The Vanishing of Harry Pace: Episode 6

Lift Every Voice. 

Black Swan Records was first to record the anthem Lift Every Voice and Sing. From a family's Thanksgiving dinner, we portal through to the song's past, present, and future.

The Vanishing of Harry Pace was created by Jad Abumrad and Shima Oliaee. 

It was Motown before Motown, FUBU before FUBU: Black Swan Records. The label founded exactly 100 years ago by Harry Pace. Pace launched the career of Ethel Waters, inadvertently invented the term rock n roll, played an important role in W.C. Handy becoming "Father of the Blues," inspired Ebony and Jet magazines, and helped desegregate the South Side of Chicago in an epic Supreme Court battle. Then, he disappeared.  The Vanishing of Harry Pace is a series about the phenomenal but forgotten man who changed the American music scene. It's a story about betrayal, family, hidden identities, and a time like no other.

This series was produced in collaboration with author Kiese Laymon, scholar Imani Perry, writer Cord Jefferson, and WQXR’s Terrance McKnight. Jami Floyd is our consulting producer; our fact checker is Natalie Meade. Featuring interviews with Pace's descendants and over forty musicians, historians, writers, and musicologists, all of whom grapple with Pace’s enduring legacy. 

Thank you to young Miles Francis and his family for bringing our Thanksgiving scene to life. 

This episode features the book May We Forever Stand written by Imani Perry, all about the Black National Anthem.