Robert Nathaniel Dett was a highly talented American musician of African descent. He worked as a composer, choir leader, pianist, teacher, poet, and writer. Dett was recognized in his time as the first American composer to blend Negro folk music with European art music in a refined and skillful way. He played an important role in preserving and studying spirituals through his writing and leadership. Many see him as a key figure who inspired future African-American musicians and contributed significantly to American music history. Dett wrote several important works, including The Emancipation of Negro Music, which won a literary prize at Harvard in 1920, and The Album of a Heart, a book of poems. He was interested in philosophy and was connected to both Rosicrucianism and Christianity. His music included influences from many cultures, such as ancient Hebrew stories, African chants, and Hindu poetry. Toward the end of his life, his music expressed ideas about unity among people, messages that remain meaningful today. Dett was the first African descendant to graduate from Oberlin College with degrees in piano and composition in 1908. He received honorary doctorates from Howard University and Oberlin College before returning to school in 1931 to earn a master’s degree from the Eastman School of Music. He grew up near Niagara Falls and started piano at a young age, first playing the popular light music of the time. After hearing a Dvořák piece at Oberlin, Dett felt deeply connected to the spiritual songs of his heritage, which inspired him to compose new music that honored Negro folk traditions in aHIGHERARTISTICway. Dett opposed ragtime-influenced minstrel shows, seeing them as harmful to the true folk music of African Americans and reinforcing stereotypes. Inspired by Dvořák’s advice to use native folk music in composition, Dett created works that elevated Negro folk idioms and helped shape an American musical identity based on these traditions.