Donna Gadling - Kum Ba Yah

Topic: Movement
The hand gestures used with “Kumbaya” commonly are believed to be from the sign language used by the deaf.  The post for 2 November 2017 argues they, in fact, emerged in Midwestern summer camps, but did not spread until adults had a rationale for allowing children to use their hands while singing.  Then the movements were corrected to conform with American Sign Language standards.

The post for 2 November 2017 suggests the reason people needed an explanation for gestures is that, while movement is accepted by infants, it is regarded as something to be outgrown.  People who are not allowed to move their hands while they sing could not imagine others might have had different childhoods.  When they finally saw imitative hand gestures, their only analogy was what they had heard about communication in deaf communities.

The explanation that the gestures are ASL is an example of what Hugh Jansen calls exoteric folklore, a belief held by one group about another.  He labels a group’s internal beliefs esoteric. [1]  In this case, the exoteric belief is the deaf communicate with their hands.  The deduction based on that belief is: therefore, these motions are ASL.

Folk beliefs are not quaint vestiges of the past; if people believe something to be true, they act as if it were, and their actions can create a reality.  Versions of “Kumbaya” have been published in books that give credence to the belief.  In 1976, two years after I saw the imitative gestures at a 4-H day camp in Ohio, the National Grange published  Lift Up Your Hands for people working with the deaf.  Hal Leonard intended Sing Language for Singers for outsiders.  The first is on the border of esoteric lore, while the second represents exoteric perceptions.

Neither editor, Donna Gadling nor John Jacobson, are deaf, nor are the consultants who worked with them.  The one with the most experience is Lottie Riefhof.  She learned ASL in the 1940s at Gallaudet College, the school for students with hearing problems in Washington, DC.  She began interpreting lessons for deaf students at Missouri’s Central Bible College in 1949. [2]

Jacobson does not identify his sources.  He simply says: “I am not a sign language expert, but have learned from experts to know that the signs on the DVD are accurate.” [3]  To him that is sufficient.

Michele P. believes one common exoteric belief is that ASL is “just a signed version of English, word-for-word.” [4]  Jacobson’s book meets this requirement with a glossary of signs.  Then, it tells the reader which words are signed in “Kumbaya.”

ASL grammar does not conjugate verbs, and places them before the subject.  Thus, “someone’s singing” would be “sing someone.”  Both Gadling and Jacobson use the standard word order.

Additional meaning is given by facial expressions.  Thus, one should look sad with the word “crying,” and happy with “singing.”  This is intuitive, and is illustrated by Jacobson.  Sue Hart’s drawings for Lift Up Your Hands do not show this.  The same figure appears with each sign.  Except for “laughing.” which involves opening the mouth, only the hands change.

The literal selection of gestures by an outsider can lead to the deaf equivalent of broken English, in which the burden of understanding is placed on the receiver of a message, not the well-intentioned sender.

On the other hand, when one departs from literal translation of Jacobson, then something may be perceived to be missing by outsiders who can hear the melody.  When she was working on Lift Up Your Hands, Gadling was directing a Sign Choir at Gallaudet.  She tells readers to “show the rhythm of the music through the swaying of your body of the Signs themselves.” [5]

If this advice sounds contradictory, it must be remembered the deaf community does not conform with exoteric view that they all were born unable to detect any sound.  Many have some ability to hear, but not enough to communicate easily with outsiders.  Most can feel music vibrations, [6] and so would be able to maintain a beat if they signed to a strong accompaniment.

Performers
Gadling
Vocal Soloist: single melodic line
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Accompaniment: none
Rhythm Accompaniment: none

Credits
Gadling: African (Angola)
Jacobson: Congan Folksong

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English, American Sign Language

Verses:
Gadling: kumbaya, crying, praying, laughing, singing
Jacobson: kumbaya, crying, praying, singing

Pronoun: someone
Term for Deity: Lord

Basic Form:
Gadling: verse-burden
Jacobson: open-ended song

Notes on Music
Gadling
Opening Phrase: 1-3-5
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: not indicated
Key Signature: no sharps or flats
Guitar/Autoharp Chords:  C F G
Basic Structure: strophic repetition
Singing Style: one syllable for one note except final “Lord”

Jacobson
The book comes with a DVD that includes him performing “Kumbaya” [7]

Notes on Performance
Jacobson assumes people learn by imitation.  He suggests one should watch the DVD several times, and then consult the book for clarification. [8]

While Jacobson’s method emulates modern pedagogy, it overlooks a key element.  People only see what their culture values.  ASL is demanding in its precision, but, as the post for post for 4 November 2017 shows, people see esoterically, not exoterically.

