The Canton Spirituals are an award-winning gospel recording group and are regarded as pioneers in the genre of traditional gospel music. 　　Founded in Canton, Mississippi in 1943, the original Canton Spirituals were Reverend Arthur Lee Jackson Sr., Reverend I.S. Watkins, Claude Nichols, Warren G. Ward, Isaac Bolton, Eddie Jackson, Theo Thompson, Roscoe Lucious and founder Harvey Lee Watkins, Sr. (December 5, 1929 – November 16, 1994).