Gayle Wald is Professor of American Studies at George Washington University. Her latest book, This Is Rhythm: Ella Jenkins, Children’s Music, and the Long Civil Rights Movement, is a biography of the legendary “First Lady of Children’s Music” and was dubbed “stellar” by Booklist. It is the product of 7 years of research, including dozens of interviews with Jenkins and access to her personal archives. Wald’s other books include It’s Been Beautiful: Soul! and Black Power Television and Shout, Sister, Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock-and-Roll Trailblazer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. An updated edition of Shout, Sister, Shout! appeared in 2023, after Tharpe's belated induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Shout, Sister, Shout! has been the basis for a BBC documentary (dir. Mick Csaky) and a musical (book by Cheryl West) and is currently optioned as a feature film from Jagged Films/Tribeca. Wald's work has been supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as multiple NEH fellowships, most recently a “Public Scholars” grant for This Is Rhythm.
