Family Research Fellowship Finale

We returned to Frankfort last week for our last two days of research at the Kentucky Historical Society to complete our full week of the Family Research Fellowship on Frances and John's family and musical legacy.  We actually spent the night on Friday this time, which made the second day far less stressful.

Timi continued genealogical research in Harlan Mountain Roots as well as other publications like Kentucky Kinfolk, a publication of the Knox County Genealogical Society, and Gateway: The Journal of the Bell County Historical Society.  She found references to her mamaw's grandparents who she grew up with and several of her uncles.  Ultimately, Timi would like to return to the KHS with her uncle Tim when the library reopens in the spring because he has additional genealogical knowledge that would be beneficial while researching.

I continued my scan through the Harlan Daily Enterprise in the microfilm room.  There was another set of ads in 1942 for the New Harlan Theatre that Frances mentioned in her oral history interview.  One is advertising the amateur auditions and one is for the actual amateur show.

Harlan Daily Enterprise, Sunday, January 11, 1942 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-0106)

Harlan Daily Enterprise, Sunday, January 11, 1942 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-0106)

Harlan Daily Enterprise, Sun. Jan. 2, 1945 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-0107)

I found several more contextual pieces of Harlan history.  For example, there was a regular  schedule of WHLN news and a weekly Fuller's ad now focusing on its musical offerings.  

Harlan Daily Enterprise, Thursday, January 1, 1948 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-0107)

I finally found some direct mentions of John Reedy and the Stone Mountain Hillbillies in 1945.  One is the new radio schedule when WHLN joined Mutual Broadcasting's Good Coal Network, which includes a daily show by the Stone Mountain Hillbillies at 3:30 p.m.

Harlan Daily Enterprise, Sunday, March 18, 1945 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-107)

The other find is an announcement about an upcoming show featuring John Reedy and the Stone Mountain Hillbillies at the Bardo Theatre.

Harlan Daily Enterprise, Wednesday, August 22, 1945 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-108)

There was a period in March--April 1945 that all mentions of WHLN were primarily dry rally notices and countless preachers and citizen speakers urging the community to "vote yes" to vote Harlan County dry.  I didn't see a direct report of the vote's outcome, but later there was a notice in April announcing that alcohol-selling establishments had agreed to stop sales on Sunday.

The Reedys started appearing again on WHLN radio schedules with weekly shows in 1948.  They were first listed as "John Reedy" on Saturdays at 12:30 p.m.  Then they took off for several weeks in August, September, and October and came back on October 22 as the "Stone Mt. Hillwilliams" at 11:30 a.m.  Finally, they wrap up the year in December as the "Stone Mt. Hillbillys" at 9:45 a.m.  (This version of the ad below was printed on December 31, 1948, which was Frances' 26th birthday.)

Fri. Dec. 31, 1948 (Box 98-110)

Fri. Feb. 20, 1948 (Box 98-109)

Fri. Oct. 22, 1948 (Box 98-110)

In Frances' oral history, she talks about playing with various well-known musicians in Harlan and elsewhere.  for example, she specifically mentions Bill Monroe and Earnest Tubb playing in Harlan.  Having found the concert ads for both in the newspaper, we've likely pinpointed the dates of the events she referenced.

Harlan Daily Enterprise, Sunday, June 10, 1945 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-107)

Harlan Daily Enterprise, Monday, February 2, 1948 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-109)

I began my newspaper review in 1936 and ended it in 1948.  There were a couple of significant gaps in years in which there would likely have been some reference to the Reedys' radio or live shows: all of 1941, July 1942 through the and of 1944, and all of 1946 and 1947.  So at least we know to search for these missing issues of the newspaper at UK or in Harlan.  We've already made preliminary contact with some archivists in Harlan, so that's an interesting lead for follow-up!

We're also excited about returning to the Berea College Special Collections and Archives to follow some additional new leads as well as wrap up a couple of unfinished collections there.  So we'll spend some time there this winter while the KHS library is closed.  We're already thinking ahead to March when we can return for more research!  I know Timi wants to bring her uncle to look at the genealogical publications again.  And I would like to return to the microfilm newspapers, but I'd also like to resume browsing the oral history collections we began.

We are very grateful for the kindness and assistance of Kentucky Historical Society library staff throughout our multiple research visits.  We are especially thankful for the careful time and attention given by Jim Kastner, Library Services Administrator, and Sarah Milligan, Kentucky Oral History Commission (KOHC) Program Administrator, and of course, for the Family Research Fellowship funding that made our visits to Frankfort possible.  Happy Holidays to all KHS staff and to all regular readers and supporters of our project!

Family Fellowship Friday

We went back to Frankfort Friday to continue our research at the Kentucky Historical Society.  We had planned to go back again today, but the weather turned unexpectedly blizzardous.  So we will have to find another day this week, in addition to our plan to go next Saturday, to complete our full week of study for the Family Research Fellowship.

