American vernacular music manuscripts, ca. 1730–1910 is a free online resource supported by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The site presents digitized images of holdings of the American Antiquarian Society and the Center for Popular Music. It is searchable by keyword or title; advanced search options are also available.
Above, Sorrowing hearts at home weeping sad and lonely, or, When this cruel war is over, one of the most popular songs of the U.S. Civil War (click to enlarge). This manuscript, attributed to Charles Stewart of Fayette County, Pennsylvania, contains shape-note music and lyrics on ruled stationary and is inscribed “August 24th 1867, Saturday half past” and “June 9th 1868”.
Below, a concertina rendition of the song by Gary Coover.
