Earl's All Girl Chorus
Item
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Title
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Earl's All Girl Chorus
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Description
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Earl's All-Girl Chorus was a Pennington singing group directed by Earl Hubbard. Earl Hubbard’s All‑Girl Chorus was a community-based chorus directed by William Earl Hubbard. For a major local pageant celebration, the Chorus performed “1865 Episode VIII” representing the year 1865—supported by an accompanist and wardrobe stylist, and composed of Black women from the area (Pennington Sesquibicentennial 250th Booklet (1958): 1865 - Episode VIII, Earl Hubbard’s Chorus 2025).
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The pageant was designed to tell the story of Pennington, NJ from its founding in 1708 through to 1958, using periodic, calendar based, vignettes depicting milestones. Though not noted in the Booklet’s contents, the Chorus was likely singing in celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1865, ninety-three years ago at the time.
Pictured here is a parade float being pulled by a tractor which may have been used in the 1958 pageant, as it is dated May 30, 1958 (reverse side). The photo does not identify each costumed individual who appear to be women. The Sesquibicentennial Booklet that accompanied the 1958 celebration does list the then current women members of the Chorus. They were:
Miss Wenonah Brooks
Miss Joyce Clark
Miss Dorothy Driver
Miss Bonnie Fields
Mrs Barbara Hill
Miss Doris Hoagland
Miss Frances Ingram
Miss Patricia McAchen
Miss Yvonne Scudder
Mrs. Wallace Smith
Miss Edith True
Mrs Ira Brooks
Mrs Arthur Clark
Miss Bernice Cruse
Miss Geraldine Hoagland
Mrs William Hoagland
Newspaper clippings indicate that The Chorus continued performing and were welcomed in numerous New Jersey area Black churches well into the mid1960s (The Central New Jersey Home News 1964). Ebenezer (New Brunswick, NJ) and Shiloh Baptist (Trenton, NJ) churches are two examples that offered Chorus performances. Separately, William Earl Hubbard participated in area bands performing at high schools and other venues (The Times (Trenton) 1956).
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Contributor
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Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, Beverly Mills, donor.
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Date Created
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(c. 1960)
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Rights
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This work is not in copyright, but commercial uses of this digital representation are limited. For more information, contact info@ssaamuseum.org and see http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/
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Identifier
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2023.1.1.8
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Format
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Image
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Extent
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2 pages
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Spatial Coverage
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Pennington, NJ
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Publisher
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SSAAM
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Is Part Of
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2023.1.1.8
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Subject
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Parade floats
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Joy
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Women's choirs
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New Jersey
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Photography
