-02-15)15 February 1913 Coffee County, Alabama, U.S.
Died
Nationality	American
Occupation	African American composer of hymns

Louise Shropshire (February 15, 1913 – November 26, 1993) was an African American composer of hymns.

Early life

The granddaughter of slaves, Louise Shropshire was born Louise Jarrett on February 15, 1913 in Coffee County, Alabama. In 1917, her family relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio in search of a better life than they had experienced as rural Alabama sharecroppers. As a young girl, Louise demonstrated a gift for music and composed many hymns as a member of the African American Baptist Church. Sometime between 1932 and 1942, she composed a gospel hymn entitled "If My Jesus Wills". It wasn’t long until her music and talents were discovered.

Singer and hymnwriter

In 1935, she was discovered by Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey at the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses (NCGCC), an organization founded by Dorsey, which was held in Cincinnati that year. Dorsey, who is still considered the father of gospel music, was impressed by Louise’s talent as a composer and choir director and asked her to direct the mass choir segment of his convention. He also asked Shropshire to perform at the NCGCC with her family singing group, The Humble Three. Rev. Dorsey and Louise Shropshire would build a thirty-year friendship and together, co-wrote and copyrighted the gospel hymn, "Behold the Man of Galilee'". Some of Shopshire's other Gospel copyrighted compositions are "I've Got The Big Seal Of Approval"; "I'm Tryin' My Best To Get Home To See Jesus", "Whom Do Men Say That I Am?", "I Know Jesus Pilots Me". '"Are You Worthy to Take Communion", '"Come on, Jesus Will Save You Right Now", and "Mother's Beautiful Hands".

"We Shall Overcome"

It is believed that Louise Shropshire's Christian hymn, "If My Jesus Wills", composed sometime between 1932 and 1942 and more commonly known as, "I'll Overcome" was adapted by union organizers in the late 1940s into a song entitled, "We Will Overcome". Later, "We Will Overcome" was taught to Pete Seeger by folk singer Zilphia Horton, who along with other folk singers, adapted it to become "We Shall Overcome". Louise Shropshire copyrighted "If My Jesus Wills" in 1954. She recorded an additional copyright that same year for the song as part of a suite of eleven original gospel hymns entitled, His Precious Blood. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, she continued performing "If My Jesus Wills" across America at the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses as part of the repertoire of her choirs, The Humble Three, The Shropshire Singers and The New Prospect Singers. Taking the advice of Rev. Thomas A. Dorsey, Shropshire distributed 1,000 pieces of the His Precious Blood sheet music collection to choir directors all over the country.

Lyrics to "If My Jesus Wills": (Copyright 1954)

I’ll Overcome, I’ll Overcome, I’ll Overcome Someday

If My Jesus Wills, I Do Believe, I’ll Overcome Someday

Lyrics to "We Shall Overcome": (Copyright 1960)

We Shall Overcome, We Shall Overcome, We Shall Overcome Someday

Deep in My Heart, I Do Believe, We Shall Overcome Someday

There are several documented musical and choral arrangements of "If My Jesus Wills", which were sung in various African American churches in America. This presents the strong likelihood that "We Shall Overcome" was adapted from one of these arrangements, as opposed to the sheet music.

Louise Shropshire's lyrics bear marginal resemblance to those of Methodist minister, Rev. Charles Albert Tindley's 1909 composition, "I'll Overcome Someday". Although the two songs are very different musically, the popularity of Tindley's hymn presents the possibility that Tindley's hymn inspired Louise Shropshires, "If My Jesus Wills".

Musically speaking, Tindley's "I'll Overcome Someday" strongly resembles prolific Christian music composer, Lowell Mason's 1839 arrangement of Charles Wesley's "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing". In 1960 and again in 1963, Pete Seeger, Guy Carawan, Zilphia Horton, Frank Hamilton and Myles Horton registered a copyright for an arrangement of, "We Shall Overcome", which was registered as a derivative work. No original author is listed.

Life and work

In the early 1950s, Louise Shropshire met Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. Finding much in common; Shropshire and King became good friends and established a strong and loyal spiritual alliance. Dr. King grew very comfortable with the Shropshire family and lodged at the Shropshire home when in Cincinnati. In addition, with the financial support of her husband’s successful bail bonds business, Shropshire held many fundraising events in her home and in Cincinnati hotels, several of which were attended by Dr. King himself. Funds were raised at these events to help bail out Civil Rights activists, who had been incarcerated during the Birmingham Campaign and Montgomery Bus Boycott. As a close friend of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and devout member of the African American Baptist Church, Louise Shropshire was instrumental in helping to establish the Greater New Light Baptist Church (GNLBC) in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Following the unexpected death of her husband, Robert "Bob" Shropshire Sr. in 1967, Louise Shropshire moved to California to be with her convalescing mother, Ollie Johnson Jarrett. Soon afterwards, using her own financial resources, she planted a sister church in Pomona, California, to the GNLBC in Cincinnati. Both churches remain active to this day.

Louise Shropshire died on November 26, 1993. The last words she spoke were to her grandson, Robert Anthony Goins Shropshire: "Someday, somebody’s gonna do something with all my music". In the years before her death, Louise Shropshire had taken more than 50 foster children into her home and was known never to deny a brother in need. Having exhausted her financial resources in the course of helping others, Louise Shropshire died penniless.

In the biographical book,We Shall Overcome: Sacred Song On The Devil's Tongue, author, Isaias Gamboa (music producer) reveals the details of Louise Shropshire's life and reveals evidence of her role in the creation of, We Shall Overcome".

Retrospective

In August 2012, Louise Shropshire's grandson, Robert Anthony Goins Shropshire met with Pete Seeger and presented him with the above-described history as well as the sheet music and lyrics for "If My Jesus Wills". After analyzing "If My Jesus Wills", Seeger stated: "it is very probable that Louise Shropshire taught 'If My Jesus Wills' to Lucille Simmons", that "Louise Shropshire may have been Lucille Simmons", and that Ms. Shropshire "should be part of the 'We Shall Overcome' Story."

On October 2, 2014, Louise Shropshire was inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame for her contributions as original author of "We Shall Overcome", in addition to her support of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth during the African American Civil Rights Movement.