The Christian Harmony - Singing Communities and Traditions

Singing Communities and Traditions

In 1933, George Pullen Jackson reported on Christian Harmony singings in four states: South Carolina (in and around Spartanburg and in York, Union, and Greenville counties), North Carolina (Rutherford and Buncombe counties), southern Missouri (a tradition of singings stretching back to 1889), and Alabama (56 singings in 1932 in "nine mid-state counties"). The publisher, the E.W. Miller Company of Philadelphia, reported sales largely limited to the Spartanburg area at that time.

Online minutes record 43 singings from The Christian Harmony in 2010 (12 in North Carolina, nine in Alabama, six in Georgia, six in Virginia, five in South Carolina, three in Tennessee, one in Mississippi, and one in Texas) and 23 singings in 2011 (11 in North Carolina, three in South Carolina, three in Tennessee, three in Georgia, two in Alabama, and one in Arkansas). Camp DoReMi, an summer singing school in Little Switzerland, North Carolina, is held annually and uses both The Christian Harmony and the New Harp of Columbia.

A singing tradition with deep roots continues in Haywood and Transylvania counties, North Carolina. Old Folks Day in Canton has featured singing from the Christian Harmony since the nineteenth century, at the Morning Star Methodist Church, and before that at the Locust Field Church (now the First Baptist Church). The twice-yearly Etowah singing, now held in Horseshoe, N.C., has been held since 1909.