Martin and Morris Music Company

CTL-E-1206 · Institution · label · unspecified

PROVISIONAL evidence grade of this record

Kenneth Morris and Sallie Martin co-owned the nation's oldest continuously running Black gospel music publishing company, established in Chicago in 1940 and operating into the 1980s. Martin spent most of her time on the road with her singers promoting the firm's compositions; Morris stayed in Chicago arranging, composing, and notating music; Morris's wife Necie handled most of the company's paperwork.

Notes

Merged into canonical KG 2026-10-03 from BMI-002; source entity IDs: CTL-DR-BMI-002:martin-and-morris-music-company; source research type(s): label / publisher. Description completed 2026-10-03 from the source research record (claims) during the KG completion pass. Era not present in source research record(s); marked unspecified pending human review.

Sources

Smithsonian SOVA finding aid (NMAH.AC.0492) (primary source)
The Hymnology Archive (quoting Boyer)
The Hymnology Archive; Wikipedia (Morris biography)

Record CTL-E-1206 · CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph · evidence grade: PROVISIONAL · 3 sources (1 primary) · CTL research: BMI-002.
Directory: all entity records · the knowledge graph

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Cite as: CultureTechLens, “Martin and Morris Music Company (CTL-E-1206),” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, October 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1206/

Chicago: CultureTechLens. “Martin and Morris Music Company (CTL-E-1206).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. Chicago, IL: CultureTechLens, 2026. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1206/
APA: CultureTechLens. (2026). Martin and Morris Music Company (CTL-E-1206) [Entity record]. CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph. https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1206/
MLA: CultureTechLens. “Martin and Morris Music Company (CTL-E-1206).” CultureTechLens Knowledge Graph, 2026, https://culturetechlens.com/graph/entities/ctl-e-1206/

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The movies are popular in the Negro section of Chicago, Illinois, ChicagoPhoto: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

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Girl listening to music at dance. Chicago, Illinois, ChicagoPhoto: Russell Lee, FSA-OWI, Public Domain, via Library of Congress

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