"Amen" and Jester Hairston

When I was growing up, it was tradition to watch the film "Lillies of the Field" at Easter Time. It was a big event in our household when this 1963 film made its first network broadcast. The film was a milestone film for it's time with Sidney Poitier winning the Academy Award for Best Actor, a first for an African-American male.

The film was based on a 1962 book by William Edmund Barrett, a novelist whose work often dealt with morality and religion. Barrett also wrote "The Left Hand of God" that dealt with a World War II pilot who deserts after crashing his plane in China and he ends up impersonating a priest. Humphrey Bogart played the lead character in the 1951 film adaptation.

Barrett, pictured at the left, wrote the story "Lilies of the Field" during the height of the civil rights era. The book, and subsequent film, dealt with a traveling handyman (played by Poitier in the film) who stops for water at a farm in Arizona. He discovers that the farm is run by a group of German nuns, and he is persuaded to do a small job to fix their roof. Poitier accepts an offer to stay overnight, and he expects to be paid for his work in the morning. The handyman soon discovers that the nuns have no money, but he finds himself staying on to help them with other jobs - and he becomes involved in their plan to build a new chapel.

I don't want to spoil the movie for those of you who have not seen it, but I highly recommend it. In addition to telling a story about a young African-American and a group of white nuns, the story becomes move involved when Poitier learns that the nuns escaped East Germany by crossing the Berlin Wall. In addition to this intriguing story that was dealing with events current to the time, the farm is located in an Arizona community that serves an Hispanic population. There were some powerful stories, and the film featured moving performances from an exceptional cast.

The reason I am bringing this film up on a folk music website is because of the music contained in the feature. Sidney Poitier's character is a Baptist, and there is a memorably scene where he shares southern baptist hymns with the Catholic nuns. It is a powerful scene, and also a wonderful example of the power of music to bring people together.

The song that most people recognize from the movie was a spiritual called "Amen". I remember that the song became a traditional song in my junior high school and high school. For reasons I still can't understand, the song would often be sung in the boys locker room. Perhaps it was the powerful feeling that singing of the words evoked, or maybe it was just how the singing reverberated in the acoustics of the locker room and shower stalls. Whatever the reason, for me it showed how songs enter the folk tradition.

There is another story about this film and the song."Amen" is NOT a "traditional" spiritual. The song was written by Jester Hairston - an African American composer AND actor whose story has almost been forgotten.is another story about this film and the song. "Amen" is NOT a "traditional" spiritual. The song was written by Jester Hairston - an African American composer AND actor whose story has almost been forgotten.

The grandson of slaves, Jestie Hairston was born in 1901 in North Carolina, but his family moved to the Pittsburgh area where he would get the nickname "Jester" from an elementary school teacher. Jester had an affinity for music, and after a lot of hard work and some encouragement from friends, he was able to enroll at Tufts University in Boston. He excelled at Tufts and graduated cum laude and would later study at Julliard.

During the Depression, the Works Progress Administration was finding jobs for artists. Hairston decided to write to President Roosevelt, but he decided to mail the letter to Roosevelt's mother, believing that it would help get his application noticed. It worked. He received a letter back from the presidents mother, and a job as a choir director at a music school in Harlem.

Hairston would soon find himself working on Broadway with the Hal Johnson Negro Choir in the production of "Green Pastures" - a telling of bible stories from a rural African-American point of view - although the characterizations appear racist by contemporary standards. Hairston found himself in Hollywood with the choir.

While in Hollywood, the choir performed several concerts. One was witnessed by noted Russian composer Dimitri Tiomkin. Tiomkin and Hairston began a 30 year collaboration with Hairston creating arrangements for the composers film works. Hairston would arrange music for many films that Tiomkin worked on, and their notable work on "Lost Horizon" won an Academy Award for music.

Hairston would work as an actor as well. John Wayne cast him as Jethro in the classic film "The Alamo". He became one of the first African-American actors in the Screen Actors Guild. He was also a regular on Amos & Andy as well as several Tarzan pictures. Hollywood, being what it was at the time, portrayed blacks in offensive racial stereotypes. Hairston would later tell the New York Times - "We had no power. We had to take it, and because we took it, the young people today have greater opportunities."

Television audiences might remember Jester as Rollie Forbes in the gospel inspired 1980's television series "Amen", or perhaps as Wildcat on "That's My Mama". He was a face and a voice that you probably saw hundreds of times over the years.

Music was always an important part of his life. Hairston's work with Hal Johnson led him to a discovery of spirituals. Johnson taught Hairston the history and the respect of the music, and Hairston would continue the work of preserving his culture. It is estimated that Hairston wrote or arranged more than 300 spirituals and he wrote several music books. Hairston also performed concerts around the globe, further spreading spirituals and African-American folk song.

Hairston also led the first integrated choir in Hollywood. He was a guest conductor for many choirs, including the Mormon Tabernacle, and at the age of 80 he led the 25,000 member Russian Choir. Hairston also spent considerable time teaching music in schools and camps and teaching a new generation to carry on the traditions.

Harry Belafonte recorded Hairston's arrangement of "Mary's Little Boy Chile". In the film "Lillies of the Field", it was Hairston's voice singing "Amen" as Poiter lip synced the classic song.

Jester Hairston passed away in 2000 at the age of 98.

As another Easter comes, I will probably pull out my DVD of "Lilies of the Field" and once again singalong to "Amen". It might take me back to a different time in my life, and hopefully remind me of the power and importance of folk music. It also reminds me of lessons learned decades ago, and issues that continue to plague our nation. We can all continue to learn from it.

Thank you Jester Hairston.