New York Times, August 28, 1905.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net. Re-post from Blogfinger 2012. From our Department of Historical Perspective and Gesticulating Grovers:
In the newspaper article above, from the August 28, 1905 New York Times, we get an idea about how wild it could get at the old camp ground in Ocean Grove, only 36 years after the town’s founding. The event was called a “love feast,” and the article clearly describes what that term means. You might have imagined that services in the GA in 1905 were pretty staid affairs, but now we know that they were anything but.
Some parts of the description seem peculiar like singing three hymns all at once. I wonder what the orchestra did with that situation.
Amanda Berry Smith was a former slave who became an evangelical preacher. She was known for her beautiful voice. We don’t have any recordings of her, but here is a Sam Cooke recording (with the Soul Stirrers) of “I’m So Glad (Trouble don’t last always):”
And if you think that church services were all they did in the Great Auditorium in 1905, one month before the Love Feast, President Theodore Roosevelt spoke to the Convention of the National Education Association on July 7, 1905. A photo shows a full house. Not only was the place packed, but there were “throngs’ outside including soldiers and military bands.
The President gave the closing speech. Behind him were the massed Festival Chorus and the Ocean Grove Orchestra. After he finished, they performed the “Hallelujah Chorus” from Handel’s “Messiah”.
David Fox: Is there a family resemblance? And what does it mean if a girl is “foxy?”
The singing actually served another purpose. One could rise and give a testimony, but if you talked too long or in an uninteresting manner, people would sing a hymn to drown you out.
Reblogged this on Blogfinger and commented:
Gospel singing goes back to the early days of Ocean Grove. Here is an article that takes us back to a raucous concert in the Great Auditorium in 1905. Listen to Sam Cook, check out the Gospel group in the park, not long ago.
Thanks so much for finding and sharing this article. It has us wondering if our great-great-grandmother, who would have been in her 60s at the time, was there, singing and having a good ole time!