Regarding that last point, it's an irony - though perhaps an unsurprising one - that music derived from the traditions of African slaves should have been first recorded by a white band.

He longed to tell white tourists thronging Washington that the Capitol had been built by slaves, and that Pennsylvania Avenue had held a slave market, "right by where the Smithsonian is".

The old neighbor called at the White House, and Lincoln talked to him for hours about the advisability of issuing a proclamation freeing the slaves.