TACOMA, Wash. — The hymn, “We Shall Overcome” became a protest anthem in the fight for civil rights. The lyrics made their way into the sermons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and they were sung at the March on Washington.
According to a Pierce County family, for decades, the song’s composer had gone uncredited.
Tacoma resident Latashia Galler said the composer of the hymn is a distant relative, her great-great-aunt Louise Shropshire.
“She and Dr. King were really good friends,” said Galler.
In black and white family photographs, Shropshire is shown shaking hands with Dr. King and standing next to him in front of an aircraft.
Galler said her great-great-aunt had written a song called “If My Jesus Wills.”
“[Dr. King] asked her to change the [lyric] ‘I’ll overcome’ to ‘We’ll overcome,’” said Galler.
According to Galler, Shropshire changed the lyric, and an anthem was born. The song would later be popularized, performed and copyrighted by the folk singer Pete Seeger, who credited another composer, a minister named Charles Albert Tindley.
A federal judge overturned the copyright in 2018, the same year that author Isaias Gamboa published the book “We Shall Overcome,” crediting Shropshire with composing the song.
Galler said Shropshire declared her connection to the song and her wish to spread the word about it to her grandson on her deathbed in 1993.
Since then, her story has spread. In Cleveland, a mural is dedicated to Shropshire. Galler said a street is also named for her.
Ashley Jones, the chair of Tacoma’s City Events and Recognitions Committee and organizer of the city’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration said the significance of songs like “We Shall Overcome” and “Life Every Voice” cannot be overstated.
“It’s a reminder for us to be proud of who we are and to stand tall and stand with each other,” said Jones.
Galler said that pride is part of her family history.
“Just to know that the history that Martin Luther King, Jr. has in this country and to know that one of my distant relatives was key in the anthem, is amazing,” she said.