The Film: Interview Transcripts: Jean Synder

Jean Snyder, Ph.D., Burleigh Scholar, Edinboro University, on
Hamilton Waters
Hamilton Waters' determination to secure his release from slavery, to provide for his family and to assist freedom seekers despite his blindness helped shaped the character of one of America's most influential composers and arrangers – Harry T. Burleigh. Hamilton worked hard to secure for his daughter the best possible education, and she, in turn, encouraged her son to achieve distinction in a world dominated by whites.

Upon his arrival in Erie, Hamilton immediately exercised the rights of a citizen, both on his own behalf and on behalf of other people.  The former slave shows up in the court record defending a young black girl who was abused by her classmates.  He was already putting himself on the line.

His involvement in the Underground Railroad and his commitment to education shows you the kind of person he was.  His involvement in the abolitionist movement and his connections with abolitionists in Western Pennsylvania, I think, made it possible for him to send his daughter to Avery College in Pittsburgh, which was a remarkable place at that time.  It educated women with the same curriculum as men in the middle of the 19^th Century.

the music of Harry T. Burleigh