Timi mostly resumed looking through the collection of Harlan County Roots newsletters and also started looking through some Bell County materials since that's where some of her mamaw's family was from.  She recognized numerous ancestral surnames all throughout the various communities in Harlan County and felt like she was wandering in their midst by following their paths of marriage, offspring, and residence.

I began the day by browsing through the family history section and several shelves of state-specific materials that would pertain to the Reedys' own path of music and migration.  For example, I browsed the table of contents for the Journal of East Tennessee History and several issues of the Tennessee Historical Quarterly, which was a little cumbersome to read through them manually.  I looked at both publication websites to see if they might have an index or at least a link to all of their tables of contents, but sadly, they did not.  I'd hoped to find some material on the music scenes in Bristol and Johnson City, but most of the material seemed to focus on Andrew Jackson or the Civil War rather than more contemporary history.

The last time we were here, I was confused about not finding any issues of the Harlan Daily Enterprise.  Then yesterday I checked the list of Kentucky newspapers held in the microfilm room and discovered that they had copies on reels for roughly 1928 through 1968.  I began with 1936, the year Frances and John were married, but this was likely before they practiced and performed formally as a band.  There were always weekly ads for the New Harlan Theatre, which Frances mentioned in her oral history interview, but they mostly publicized feature films in the late 1930's.

According to the liner notes for "The Early Days of Bluegrass, Volume 1," Frances and John played on WHLN  for over 17 years, and their show was sponsored by Fuller’s Furniture.  One of the first Fuller's newspaper ads to appear in the Enterprise was in 1939 under the name of "Fuller's Bargain Store" in Evarts, Kentucky.  That was also the year that John wrote" Somebody Touched Me."

Harlan Daily Enterprise, Friday, October 20,1939 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-0103)

From Frances' personal memorabilia, we have a copy of a newspaper article" Reminiscing" about WHLN, Harlan's first radio station.  There is no date or newspaper title on it, but it seems likely that it was a local memoir published in a much later issue of the Enterprise.

"Of Harlan's First Radio Recalled," Unknown Newspaper Article *

This article notes that WHLN  first began in 1941, which is unfortunately one of the years that is completely missing from the KHS microfilm collection.  However, I found an ad from January 1942 inviting local acts to audition and play at the New Harlan Theatre, which Frances mentioned in her oral history interview.

Harlan Daily Enterprise, January 5, 1942 (KHS Microfilm Box 98-0106)

Earlier ads for the theatre mostly included feature films, but following the ones for amateur auditions, they began to include some headline acts and local performers for live radio broadcast on WHLN.  And this is where I was when the library closed!   I knew I was onto something, and I couldn't wait to return to the microfilm collection and discover the documentation of the Reedy's radio career.  "The Early Days of Bluegrass" liner notes recounts that "While in Harlan they'd advertise in the 'Harlan Enterprise' and print up a lot of 5x7 cards."  We definitely have copies of their promotional cards from Frances' memorabilia, and now it seems certain that will find the newspaper ads for their radio shows and other public performances in Harlan... when the weather cooperates and we can resume our research at the library.

So for now, we must sit snowed in, in suspenseful anticipation of what the Harlan Daily Enterprise holds when we return.  But there is still another important element of the WHLN story to share.  While the "Early Days of Bluegrass" liner notes erroneously refer to Frances and John as a "sister/ brother group," the overall historical and biographical information they provide is quite detailed and useful.  For example," they were hooked up with the Good Coal Network and played live 4 stations at a time, going from one to the other: Norton, Big Stone Gap, Harlan, etc."

Among Frances' copious collection of family and musical memorabilia, we have a copy of a well-worn recommendation letter for John Reedy from the President of the Good Coal Network of WHLN , WCPM, and WNVA.

John Reedy Recommendation Letter *

This letter was written in 1953 and shows obvious wear from repeated re-use.  Since John and Frances first migrated north to Dayton in the early 1950's, this letter was likely part of their passport into radio and recording studios in Ohio as well as Nashville.

A final piece of obscure radio history is this news clipping of a radio schedule for WCPM in Cumberland.  Penpal and grassroots music collector and researcher Matt Baker shared this with us last year, but he doesn't know the exact source.  (Stone Mountain Hillbillies at 4:00 p.m. every Monday through Friday!)

WCPM Radio Program Schedule, Unknown Newspaper *

* All documents noted with an asterisk are from Frances Reedy's personal memorabilia collection (except for Matt Baker's WCPM schedule) and are housed in the Berea College Special Collections and Archives.

Turkey-Birthday 2010

Even though we previously included the “Holidays With Frances” video on our inaugural blog post, it seemed appropriate to re-post it in memory of the last Thanksgiving that we spent with her in 2005, which was also the last time that Timi’s birthday fell on Thanksgiving.

