Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement

A free concert by award-winning American folksinger Chris Vallillo will be held Monday, July 19, from 1-3 p.m. in Room 206 of the Madison County Courthouse Administration Building. The concert, Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement celebrates the incredible music that came out of the early struggle for equal rights. The concert is held in conjunction with the Voices and Votes exhibition which opens at the same location that day.

In a show created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the civil rights movement, award-winning folksinger Chris Vallillo performs pivotal songs from the music that inspired and sustained this landmark

movement. Intermixed with the music, Vallillo presents first-hand accounts of the historic struggle and discusses the impact of music to our nation’s most important social cause.

Vallillo has an affinity for American roots music, performing on six-string and bottleneck slide guitars and harmonica. His recording of Oh Freedom! Songs of the Civil Rights Movement charted at #6 on the folk charts when it was released in 2016.

If patrons prefer to attend the concert virtually from their computer, tablet or smartphone, use the following link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/535801845.  There is also a phone dial-in option: (312) 757-3121 (Access code 535-801-845).

This concert is offered free to the public from Madison County government and the Madison County Historical Society through a grant from Illinois Humanities. Chris Vallillo is part of the Illinois Humanities Illinois Road Scholars Program.

For additional information about the concert, call the Madison County Archival Library at 618-656-7569, visit the County History Museum website or the Madison County Historical Society website, madcohistory.org.