the Roberta Martin Singers sang at Gian-Carlo Menotti's Spoleto Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, in 1963. Her great contribution to the history of gospel music was her development of a distinctive gospel-piano style and the special sound of her group, which integrated for the first time men and women into the gospel chorus during the mid-40s when she brought female voices into her all-male group, which she accompanied on piano. On July 15, 1998, the United States Postal Service issued a 32 cent commemorative stamp honoring Martin's influence. The stamp was one of four honoring gospel women. The other women honored were Mahalia Jackson, Clara Ward, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Footnotes References Tony Heilbut, The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times Limelight Editions (1997), Horace Clarence Boyer, How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel Elliott and Clark (1995) Bernice Johnson Reagon, We'll Understand It Better By And By: Pioneering African-American Gospel Composers Smithsonian Institution (1992), American gospel singers Singers from Arkansas American women composers Savoy Records artists People from Helena, Arkansas 1907 births 1969 deaths Apollo Records artists 20th-century American composers 20th-century women composers 20th-century African-American women singers