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From writer, producer and director Mick Csaky, The Godmother of Rock & Roll: Sister Rosetta Tharpe is a documentary that chronicles the life, music and influence of African-American gospel singer and guitar virtuoso Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
During the 1940s, 50s and 60s, Sister Rosetta Tharpe played a highly significant role in the creation of rock & roll, inspiring musicians like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. She may not be a household name, but this flamboyant African-American gospel singing superstar, with her spectacular virtuosity on the newly-electrified guitar, was one of the most influential popular musicians of the 20th century.
Tharpe was born in 1915, close to the Mississippi in Cotton Plant, Arkansas. At the age of six she was taken by her evangelist mother Katie Bell to Chicago to join Roberts Temple, Church of God in Christ, where she developed her distinctive style of singing and guitar playing. At the age of 23 she left the church and went to New York to join the world of show business, signing with Decca Records. For the following 30 years she performed extensively to packed houses in the USA and subsequently Europe, before her death in 1973.
In 2008 the state governor of Pennsylvania declared that henceforth January 11th will be Sister Rosetta Tharpe Day in recognition of her remarkable musical legacy.
Film screening starts at 6:30PM and is free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by Arkansas PBS.
AGE GROUP: | All ages | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Society & Culture | Music |
TAGS: | WomensHistoryMonth | FilmScreening |
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Fletcher Library was established in 1974 and was named for John Gould Fletcher, a Little Rock poet who won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1937. The grand opening was originally planned for August 1974 but was delayed by a month when the library learned the shelving would not be delivered on time. After the shelving company notified the library of a second delay, the intrepid staff lined up the entire collection on the floor with the spines up and opened the library without shelves!
In 1996, a new, much larger building was built behind the original location. It was designed in the Craftsman style to blend seamlessly with the surrounding neighborhood. Fletcher Library won the 1996 Design Award from the American Institute of Architects, Arkansas Chapter, and is largely considered one of the most beautiful libraries in the Central Arkansas Library System.
In 2017, the library was closed 4 months for construction and renovations. Fletcher Library now includes a community building with 3 meeting rooms and a warming kitchen available for public use. Fletcher Library continues to be a vital hub serving the Heights, Hillcrest, and Midtown neighborhoods.
