CULTURAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF BLACK AMERICANS,(CLEARVUE/eav, $60.00).
The artistic achievements of African Americans are examined in this CD-ROM for young adults (Macintosh and Windows), which encompasses art, literature, and jazz. Two of the four segments are devoted to jazz, tracing that musical form from its African roots to its birth in New Orleans, and on to its twentieth-century popularity. Musicians featured include Scott Joplin (1868-1917), Thomas “Fats” Waller (1904-43), Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong (1901-71), William”Count” Basie (1904-84), and Sarah Vaughan (1924-90). The program’s segment on literature showcases such writers as eighteenth-century poet Phillis Wheatley (1753?-84) and abolitionist Frederick Douglass (1817-95), while the section on art focuses on the work of such artists as photographer James VanDerZee (1886-1983). An Index of African-American History and Culture, and the American Concise Encyclopedia complements the historical narrative.
