It Is Well: The Life and Times of James Russell Smith

Biography and historical context of an African American man born in Athens, Georgia in 1941. James Smith grew up in the Jim Crow South, attended segregated public schools, was a student at Tuskegee Institute during the Civil Rights movement, sang in the famous Tuskegee Choir, and became the founder and renowned director of The Athens Voices of Truth, a community choir that specializes in sacred music including gospels, hymns, anthems and spirituals. Smith created the choir in 1979 with an express desire to preserve the roots of sacred music through performances and recordings, focusing on the traditions that helped African-Americans survive slavery.