On March 5 at 4:00 pm, the Ozarks Studies Institute will be hosting Sue Reichling, Library Associate II, for an event entitled Remembering Doc Dasher: Springfield’s Song and Dance Man (1898-1987). The event will take place at the Duane G. Meyer Library in Room 107.

Doc Dasher was an African-American lyricist who lived in Springfield during the Jim Crow era. 

“He started off in Florida and he was on the vaudeville circuit for a few years, which was not great for African American performers,” Reichling said. “One of the stops he made was here in Springfield and for some reason, he decided to stay.” 

During the event, Reichling will attempt to reconstruct Dasher’s life. She will share recordings of an interview Dasher gave to Dr. Katherine Lederer, a former Missouri State University professor, as well as some of Dasher’s music, which Reichling has been collecting.

“My main interest for the last 10-15 years has been collecting local recorded music and he’s one that only recorded twice but spent 50 years of his life here in Springfield,” Reichling said. “I have one of the two recordings. I’m still looking for the other one.” 

She has one physical record, a 78 shellac with one song on each side. She is seeking the other physical record. Both of them are hard to find copies of. However, Reichling does have mp3s of all four songs and intends to share them at the event.

“His history is pretty sparse so I mostly want to let the music speak for him,” she said.

Reichling’s personal collection of music contains about 4,000 recordings made in Springfield and the surrounding areas. Her archive contains music from all genres.

“This guy decides to pay $100 and go to a local recording studio and get a stack of records. That really captures me,” she said. “This person decided to record his or her voice and we’ve got it preserved, as long as we can save it before it gets into a landfill somewhere. It’s like the sweetest expression of their life.”