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Items There'd never been no trouble if they'd kidnapped a coon

There'd never been no trouble if they'd kidnapped a coon

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Library division & collection with this item:

LIBRARY DIVISION
Music Division

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COLLECTION
American popular songs

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SUB-COLLECTION
Sheet music, 1899

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This Item

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Title
There'd never been no trouble if they'd kidnapped a coon
Additional title: A little coon quite dark, was sitting in the park. [first line of song]
Additional title: There'd never been no trouble if they'd kidnapp'd a coon. [first line of chorus]
Names
Davis, Gussie L., 1863-1899 (Composer)
Davis, Gussie L., 1863-1899 (Lyricist)
Browne, Tom (Lyricist)
Collection

American popular songs

Sheet music, 1899

Dates / Origin
Date Issued: 1899
Place: New York
Publisher: Howley, Haviland & Co.
Library locations
Music Division
Topics
Songs
Baby carriages
Passing (Identity)
African Americans -- 1890-1899 -- Children
Kidnappings -- United States
Humorous songs
African Americans
Genres
Scores
Notes
Content: Cover design includes drawing of an African American baby in a baby carriage with a pacifier in its mouth; a sign hangs from one of the handles which reads: Nobody's steal me.
Content: On cover: A bit of black wisdom.
Content: Summary: One night an African American and white boy are sitting in a park, the white boy is kidnapped, and the kidnapper gets a jail term, but the narrator moralizes that no sentence would be given if the African American child was kidnapped; the African American child cries but is apparently abandoned by his mother; Jim Johnson gets a plan to get the African American child kidnappend again, but when the kidnapper realizes the child's race, he leaves him; Johnson then has a plan to white-wash the child, but when the child is taken by white people, they wash him, realize he's African American, and put him back in the park.
Statement of responsibility: words by Tom Browne ; music by Gussie L. Davis.
Physical Description
Extent: 8 p. ; 35 cm.
Type of Resource
Notated music
Languages
English
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b10826013
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b21736880
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b21738653
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): b2bf06a0-c595-012f-3f15-58d385a7bc34
Rights Statement
The New York Public Library believes that this item is in the public domain under the laws of the United States, but did not make a determination as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. This item may not be in the public domain under the laws of other countries. Though not required, if you want to credit us as the source, please use the following statement, "From The New York Public Library," and provide a link back to the item on our Digital Collections site. Doing so helps us track how our collection is used and helps justify freely releasing even more content in the future.

Item timeline of events

  • 1863: Creator Born
  • 1899: Creator Died
  • 1899: Issued
  • 2016: Digitized
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Music Division, The New York Public Library. "There'd never been no trouble if they'd kidnapped a coon" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1899. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/97138b2e-92b8-c58c-e040-e00a18067b2b

Chicago/Turabian Format

Music Division, The New York Public Library. "There'd never been no trouble if they'd kidnapped a coon" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 23, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/97138b2e-92b8-c58c-e040-e00a18067b2b

APA Format

Music Division, The New York Public Library. (1899). There'd never been no trouble if they'd kidnapped a coon Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/97138b2e-92b8-c58c-e040-e00a18067b2b

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/97138b2e-92b8-c58c-e040-e00a18067b2b | title= (notated music) There'd never been no trouble if they'd kidnapped a coon, (1899) |author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=April 23, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

There'd never been no trouble if they'd kidnapped a coon