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Month: January 2019

West Virginia Folklife 2018 Activities Report

What has the West Virginia Folklife Program done lately? Learn about our 2018 fieldwork, programs, and activities.

2018 Master Artist & Apprentice Feature: Doug Van Gundy & Annie Stroud, Old-Time Fiddling of the Greenbrier Valley

Doug Van Gundy, of Elkins led an appenticeship in old-time fiddle of the Greenbrier Valley with Annie Stroud, of Charleston.

Recent Posts

West Virginia Folklife 2018 Activities Report January 29, 2019
2018 Master Artist & Apprentice Feature: Doug Van Gundy & Annie Stroud, Old-Time Fiddling of the Greenbrier Valley January 23, 2019
2018 Master Artist & Apprentice Feature: Marion Harless & Kara Vaneck, Green Traditions December 20, 2018
West Virginia Folklife Presents Apprenticeship Showcase: Fiddle, Blues & Gospel December 17, 2018
2018 Master Artist & Apprentice Feature: Doris Fields aka Lady D & Xavier Oglesby, Blues & Black Gospel December 3, 2018
West Virginia Folklife Presents Apprenticeship Showcase: Old-Time Fiddle & Salt Rising Bread November 27, 2018
2018 Master Artists & Apprentice Feature: Genevieve Bardwell, Susan Ray Brown & Amy Dawson, Salt Rising Bread November 12, 2018
2018 Master Artist & Apprentice Feature: John Morris & Jen Iskow, Old-Time Fiddling and Stories of Clay County November 9, 2018

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Musician John Homer ‘‘Uncle Homer’’ Walker was born in Mercer County #OnThisDay in 1898. He was raised in Summers County and lived much of his adult life in neighboring Glen Lyn, Virginia. He usually worked as a laborer and farm hand. Walker played the five-string clawhammer #banjo. Among the last in a tradition of black Appalachian banjo players, he grew up with brothers who played guitar, fiddle, and mandolin. He began playing the banjo as a child, learning from his mother, an uncle, and his maternal grandfather, who had been born into slavery in Virginia. A popular performer during the folk revival, in his later years, Walker played music at festivals including the John Henry Folk Festival in Summers County, the Vandalia Gathering in Charleston, and the 1976 @smithsonianfolklife festival in Washington, D.C.. He was featured in the 1972 documentary film, "Morris Family Old-Time Music Festival," and was the subject of the 1977 film, "Banjo Man," narrated by folk musician @tajmahalblues. He died in Princeton on January 4, 1980. Learn more via e-WV https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/884 #BlackHistoryMonth #wvfolklife #westvirginia #oldtime #fbf

Happy Valentine's Day from West Virginia Folklife! ❤️💕❤️ 📷: Jeanette Green Valentine's Day Card, St. Mary's, #WV c.1907-1909 via @wvulibraries

In 2016, we partnered with @southfoodways on the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project, documenting the foodways traditions of the fiercely creative close-knit mountain community where Swiss & Appalachian heritage are uniquely twined and enacted daily through a bite of sauerbraten, a sip of homemade wine, and many generations sitting around a Hutte table. In this interview clip, #Helvetia resident and town historian Eleanor Betler speaks about hosablatz and rosettes-- traditional fried dough she makes for the pre-Lenten celebration of Fasnacht every year. This year, Helvetia celebrates #Fasnacht on Saturday, March 2. Find more about this project at https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/

Buckle up for 6 more weeks of winter--we’re getting reports that #WestVirginia’s own French Creek Freddie saw his shadow this morning. 📷: Edie Bostic of Boomer shared this photo with us of a relative and her pet #groundhog. #wvfolklife #folklife #groundhogday

Congratulations to Jim's Steak & Spaghetti in Huntington on their 2019 James Beard Foundation America's Classics Award! This is the first such award for a #WestVirginia restaurant and we hope there will be many more. www.jimsspaghetti.com 🍝🥩🍝 🥩——————————————————————-Posted @withrepost • @beardfoundation It's time to announce the third recipient of our 2019 America's Classics Award... Congrats, Jim's Steak & Spaghetti House in Huntington, WV! Spaghetti is central to West Virginia, a state that in the early 1900s attracted so many Italian immigrants that their homeland set up a consulate there. And since 1945, it’s been the lifeblood of Jim’s Steak & Spaghetti House. In fact, most people leave “steak” out of the name when referring to it, according to co-owner and general manager Jimmie Tweel Carder, who along with her two brothers, inherited the restaurant from their father, Jim Tweel. Many thanks to fellow #jbfa winner @hseanbrock for helping spread the news!

Apprenticeships, oral histories, research, talks, and a field school... what else has West Virginia Folklife been up to lately? Read our 2018 Activity Report (link in profile)! 📷: Fatayar, tabbouleh, and kibbeh at the 2018 Mahrajan Lebanese Festival in Wheeling. #wvfolklife #westvirginia

"Playing for regional square dances over the last 7 years has re-affirmed the belief in the power of cultural heritage in creating strong community. The vitality of and connection to the cultural traditions and history in a place (also recognizing and taking responsibility for the uncomfortable history) have a huge impact on the quality of life, sense of belonging, and well-being of community. For me, even though my parents were not born here, the music, dance, agricultural, and food traditions in #WestVirginia are all part of what makes me feel connected to place." - @stroud_anne 🎻🎻🎻 The final installment in a series on our 2018 #WVFolklife master-apprentice pairs features master fiddler Doug Van Gundy, of Elkins, and apprentice Annie Stroud, of Charleston. 🎻🎻🎻 The apprenticeship program grants are administered by the West Virginia Folklife Program at @wvhumanities and are supported in part by an Art Works grant from @neaarts. Read the full post and learn more about the program on our blog (link in profile). #wv #oldtime #fiddle #wvfolklifeapprenticeships

Scholar, educator, singer, civil rights activist, and McDowell County native Ed Cabbell (1946-2018) displays a poster of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at an MLK Day Celebration Exhibit in Princeton, #WV c.1987. 📷: @wvulibraries #mlkday #westvirginia

Xavier Oglesby of Beckley, singing his grandfather's arrangement of "We Shall Overcome" at our Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase on Wednesday. Oglesby just completed a year-long apprenticeship with @fieldsdoris, studying #blues and black #gospel traditions in #WestVirginia. #wvfolklife #wvapprenticeships

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