A00030 - Thomas Dorsey, Father of Gospel

From this endorsement followed the first choruses, the first publishing houses, the first professional organizations, and the first paid gospel concerts.  Thomas Dorsey (1899-1993), the "Father of Gospel," founded the first gospel choir in the world with Theodore Frye at Chicago's Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1931.  Dorsey later established the first music publishing firm dedicated only to gospel music in 1932.  The 1930 endorsement of gospel music b the Baptist convention, which had been carried away by Dorsey's "If You See My Savior," called public attention to a major change that had been taking place in the music of black churches. The 1930 endorsement is often considered the starting point for the history of gospel music.