As an example, J. W. Pepper has a still from a Jacobson seminar on stage movement.  He is standing with his back to the audience with his right arm raised in a fist.  All but one woman imitate this action.  She sees only the upraised arm and has her hand open. [9]

In contrast, Hart made careful drawings for Life Up Your Hands that show the exact position of the fingers and hands.  The abstraction is more useful for the esoteric community, than the photographs from life.

Notes on Performers
Jacobson was raised in a singing family in western Wisconsin [10] in an area settled by Norwegians. [11]  After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, he spent ten years working for Walt Disney Productions in Florida.  This trained him in the large movements and smiling demeanor required to please large crowds.  He has been working for Hal Leonard since the early 1980s. [12]

Gadley is from Flushing, New York, [13] and sang with a Christian rock back in Maryland, Sons of Thunder, from 1967 to 1974. [14]  When she was working on Lift Up Your Hands, she was employed by the ministry of Tom Skinner at Galluadet College. [15]  WorldCat has the book under three names: Donna C. Gadley, Donna Gadley Weaks, and Donna Gadley Walters.

Jenny Grobusky suggested the Grange sponsor Lift Up Your Hands. [16]  While the Grange and 4-H are separate organizations, they both exist in rural areas where adult 4-H leaders also may be members of the local grange.  She was born Virginia Brown in Walhalla, South Carolina, [17] where her husband is a leader in the state Grange. [18]  She was Director of Women’s Activities for the national organization in the 1970s.  Her main projects were in the traditional areas of cooking [19] and sewing. [20]  It is not known if she suggested the book after seeing children sing gesture songs, or if she had a more personal reason.

Availability
Book: “Kum Ba Yah.”  6–7 in Lift Up Your Hands, edited by Donna C. Gadling.  Washington, DC: The National Grange, 1976.

Book: Kumbaya.  46 in Sign Language for Singers, edited by John Jacobson.  Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Hal Leonard, 2004.

End Notes
1.  Wm. Hugh Jansen.  “The Esoteric-Exoteric Factor in Folklore.”  Fabula 2:205–211:1959.  Reprinted on pages 43–51 in The Study of Folklore, edited by Alan Dundes.  Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1965.

2.  Wikipedia.  “Lottie Louise Riekehof.”
3.  Jacobson.  2.
4.  Michele P.  “An Intro to ASL Grammar Rules.”  Take Lessons website.
5.  Gadling.  4.

6.  Venkat Rao.  “Can Deaf People Hear Music? (Answer: Yes, They Can).”  Assistive Technology website, 1 June 2016.

7.  The book is not, as advertized, a book with a DVD, but a DVD with an accompanying booklet.  I do not have a DVD player, and know nothing about his version.

8.  Jacobson.  2.

9.  Brendan Lyons.  “An Interview with Choreographer John Jacobson.”  J. W. Pepper website, 1 November 2018.  The video is John Jacobson.  Together a Chord Can Happen.

10.  Lyons.
11.  Wikipedia.  “Blair, Wisconsin” and “Trempealeau County, Wisconsin.”
12.  Lyons.
13.  Item.  The Daily Independent, Kannapolis, North Carolina, 17 July 1966.  3.
14.  “SOT: A History.”  VK website, 4 May 2014.
15.  Gadling.  Back cover profile.

16.  William A. Steele, The National Grange.  “Acknowledgments.”  Gadling.  Inside front cover.

17.  “Eleanor Elizabeth Brown Alexander.”  Hockaday Funeral and Cremation Service website, 26 February 2013.

18.  “Community Progress Judges Visit Connecticut.”  Connecticut Granger 7:1:Novmber 1967.  It lists George Grobusky as Master of the South Carolina State Grange.

19.  “National Grange to Publish Cookbook.”  Lancaster Farming, Ephrata, Pennsylvania, 28 June 1975.

20.  “Grange Sewing Contest Marks 20th Year.”  The Gaffney Ledger, Gaffney, South Carolina, 3 April 1978.  4.