To the Glory of God and the Dignity of Man: The Story of the Berea College Oratorio, July 1957

To the Glory of God and the Dignity of Man: The Story of the Berea College Oratorio, July 1957; by Clara Chassell Cooper. The story of the creation of the Berea College Oratorio as told by lyricist Clara Chassell Cooper, faculty member at the college. As Cooper listened to Berea's annual performance of Handel's Messiah she noted it used the King James version of the Bible. She decided to write a similar oratorio with text from the recently released Revised Standard Version of the Bible, and focused on the theme of brotherhood, matching Berea College's aims. This text describes Cooper's journey in writing and working on the project.