West Virginia Folklife deeply mourns the great loss of labor songwriter, musician, activist, radio host, teacher, and devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother Elaine Purkey.
Category: Tribute
Remembering Bill Withers: The Nomination Letters for his 2017 WVU Honorary Doctorate
William Harrison ‘‘Bill’’ Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was born into a miner’s family of 13 children in Slab Fork, Raleigh County, West Virginia. His mother moved the family to Beckley when Withers was 3, but he continued to spend weekends in Slab Fork. By the time he was 15, Withers…
A Tribute to Ballad Singer Phyllis Marks (June 5,1927-June 22, 2019)
A tribute to Gilmer County ballad singer Phyllis Marks, who passed away June 22, 2019, at the age of 92.
Ken Sullivan Remembers Alan Jabbour
A tribute to pioneering folklorist, scholar, and fiddler Alan Jabbour (1942-2017), from West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Ken Sullivan
wvfolklife.org 