singers at the time. Watson quotes Jessye, describing Four Saints as "quite a departure, because up to that time, the only opportunities involved things like "Swanee River," or "That's Why Darkies Are Born," or "Old Black Joe." They called that "our music," and thought we could sing those things only by the gift of God, and if God hadn't given us that gift, we wouldn't have any at all....With this opera, we had to step on fresh ground, something foreign to our nature completely." Jessye also demanded that her singers be paid for rehearsal, "fighting a deeply ingrained system of discriminatory salaries, rampant kickbacks, and nonpayment of choruses during rehearsals," writes Watson. In 1935, George Gershwin chose her as his music director for his opera Porgy and Bess. In 1927, Jessye published My Spirituals, a collection of her arrangements of spirituals, together with stories about growing up in southeast Kansas. Jessye also composed her own choral works: The Life of Christ in Negro Spirituals (1931); Paradise Lost and Regained (1934), a folk oratorio; and The Chronicle of Job (1936). These are combined spirituals, religious narrative or biblical text, and her orchestral compositions. An active supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, Jessye and her choir participated in the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Active into her 80s, she taught at Pittsburg State University (Pittsburg, Kansas), and the University of Michigan. She donated her extensive collection of books, scores, artwork, and other materials to the University of Michigan, which became the basis of the university's African American Music Collection. Dr. Jessye was a member of Sigma Gamma Rho sorority. Legacy and honors Shortly before her death in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she established the Eva Jessye African-American Music Collection at the University of Michigan. She left most of her personal papers to Pittsburg State University in Kansas. References Eva Jessye, My Spirituals. Robbins-Engel, 1927. Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans: A History. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition. External links https://digitalcommons.pittstate.edu/jessye/, Pittsburg State University. 1895 births 1992 deaths 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American composers 20th-century classical composers 20th-century women composers African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American women academics American women academics African-American academics African-American women classical composers American women classical composers People from Coffeyville, Kansas Pupils of Percy Goetschius University of Michigan faculty