Since today is Timi’s Thanksgiving birthday again, I wanted to make her a present that would honor Frances in a unique way.  So I made her a CD of “Frances Reedy’s Greatest Hits” (AKA “Timi’s 2010 Turkey-Birthday Playlist”) that features her mamaw’s vocals on all of the tracks.  Most of the songs are commercial recordings, but some are from the reel-to-reel tapes that were digitized or even audio tracks that were converted from video footage.

Track	Song Title (Source)
1.	Sound Check; Frances Talking on Phone (Reel-to-reel)
2.	Driftwood (Twin City 1021)
3.	Cherokee Lady (Viola Records VR 225)
4.	Grandad's Fiddle (Viola Records)
5.	Moonlight and Music (Viola Records)
6.	Tiny Bitty Pieces (Jewel 1017)
7.	Little Sparrow (Christmas 1980 Home Video)
8.	Go Your Way Now And I'll Go Mine (Reel-to-reel)
9.	You Take One Step-He’ll Take Two (Reel-to-reel)
10.	Starday Hall of Fame Radio Intro to ‘Oh Death’ (Reel-to-reel)
11.	Oh, Death (John Reedy 502)
12.	Somebody's Been Praying for Me (John Reedy CP-6151)
13.	Prayer Is Worth More Than Silver or Gold
14.	We Can Please God (John Reedy CP-6151)
15.	My Warfare Soon Will Be Ended (Starday SEP 199)
16.	Stay a Little Longer (Christmas 1980 Home Video)
17.	Somebody Loves You Darlin' (Reel-to-reel)
18.	I’ll Fly High Up In the Kingdom (Starday SEP 199)
19.	Grandfather's Clock (1996 Oral History Video)
20.	John & Frances talking (Reel-to-reel)

I know that Timi is immeasurably grateful for the gift of her mamaw while growing up, and I’m likewise grateful to have known Frances during the last part of her life.  This playlist is actually a present for both of them: as a special Turkey-birthday compilation for Timi and as a complete “album” of songs that represents, validates, and channels Frances’ voice beyond simply being one of her husband’s “hillbillies.”

While I only knew her for a brief time compared to Timi, Frances and I shared a special bond that actually revolved around our birthdays.  Hers was on December 31, mine January 1, and my mom’s January 2; a Capricorn powerhouse in Sagittarius as far as Timi was concerned!  So I had found the footage from the 2005 Turkey-birthday, and I put together the “Holidays” video on December 31, 2006, which was Frances’ first birthday we celebrated without her. 

Happy Turkey-birthday, Timi; we love, miss, and are thankful for you still, Mamaw…

First Days of Family Research Fellowship

Timi researching in the KHS reading room

Several months ago, we were awarded a Family Research Fellowship from the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS).  We had originally planned to conduct a continuous week of research during October, but with the convergence of my two part-time jobs, we had to reconfigure our research schedule.  So we decided to spread out the full week we proposed across several weekends before the library closes its doors to the public for three months of in-house organization.  This weekend we spent two full days (Friday and Saturday) starting our first research shift at the KHS Martin F. Schmidt Research Library and Special Collections.

We were pleased to finally meet Jim Kastner, Library Services Administrator, who helped us coordinate our visit and gather research materials from our proposal.  We also had a wonderful conversation with Sarah Milligan, Kentucky Oral History Commission (KOHC) Program Administrator, who we met through our participation in the Community Scholars Program.  We caught up on some of the interesting discussions and presentations that she participated in while attending the Oral History Association Annual Meeting in Atlanta.  She retrieved the oral history materials that we planned to review as well as a couple of interviews from another collection that she thought might be helpful.

Both days at the library were extremely educational and productive and slightly overwhelming.  We quickly realized how short our scheduled time actually was and that we will likely return when the library reopens in March to conduct additional research beyond the formal fellowship period.  We began by exploring several collections and publications that we listed in our original fellowship proposal, some of which were more relevant than others.  For example, I was disappointed to discover a that the Bluegrass Music News publication was not about "Bluegrass music" at all but rather music education in the Bluegrass region.  The subtitle Official Publication of the Kentucky Music Educators Association should have been a clue from the beginning, but I think I just glossed over that detail in my eagerness to find relevant resources.  However, for the most part, we found several interesting facts and leads in the preliminary sources we selected.

Two of the collections that Sarah pulled for us were the Renfro Valley Barn Dance Oral History Project and the Sarah Gertrude Knott/John Lair Oral History Project.  Timi read through the Renfro Valley transcripts, and I began looking through the Knott/Lair interview logs.  Timi kept laughing out loud while she was reading the interview transcripts for Manual "Ol' Joe" Clark.  He was quite a character and apparently far more bold and brazen in his interview humor than his family-friendly comedy routines at Renfro Valley.  Timi recalls meeting him a few times when she was a kid, and her grandmother remembered him fondly in her stories about playing there.

