He’s got the whole world in his hands

He’s got the whole world in his hands. African American spiritual*.  The earliest known publication containing this spiritual is Spirituals Triumphant Old and New (1927), collected and arranged by Edward Hammond Boatner* (1898–1981) with editorial assistance by Willa Townsend* (1880–1947). Boatner credits his father, Dr. Daniel Webster Boatner (?1854– ) an itinerate Methodist minister born to his enslaved grandparents, for his interest in spirituals. He heard them being sung at his father’s prayer meetings from an early age. This indicates that the spiritual was likely available for several decades before Boatner notated it in his collection, though perhaps its roots stem from after the...