Carry Me Back To Old Virginny

Carry Me Back To Old Virginny

"Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" is a song which was written by James A. Bland (1854–1911), an African American minstrel who wrote over 700 folk songs. It is was an adaption by Bland of the traditional "Carry Me Back to Ole Virginny" popular since the 1840s and frequently sung by Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War. Bland's version, the most well known, was adapted in 1878 when many of the newly freed slaves were struggling to find work. The song has become controversial in modern times.

A third reworded version was Virginia's state song from 1940 until 1997, using the word "Virginia" instead of "Virginny." In 1997, it was retired on the grounds that the lyrics were considered offensive to African Americans. On January 28, 1997, the Virginia Senate voted to designate "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia" as state song emeritus and a study committee initiated a contest for writing a new state song. The Virginia General Assembly suspended the contest on January 5, 2000, and recently reinstated it. There are currently eight candidates.

In January 2006, a state Senate panel voted to designate "Shenandoah" as the "interim official state song." On March 1, 2006, the House Rules Committee of the General Assembly voted down bill SB682, which would have made "Shenandoah" the official state song.