She found Clark's and Jim Gaskin's interviews the most interesting and relevant because they referred to more of the lesser known artists who performed at Renfro Valley and talked about the roving tent shows and community gigs that they played around the region.  They both also offered an honest account of the way in which Lair controlled the ultimate level of fame and financial success for many artists.  While neither reference the Reedys directly, the information about the conditions of some of the more working-class musicians provides a substantial context for their experience performing at and for Renfro Valley.

Jim Gaskin was also interviewed in an additional collection that Sarah pulled for us, which was the Folklife of Kentucky River Oral History Project.  In fact, he is interviewed in several oral history projects at KHS, so we'll make sure to request his interviews from these additional collections when we return to the library in a couple of weeks.  We must also find out if he is still around, and if so, perhaps find a way to talk to him directly.

I mostly skimmed through the interview logs pertaining to Sarah Gertrude Knott as she was not directly relevant to our project.  In the folders about John Lair, I read through the interviews with three of his four daughters: Virginia, Nancy, and Barbara.  Some of them also referred to more obscure performers, but they mostly recount memories of the primary well-know players.  They were all born in the 1930's and 40's, so there may also be a possibility that some of them are still around as well.  They really loved their father and had many interesting tales about growing up in the middle of the Renfro Valley compound throughout its heyday.

One of Lair's daughters referenced Emory Martin, one of the performers affiliated with the tent shows, and she indicated that he may have kept a journal about them.  I'm not sure where we would find out more about this, but such documentation would be invaluable.  I've only begun looking through this collection, but there are already several leads to follow.  I'm looking forward to resuming my review of interview logs with Loyal Jones' folder when we return.

Another fruitful item on our original list of sources was the grassroots genealogy publication Harlan Mountain Roots.  Timi started looking through these because she would more easily recognize names and photos of her actual or possible ancestors from Harlan County.  She found a lot of references to family members or family names and wants to go back to some of the issues she's already reviewed and look at them again.  She learned so much more about the history of the community and was surprised to discover that the railroad did not come to Harlan until 1911, and prior to the subsequent coal boom, it was a community of subsistence farmers known as Mount Pleasant for its breathtaking beauty.  So Timi's grandparents were born and raised during Harlan's massive economic and population explosion.

Our original resource list included some books about Appalachian migration and regional music such as Bluegrass: A History; Invisible Minority, Urban Appalachians; and Kentucky Country: Folk and Country Music of Kentucky.  I browsed the music indexes for references to the Reedys, and like most historical accounts focuses on more mainstream artists.  They definitely provided other topical and contextual leads, but I later looked to see if they were at the Berea College library as well.  Rather than spend too much time reading and taking notes from these and several other relevant books I discovered by browsing, I decided to make a list of them and their call numbers at Hutchins Library so we can just check them out later.

In addition to the preset list of materials we planned to explore, I found several spontaneous and serendipitous sources by browsing and following leads.  For example, in the vertical files I found a collection of articles about miscellaneous Kentucky musicians, and there was a newspaper article from a 1990 edition of The State Journal about then-Frankfort resident Guthrie Meade who played the fiddle and maybe a couple of other instruments.  However, he's most famous for compiling a comprehensive discography of traditional and country music, including artists, composers, and recordings, which his wife donated to the University of North Carolina (UNC) after his death in 1991.  He also published a book version called Country Music Sources: A Biblio-Discography of Commercially Recorded Traditional Music, which I discovered is available in the Berea College Special Collections (Call # 781.621 M481c).  The book is obviously more accessible than his complete discography and correspondence, but we would like to figure out how we might be able to arrange a visit to the UNC Southern Folklife Collection to review the Meade (and other) materials firsthand. 

The Meade collection also led me to a really interesting online exhibit called Hillbilly Music: Source and Symbol.  "The materials used in the exhibit were arranged around a rough chronology outlined in Archie Green's "Hillbilly Music: Source and Symbol" a landmark article published in the Journal of American Folklore in 1965."  The site includes several images of old record labels, like Okeh and Vocalion, that are among the numerous vinyl recordings in Frances Reedy's personal record collection.  It also provides an important history of the early country music that Reedy's listened to as well as its evolution as "hillbilly music."

Through my brief browsing of books, I found reference to an article on "Small Specialty Record Companies in the United States" that was published in the JEMF Quarterly published by the John Edwards Memorial Foundation.  I had never heard of the publication, so I ended up searching for a reference in Google Books and inadvertently discovered a reference to John Reedy and the Stone Mountain Hillbillies in a 1979 issue!  The image snippets of the pages were incomplete and hard to read, but fortunately there are hard copies of the JEMF Quarterly 784.4 J65q).  So we have several items to follow up on during our next trip to Hutchins Library. in the Berea College Special Collections.

Timi and I both learned, through separate sources, that the call letters for the radio station in Bristol, TN/VA when her grandparents might have played there were WCYB.  As noted in previous posts, their first commercial recording was a 78 of "Somebody Touched Me" on the Bristol "Twin City" label.  So I did an online search and found that there is a collection of WCYB Radio Tapes at the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) Center for Appalachian Studies and Services.  The Reedys are not listed among the artists on the recordings in the collection, but they would provide an interesting soundtrack for the time period and some of the artists they likely encountered. 

