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Contributing Institution:
Arhoolie Foundation
Title: Robert Stone Sacred Steel Collection
Identifier/Call Number: AF.005
Physical Description:
9 Linear Feet
15 photograph boxes (9 linear feet), 184 audio cassettes, 27
minidiscs, 34 digital audiotapes
Date (inclusive): 1992-2008
Abstract: This collection contains photographs
and sound recordings by folklorist Robert Stone. These materials document the Sacred Steel
gospel tradition from two African American Pentecostal churches in Florida: the House of
God, Keith Dominion and the Church of the Living God, Jewell Dominion.
Material Specific Details: Photographs, Sound
Recordings
Language of Material:
English .
Collection open for research.
All requests for permission to reproduce or to publish must be submitted in writing to the
Arhoolie Foundation.
[Item title], Robert Stone Sacred Steel Collection (AF-005). The Arhoolie Foundation, El
Cerrito, California.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Robert Stone, 2020.
No additions to the collection are anticipated.
Processed by Maggie Harrison, 2023. This collection was minimally processed to facilitate
access. Materials are in their original folders and retain their original folder titles and
organization. Boxes are organized by year and type of material.
Originally developed for playing Hawaiian music, the steel guitar was integrated into the
sacred music of two branches of the House of God, an African American Holiness Pentecostal
church, in the late 1930s. Electric steel guitar music became a key part of the services,
conventions, and revivals of these two sects. Sacred Steel has evolved into a distinctive
genre of African American gospel music with a unique guitar style and repertoire.
Robert Stone is a Florida-based folklorist and photographer who has been instrumental in
documenting the Sacred Steel gospel tradition in African American holiness churches. From
1990 to 2010, Stone was a folklorist for the Florida Folklife Program. During this time, he
photographed the Sacred Steel tradition and interviewed its practitioners. Stone worked with
Arhoolie Records to produce several Sacred Steel albums and a documentary film entitled
Sacred Steel (2001). He has published his research and photographs
in two books:
Sacred Steel: Inside an African American Steel Guitar
Tradition
(2010) and
Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus! Photographs
from the Sacred Steel Community
(2020).
Source:
Sacred Steel:
Traditional Sacred African-American Steel Guitar Music in Florida
(liner notes),
Arhoolie Records CD 450, 1997.
The collection comprises Stone's documentary work on the Sacred Steel tradition.
Photographic materials include negatives, black and white proofs, and color prints. Stone's
photographs document performances, church services, and music festivals such as the Sacred
Steel Convention and the National Folk Festival. The sound recordings include original tapes
and digitized audio files. Stone's sound recordings feature interviews with significant
figures in the Sacred Steel community, including the Campbell Brothers, Willie Eason, Aubrey
Ghent, The Lee Boys, and many others. These materials were collected while Stone was working
for the Florida Folklife Program.
Series 1: Photographs, 1997-2006
Series 2: Sound Recordings, 1992-2008
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Sacred Steel music
Gospel music
Guitar music (Gospel)
Gospel musicians
African American Pentecostal churches--Music
Music--Religious aspects--Pentecostal churches
African Americans--Florida
Pedal steel guitar