Maurice N. Corbett

You help make Hymnary.org possible. More than 10 million people from 200+ countries found hymns, liturgical resources and encouragement on Hymnary.org in 2025, including you. Every visit affirms the global impact of this ministry.

If Hymnary has been meaningful to you this year, would you take a moment today to help sustain it? A gift of any size—paired with a note of encouragement if you wish—directly supports the server costs, research work and curation that keep this resource freely available to the world.

Give securely online today, or mail a check to:
Hymnary.org
Calvin University
3201 Burton Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Thank you for your partnership, and may the hope of Advent fill your heart.

Click here to donate to Hymnary.org I have already donated. Please don't show this to me again

The Harp of Ethiopia (1914)

Short Name:	Maurice N. Corbett
Full Name:	Corbett, Maurice N., 1859
Birth Year:	1859
Death Year:	1924

Maurice N. Corbett (b Mar. 1859, Yanceyville, Caswell, NC | d 8 Feb. 1924, Washington, DC), son of a slave mother, married Elvira Henderson and had three children. A graduate of Shaw University, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives (1885), and he controversially served as secretary to U.S. congressman Thomas Settle III (1896). He and his family moved to Washington, DC, where he was a clerk in the U.S. Census Bureau, then worked for the Government Printing Office. His poetry was collected in The Harp of Ethiopia (1914). At his death, he was a member of the Grand United Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and his funeral was held at Nineteenth Street Baptist Church, where Walter H. Brooks was pastor.

—Chris Fenner, Hymns & Devotions for Daily Worship: African American Edition (2025).

Texts Tunes Hymnals Recommendations