From previous internet searches, I was already familiar with the "Women in Bluegrass" newsletter published by banjoist Murphy Henry from 1994 to 2003.  I had even sent her a link to our project blog when we first began our Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship.  So it was not really a surprise to find some references to her and the keynote address she gave at the IBMA tradeshow in 1998 that gave birth to her newsletter.  But most recently I discovered that she also maintains a blog that includes more recent updates and references to the topic of "women in Bluegrass," so I'm going to try and touch base with her again to see if she has any information or leads in terms of Frances' history or her female contemporaries.

While most of our research and related leads were useful, there were a couple of items that led to dead ends.  For example, I was very excited when I found the WHLN Radio Songbook in the KHS catalog because WHLN was the Harlan radio station where the Reedys played for 17½ years.  However, the book was simply a generic compilation of gospel songs that appeared to be a custom publication commissioned by and printed for a particular family.  So it included only common church hymns and none of the Reedys' gospel songs they likely performed on the station. 

Another seemingly promising but disappointing source was an index of names and subjects in the Harlan Enterprise, the community's local newspaper.  But  the index only covered a couple of years in the 1920's.  We had hopes that a comprehensive collection of the Harlan Enterprise would be available in the University of Kentucky (UK) archives, but a preliminary search of their library catalog did not result in much else.  My hope is that I'm not searching or understanding the results correctly so I plan to contact them directly to find out what they really have.  Meanwhile, there are a couple of other important resources at UK that we would like to explore sometime: the John Jacob Niles Center for American Music and the Louis B. Nunn Center for Oral History.

Overall, we spent an amazing and rewarding two days researching at the KHS library.  We obviously found a significant amount of information regardless of a few detours and dead-ends.  However, first days also reminded us how short our fellowship time really is and how we must make the most of the time that we have.  When we return after the Thanksgiving holiday, we still have several oral histories to go through.  We also plan to explore more of the county and state records they have as well as more genealogical resources.

I would be remiss if I didn't include a final note about our dining experiences during our two-day visit to Frankfort.  On Friday, we ate lunch at Clare Ann's, where we both had a bowl of tomato basil soup with our sandwiches.  Timi had the "Pretty Pesto Wrap" and I had the BBT, which was turkey, bacon, benedictine, sprouts and lettuce on homemade oatmeal walnut bread.  Yum! 

Then on Saturday, we ate lunch at Gibby's alongside lots of families and even a Girl Scout troop.  Timi had a bowl of chili and a three salad sampler with tuna salad, bacon romaine, and broccoli walnut.  I ordered the "Isaac Shelby" sandwich, which I could've eaten ten of!  Quoting the menu description is sufficient to convey why: "Two slices of Texas Toast bread grilled with garlic butter topped with Swiss & Provolone cheese, roast beef, sauteed mushrooms & red onions."  Need I say yum?!

At Gibby's we also ran into some former Berea folks who live outside of Frankfort now.  We enjoyed the unexpected encounter and chatting about our respective projects.  Next time we're in Frankfort, we hope to check out their very beautiful farm and retreat center in person.  At any rate, we know that we're going to eat at Gibby's again when we come back for our second round of research!

Little Sparrow

About this time last fall, we were in the midst of of our Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship, organizing photos, memorabilia, and an enormous amount of audio materials that were generated by Frances and John Reedy's Bluegrass music career.  We also digitized and archived some oral history and home video recordings of Frances as well as a rare moving image of John.

We were fortunate enough to get a copy of a home video that was recorded by Harold Reedy, Timi's father, on Christmas in 1980.  The video captures the warm glow after the family shared Christmas dinner together when Harold asked his parents to play some music before they left.  The video camera was, at the time, a new VHS camcorder, so the quality of the footage is a little rough.  But Frances and John still pull off a spirited and entertaining round of some of the family's favorite songs.

We showed the following home movie excerpt of Frances and John performing the song "Little Sparrow" at both our final Fellowship presentation as well as our extended multi-media presentation at this year's Appalachian Studies Association Conference.



The volume of self-documented and preserved audio material that Frances and John intentionally created never ceases to amaze me.  So it's significant that Timi's dad was responsible for capturing what is most likely their last recorded performance and probably the only existing video footage of them together.  Thanks to Timi's dad for his prophetic camera presence and her step-mother for making sure we got a digital copy of the original VHS video.  We are sincerely grateful for the opportunity to collect and archive these materials for both our documentary project as well as the use of other scholars and artists.

An interesting musical parallel occurred last weekend when we watched La Vie En Rose, a historical drama about the life of famous French chanteuse Edith Piaf.  She was dubbed by one of her first managers as La Mome Piaf or "Little Sparrow," and she kept part of the nickname as her stage-name throughout her tragically short life and career.  While her lifestyle and musical style were quite different than the Reedys, they were in fact generational contemporaries who were born and performed professionally around the same historical time periods on different sides of the ocean.  

