The choir was part of the weekly religious radio series, Wings Over Jordan , created to showcase the group. Wings Over Jordan broke the color barrier as the first radio program produced and hosted by African-Americans to be nationally broadcast over a network. The program was the first of its kind which was easily accessible to audiences in the Deep South , featuring distinguished black church and civic leaders, scholars and artists as guest speakers.
Billed as one of the world's greatest Negro choirs, the Wings Over Jordan Choir is regarded as a forerunner [ 12 ] of the civil rights movement [ 13 ] and a driving force in the development of choral music [ 14 ] helping to both preserve [ 15 ] by introducing traditional spirituals to a mainstream audience.
Members of the "Wings Over Jordan" choir, prior to the organization of the group, were mainly members of the Gethsemane Church choir. Few of the vocalists have had any formal musical training. Men in the group were house painters, garage attendants, chauffeurs, WPA workers and elevator operators, while women were employed as maids, cooks and seamstresses.
Glenn Thomas Settle. Settle [ 19 ] as one of nine children, Settle's paternal grandfather Tom Settle was an African prince who was captured and sold into slavery during the s; his maternal grandfather was a member of the Cherokee Nation. Like Settle, most of Gethsemane's congregation were migrant families from the South. Although it was not one of the city's more prominent churches, it had a choir of rich, natural, untrained voices.
Tate, who had become involved with Gethsemane when Settle was appointed pastor, was appointed director. After consulting a colleague at Cleveland's street department who was an ethnic radio broadcaster, Settle entered the choir in an on-air amateur contest hosted by Cleveland station WJAY. In addition to the choir's musical performances, The Negro Hour featured guests who would talk about issues facing Blacks; the first program's guests were Rev.
