Enslavement to
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Soul Music in Harrisburg
From Alan Seidner, July 18, 2003
I grew up in Harrisburg in the 1950s and 60s. I lived Uptown in the Jefferson Village neighborhood and went to Camp Curtin and William Penn. Despite the racial tensions that erupted in the city in the late 60s, what united white and black students in those years (at least the male students) was soul music. Smokey, the Temptations, Delfonics, Archie Bell and the Drells, Lou Rawls, Sam Cooke, the Magnificent Men, etc. This music did more than anything else to bridge the racial divide. Unfortunately, it was ultimately powerless to prevent the disintegration of the delicate fabric of integration that had characterized the Uptown school districts in those years.
In any event I remember seeing the Parliaments at the Sunny Club (or was it the Raven) on the West Shore and Jerry Butler at Dickinson College in Carlisle.
As a matter of fact, I'm writing a novel about Harrisburg in the 60s. I wasn't familiar with Soulville Records until now. If you have any written information about the company and its activities I'd love to receive it.