{{Short description|Choctaw freedman and musician (c. 1820-?)}} {{Infobox person | name = Minerva Willis | other_names = Aunt Minerva | birth_date = {{circa|1820}} | father = Wallace Willis }}
'''Minerva Willis''' ({{Circa|1820}} – ?) was a Choctaw Freedman and musician, also known as '''Aunt Minerva''', who contributed to spirituals alongside her father, Wallace Willis. Their compositions, including "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" and "Steal Away to Jesus," gained international recognition through performances by the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
== Early life == Minerva Willis, often referred to as Aunt Minerva, was likely born {{Circa|1820}}. She was enslaved in the Choctaw Nation area, now part of Oklahoma, and lived on a plantation owned by Britt Willis, an Irishman became a citizen of Choctaw Nation via his marriage to a Choctaw woman.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Ward |first=Shelby |date=2021 |title=Oklahoma History Conference: The Misremembered ‘Uncle’ Wallace and ‘Aunt’ Minerva: Establishing Father-Daughter Kinship |url=https://www.okhistory.org/about/conference2021 |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Oklahoma Historical Society |language=en-us}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Opal Hartsell |title=Indomitable Oklahoma Women |date=1994 |publisher=Oklahoma Heritage Association |isbn=978-0-86546-088-1 |language=en}}</ref> Willis, along with her father Wallace Willis, was transported from Mississippi to Indian Territory during the Trail of Tears.<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Flickinger_1914">{{cite book |author=Flickinger, Robert Elliot |url=https://archive.org/details/choctawfreed00flick/page/n7 |title=The Choctaw Freedmen and the Story of Oak Hill Industrial Academy, Valliant, McCurtain County, Oklahoma |publisher=Journal and Times Press |year=1914 |isbn=978-1515222804 |location=Iowa and Florida |ref=Flickinger}}</ref> She had no formal education, but her exposure to music through her father became the foundation for her future contributions to spiritual music.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Willis, "Uncle" Wallace and "Aunt" Minerva {{!}} The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture |url=https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=WI018 |access-date=2024-10-23 |website=Oklahoma Historical Society {{!}} OHS |language=en-us}}</ref>
== Music == During her adult life, Willis worked alongside her father, Wallace. The Willis family was periodically hired out by their owner, Britt Willis, to Spencer Academy in Spencerville, Oklahoma, a school for Choctaw boys established around 1845.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" /> While working at the school, Willis and her father became favorites among the students due to the spirituals they performed during their evening work sessions.<ref name=":1" />
Their musical contributions came to the attention of reverend Alexander Reid, the school's superintendent starting in 1849.<ref name=":1" /> Reid documented several of their songs and introduced them to the broader public. Among the most notable spirituals were "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Steal Away to Jesus," and "Roll, Jordan, Roll."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> In 1871, reverend Reid shared these songs with the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The Jubilee Singers incorporated the Willis' compositions into their performances, which were heard throughout the United States and Europe.<ref name=":1" />
== Personal life == Genealogical research from 2019 to 2021 revealed that Willis was the daughter of Wallace Willis, not his wife, as previously believed. Her mother was Charlotte, and all three were enslaved together by Britt Willis.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> This correction was supported by Wallace Willis's 1884 obituary, written by reverend Reid, and other legal documents.<ref name=":1" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Willis, Minerva}} Category:1800s births Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:Choctaw Freedmen people Category:19th-century American slaves Category:American women slaves Category:19th-century African-American women singers Category:19th-century American women composers Category:African-American women composers Category:19th-century American songwriters Category:People enslaved in Mississippi Category:Trail of Tears survivors Category:Choctaw women Category:Native American Freedwomen Category:Year of death missing Category:Native American slaves Category:Composers from Indian Territory