‘Tis of Thee: A history
Like thousands of Americans, Spokane author Claire Rudolf Murphy tuned in to watch President Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2009.
She enjoyed Aretha Franklin’s soul-stirring rendition of my “My Country ’Tis of Thee,” commonly known as “America,” but wondered why Franklin chose to sing that particular anthem on such a momentous occasion.
That question provided the prompt for Murphy’s 17th book, “My Country ’Tis of Thee: How One Song Reveals the History of Civil Rights.”
“I discovered there were all kinds of versions of this melody,” she said. Read more. Cindy Hval, SR
My youngest son and I still read aloud to each other and we really enjoyed this book. Do you have a favorite patriotic song?
