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Richard Allen’s hymnal is of historic significance for several reasons. It was the first hymnbook compiled by a black man for use by a black congregation. As a “folk-selected” anthology, it indicates which hymns were popular among black Methodists at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Many of these hymns served as source material for the spirituals of the slaves—the so-called Negro spirituals. To phrases, couplets, and stanzas culled from favorite hymns, the slaves added other verses and refrains to compose the texts of their spirituals. Finally, according to all evidence, Allen’s hymnal is apparently the earliest source in history that includes hymns to which “wandering” choruses or refrains are attached; that is, choruses that are freely added to any hymn rather than affixed permanently to specific hymns

Eileen Southern, Readings in Black American Music (New York: W. W. Norton Company, 1983), 52.