Frances and John Reedy experienced plenty of their own hard times, but throughout our engagement with the historical materials that document their lives and music, we have witnessed the immense fun and creativity that infused most of their work and play together.  And like La Mome Piaf, they could derive and inspire great joy even, or especially, by singing a sad song like "Little Sparrow."

Oral History Association Annual Meeting Scholarship

The Oral History Association (OHA) is a national organization that "seeks to bring together all persons interested in oral history as a way of collecting and interpreting human memories to foster knowledge and human dignity."  Last year, the OHA held its Annual Meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, which we learned about through our participation in the Community Scholars Program.  We were unable to attend at that time, but this year we applied for and received a registration and travel scholarship to attend the OHA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia from October 28-31, 2010. 

Some of this year's conference themes include "civil rights, human rights, immigration, and LGBT history," and it will also commemorate "the 50th anniversary of the Atlanta Student the founding of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina."  So Timi and I are especially excited to be awarded scholarships to attend the 2010 Annual Meeting in Atlanta at the end of the month.

Another special and important part of our trip that we're looking forward to is seeing and/or staying with some fabulous folks from Alternate ROOTS.  We had the pleasure of hosting some folks at our house as well as hanging out with them and other ROOTers at the Clear Creek Festival in September.  Plus a couple of ROOTS friends from ATL weren't able to make it up to Kentucky that weekend, so it will be fun to visit everyone on their home turf while we're there.

Thanks to the Oral History Association for providing scholarships for Timi and I to attend the Annual Meeting this month!  This is a valuable opportunity to learn from others as well as share our experience working on this and other projects.

---------------------  


UPDATE: 
(27 Oct. 4:45 pm)

Alas, Timi and I will not be attending the OHA Annual Meeting in Atlanta after all.  In recent months, well more like a year, we've had transportation issues that we've struggled to resolve.  We have three cars that all have some major functioning problems!  Right now we're fortunate to borrow a vehicle from my papaw to get to work, but we just weren't able to coordinate a ride to the conference in Atlanta.

Given the generosity of support from the OHA, we regret that we may have inadvertently prevented someone else from receiving a scholarship to attend the conference.  We're also disappointed to miss all of the amazing presentation sessions and events the annual meeting has to offer.  We hope that we can attend in the future, but for now we can only wish all the best to the folks gathering for this year's annual meeting.

Addendum to Discography of Personal Collection

Timi and I have finally entered the new vinyl discoveries into the discography of Frances Reedy's personal collection of records.  This week, we also deposited these treasures at the Berea College Special Collections and Sound Archives to add to the existing collection of materials we donated as part of our fellowship for a grand total of 275 commercial recordings by various artists.

Because the ongoing discography is so long and we eagerly anticipate feedback and quality control from our long-distance supporter Dick Grant, the following list includes only the new additions to the collection.  Once we've updated the list with any corrections, we'll re-post the full discography of Frances' personal records.  Meanwhile, check out some of the new artists and labels that we discovered in the new round!

p.s. In the near future, we also hope to post a discography of all of the extra copies of these records that are still in our possession...

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Addendum to Discography of Reedy Personal Vinyl Collection

