Collection Title: "The Big Singing Day" Drawing
Series Number: MS25-05
Processed and Cataloged by: Susan White
Date Listed: September 17, 2025
Date Span: 1903
Size of Collection: .2 linear feet
Number of Boxes: 1 half-sized box
Type of Material: Newspaper page
Condition of Material: Good.
Arrangement: None
Historical Information: “Big Singing Day” is a community-wide, all-day singing event, held the fourth Sunday of May at the Marshall County Courthouse. Closely intertwined with homecoming and community identity, the event was established in 1884 by historian, James R. Lemon, in an effort to preserve songs and tunes from the William Walker’s Southern Harmony tune book. The songs from Southern Harmony largely feature shape-note singing, a form of A cappella singing that uses four distinct shapes to represent different pitches. This event is the oldest, indigenous musical traditions held in the United States, and as of current, only takes place within Benton, KY.
Scope and Content: Collection consists of one, reprinted magazine picture. The picture, taken in 1903, offers a glimpse at the Old Benton Court House during Big Singing Day before it was destroyed by fire in 1914.
Subject Headings / Descriptors:
Benton, KY – Marshall County
James R. Lemon – Southern Harmony
Traditions – Shape-note singing
Big Singing Day
Old Benton Court House -- fire
