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.
West Virginia Fiddle & Banjo Player John Morris Among the 2020 NEA National Heritage Fellows, the Nation’s Highest Honor in the Folk and Traditional Arts
We are thrilled to announce that old-time musician John Morris of Ivydale, WV, is one of nine 2020 National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellows, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Join the West Virginia Humanities Council’s Virtual West Virginia Day Celebration
Happy West Virginia Day 2020, from the West Virginia Humanities Council!
Field Notes: An Interview with W.I. “Bill” Hairston
W.I. “Bill” Hairston, 71, is a storyteller, old-time musician, and pastor living in Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in Phenix City, Alabama, and his family moved to Saint Albans, West Virginia, in 1960.
West Virginia Folklife Seeks Documents of West Virginians’ Creative Responses to COVID-19
West Virginia Folklife is collecting documentation of the various ways West Virginians are creatively responding to the COVID-19 crisis and sharing their experiences through music, stories, writing, craft, art, memes, mask-making, and more. West Virginians can share documentation of their creative responses by leaving a voicemail on the toll-free West Virginia Folklife Hotline at 1(844)618-3747, or…
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…
Announcing Our 2020-2021 Master Artists & Apprentices!
We are excited to announce our 20202-2021 class of master artist and apprentice pairs in the West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. In this second year of the Program, seven apprentice pairs from across the Mountain State will study traditions including old-time banjo of central West Virginia, seedsaving, and midwifery. The Apprenticeship Program offers up to…
West Virginia Folklife Hosts Out of the Blocks Listening Party February 12, 2020
On the evening of Wednesday, February 12, The West Virginia Folklife Program, a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council, will host a listening party of two episodes of the Out of the Blocks podcast, featuring Charleston’s West Side neighborhood.
Weirton’s Serbian Heritage is a Chicken Blast
We worked with West Virginia Public Broadcasting to produce radio & video mini-documentaries about Weirton’s Serbian Heritage and the Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church Men’s Club Chicken Blasts held weekly in the summertime at the Serbian Picnic Grounds. Every summer Wednesday since 1969, members of the Holy Resurrection Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church Men’s Club have gathered…
Out of the Blocks Podcast Highlights Voices from Charleston’s West Side
This winter, West Virginia Folklife partnered with WYPR producers Aaron Henkin & Wendel Patrick to field produce two Charleston West Side episodes of the Baltimore-based neighborhood podcast, Out of the Blocks. The audio collage features Charleston West Side locals in their own words, mixed with an original musical score, and is presented in two parts:…
West Virginia Folklife Seeks Applications for 2020-2021 Statewide Folklife Apprenticeship Program
The West Virginia Folklife Program is now accepting applications for its 2020-2021 statewide Folklife Apprenticeship Program. The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers up to a $3,000 award to West Virginia master traditional artists or tradition bearers working with qualified apprentices on a year-long in-depth apprenticeship in their cultural expression or traditional art form. These…
The Food We Eat, The Stories We Tell: Contemporary Appalachian Tables Editors & Contributors to Read at Taylor Books, December 5
On Thursday, December 5, at 6pm, editors Elizabeth Engelhardt and Lora Smith of the new anthology The Food We Eat, The Stories We Tell: Contemporary Appalachian Tables (Ohio University Press, Nov. 2019) will be joined by book contributors Courtney Balestier, Danille Christensen, and Emily Hilliard for a reading and book signing at Taylor Books…