ARTIST REFERENCE	LABEL	SONG TITLE A SIDE / SONG TITLE B SIDE	FORMAT	CITY, STATE	YEAR
Wayne Rainey & the Rainey Family	Starday SEP-155	We Need a Lot More Jesus (And a Lot Less Rock and Roll) / Lilac Bouquet / Wwhen Heaven Comes Down // ?	45
Chet Atkins	RCA Victor LPC-124	Theme from The Dark at the Top of the Stairs / Theme from Picnic // Limelight / Meet Mr. Callaghan	33
The Hoskins Family	Jalyn EP 209	Sorry I Never Knew You / Working the Road // Someone's Been Praying for Me / Heaven	45
Bernice Hatchett and the Bluegrass Mountain Boys	Jalyn 322	He's Coming Home from Vietnam / Big Black Wheels	45
Charles and Lottie Sivley	Masters 34173/34174	Holy Ghost Man / Mold Me Lord	45
Drifting Mountaineers	Viola VR-109	Orange Blossom Special / Where the Old Red River Flows // Banjo Swing / Pick Me Up on Your Way Down	33
Hank Locklin (Greatest Hits)	RCA Victor LPC-116	Please Help Me I'm Falling / It's a Little More Like Heaven // Send Me the Pillow You Dream On / Geisha Girl	45
Sammy Masters	Galahad G-538	The Letter (From South Vietnam) / Little Ben	45
Floyd Cramer	RCA Victor 447-0572	San Antonio Rose / Last Date	45
Floyd Cramer	RCA Victor 47-7893	San Antonio Rose / I Can Just Imagine	45
Wynn Stewart	Capital 5271	The Happy Part of Town / Half of This, Half of That	45
Floyd Cramer	RCA Victor 47-775	Sweetie Baby / Last Date	45
Johnny Horton	Columbia ZSP 51297	North to Alaska / The Mansion You Stole	45
Carl Butler and Pearl	Columbia ZSP 111839	Our Ship of Love / It's Called Cheating	45
Ann Murray	Capitol 3867	He Thinks I Still Care / You Won't See Me	45
Chuck Wood	Mercury 72555	The Other Man / Friday Night Fights	45
Justin Tubb & Lorene Mann	RCA Victor 47-8834	We've Gone Too Far Again / Together But Still Alone	45
Stonewall Jackson	Columbia 4-41257	Misery Known as Heartache / Life to Go	45
Connie Smith	RCA Victor 47-8964	Invisible Tears / The Hurtin's All Over	45
Steve Karliski	Columbia 4-43355	People Are Always Taking Things Away From Me / Yes, Mr. Peter	45
Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys	Capitol F3536	Taking My Chances / It Makes No Difference Now	45
Buddy Cagle	Imperial Records 66161	Tonight I'm Coming Home / Honky Tonk College	45
Hank Thompson and His Brazos Valley Boys	Warner Bros. 5866	He's Got a Way With Women / ?	45
Harlan Howard	Monument 45-883	How Slow Time Goes / What's Left of Me	45
Tennesse Ernie Ford	Capitol F2810	River of No Return / Give Me Your Word	45
Mungo Jerry	PYE Records 71032	In the Summer Time / ?	45
Loretta Lynn	Decca 32127	If You're Not Gone Too Long / A Man I Hardly Know	45
Bill Anderson	Decca 31825	Born / Bright Lights and Country Music	45
Don Cherry	Monument 45-898	A Thing Called Sadness / Story of My Life	45
Jill Corey with Percy Faith and His Orchestra and Chorus	Columbia 4-40123	Robe of Calvary / Minneapolis	45
Irene Reid	Verve VK-10452	You Ain't Woman Enough / Call Me Darlin, Call Me Sweetheart	45
Melba Montgomery	Musicor MU-1175	Crossing Over Jordan / The Dead Shall Live Again	45
Stanley Brothers	Starday 45-8044	Paul and Silas / Drinking from the Fountain	45
Bill Haley and His Comets	Decca 9-29124	Rock Around the Clock / Thirteen Womens	45
Rex Allen	Mercury EP-1-3193	Sparrow in the Treetop / Wreck of the John B // The Roving Kind / Last Carouse	45
Weatherford Quartet	RCA Victor 47-6218	The Bible Tells Me So / His Hands	45
Rev. Roger Reedy	Self 501	My Imagination / John the Revelator	45
Buell Kazee	Vocalion 5231	My Mother / Little Bessie	78
The Carter Family	Montgomery Ward 8002	The Last Move for Me / In a Little Village Church-Yard	78
The Carter Family	Montgomery Ward 7022	Don't Forget This Song / The Little Log Hut in the Lane	78
The Carter Family	Montgomery Ward 4225	The Church in the Wildwood / Keep on the Sunny Side	78
Charlie Poole	Columbia 15038	Can I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight Master / Don't Let Your Deal Go Down Blues	78
The Carter Family	Decca 5692	It is Better Farther On / You Are My Flower	78
Freeman Quartette	Vocalion 5376	Right Will Win / I'll Ride on the Clouds With My Lord	78
Ballard Cross	Vocalion 5377	The Wabash Cannonball / Lorrainna	78
Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers with Riley Puckett	Columbia 15091	Hand Me Down My Walking Cane / Watermelon on the Vine	78
"Black Face" Eddie Ross	Victor 18926	Ross' Double Shuffle / Ross' Juba	78
Jockers Brothers	Columbia A-2708	Aloma / Full O' Pep	78
Callahan Brothers	Vocalion 04779	Lonesome Freight Train Blues / My Blue-Eyed Jane	78
Emry Arthur	Vocalion 5208	I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow / Down in Tennesse Valley	78
Callahan Brothers	OKeh 02973	Take Me Back to Mother / Mam, ____ Will?	78
Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys	Columbia 37960	Bluegrass Special / How Will I Explain About You	78
Gid Tanner & His Skillet Lickers with Riley Puckett	Columbia 15123	Shortenin' Bread / I Don't Love Nobody	78
The Carter Family	Victor 21074	Bury Me Under the Weepin' Willow / Little Log Cabin By the Sea	78
J.L. McGee and Frank Welling	Vocalion 5299	Go By the Way of the Cross / The Eastern Gate	78
Jack Brickles	Chance 80933	I Ain't Got the Heart / The Devil in My Angel	45	Cincinnati, OH
Jerry Waller	SIMS 323	Incompatibility / One Way Street	45
Benny Cook	Tela-Star 104	This Kind of Love / The Stars Are Bright	45	Cincinnati, OH
Brewster Brothers	Janet 221	Because of You / Katie Dear	45	Manchester, KY
Larry Kingston	Starday 744	Foot in My Mouth / I'm a Flop	45	Nashville, TN
The Texas Troubadours	Decca 31770	Cain's Corner / Honky Tonks and You	45
Paul Risner with the Happy Rhythm Boys	Appro 1891	It's Too Late / Blue Rhythm Stomp	45	Ashland, OH
Country Gospel-Aires	Ark EP-248	God Gave His Only Son / Memories of Dad / Heaven // Christmas Time Again in the Mountains / This World Can't Stand Long / Family Reunion	45	Cincinnati, OH
Adam Colwell	Ark 219	Open the Door / Dreaming of You	45	Cincinnati, OH
Roy Shepherd and the Tri-State Singers	Starday SEP-134	Streets Are Gold / Walk the Streets in Glory / Swing Wide Those Pearly Gates // In My Savior I Believe / Home of the Soul / When Jesus Comes Calling	45	Nashville, TN
Roy Shepherd	Ark 207	Blue Days and Nights / With You on My Mind	45	Cincinnati, OH
Eddie Bo	RIP 154	Let's Limbo / Mo-Jo	45	New Orleans, LA
Nesters	N&S 1897	Standing / An Innocent Angel	45
Billy, Bobby, & the Russell Brothers	Jewel 0152	Young and In Love / These Old Prison Bars	45	Cincinnati, OH
Calvary Trio	Echo 1004	Wings of an Angel / Love the Lord Jesus	45
Jack Clement	Mala 514	What Made the Babies Cry, Mama / Big Ball in Nashville	45
Estel Lee and the Burns Brothers	Ark 241	Cigarettes, Whisky & Wild Wild Women / Mother Where Is Your Daughter Tonight	45	Cincinnati, OH
Leon Turner	Everett CP-6857/6858	Broken Heart / What It Takes (To Make You Happy)	45
Old Joe Clark	Sun-Ray SRR-119	John Henry / Jesse James	45	Lexington, KY
Horace Whidby	Rich-a-Tone 8057	We Were Both Wrong / I'm Tired of Being Hurt (Especially By You)	45	Johnson City, TN
Kitty Hawkins	Capa 130	I Hate Myself / Good-Bye to Viet Nam	45	Nashville, TN
The Hoskins Family	Jalyn 303	Are You Walking and Talking / Keep Your Eyes on Jesus // I'm Using My Bible for a Road Map / Some Beautiful Day	45	Dayton, OH
Gospel Crusaders Quartet	Self-787	Every Hour and Every Day / Lord I've Tried to Be True // I'll Be a Friend / Because of Him	45	Dayton, OH
Joe Gibson	REM 325	Girl With Golden Curls / Blue Waters	45
Various Artists	Oak 1002	Sinners Death / Where Will You Spend Eternity // Big Hand of God / Garden of Eden	45	Harrison, OH
Gene Crawford	Hala 1014	Blues Over Ice / Me, Myself, and I	45
Mills Brothers	Decca 9-28670	Say Sí Sí / I'm With You	45
The Cowboy Church Sunday School Featuring Little Miss Tomboy Janie / The Cowboy Church Sunday School Featuring Little Miss Enry	Decca 9-29757	Those Bad Bad Kids / A Handful of Sunshine	45
Ada Larck and the Blue Diamonds	Jalyn 313	In My Dreams / Go, Go, Go	45	Dayton, OH
Dave Woolum	REM 355	I'm So Lonely I Could Die / Roll Big Wheel Roll	45
Jimmy Willis	Jalyn 503	Poor Little Angel / The Lonely Girl	45	Dayton, OH
Maude Dye and Linda Marlene Gibson and the Hampton Family	Laurel Leaf 9916	Striving for That City / Build My Mansion	45	London, KY
Don Johnson and the Mountain Wizards	Echo 1002	There's More Fish in the Lake / Luckiest Boy in the World	45	Middletown, OH
Della Rae	Groove 58-0062	Hurry Up Summer / It's My Face	45
Joe and Rosa Lee Maphis	Mosrite M-160	Write Him a Letter / Send Me Your Love A.P.O.	45
Marvin Rainwater	United Artists UA-50023	Sorrow Brings a Good Man Down / Troubles My Little Boy Had	45	New York, NY
Arnie Lunsford and the Ranch Hands	Acorn 266	Blue Tennessee Rain / Don't Let Me	45	Cincinnati, OH
Cecil Hickman and the Kings Highway Quartet	Ark 258	Walking the Sea / Job	45	Cincinnati, OH
Graham Williamson and His Tennessee Buddies	Hammond 4413	Never To Be Mine / White Waters	45	Nashville, TN
Billie Jo Spears	Capitol 2844	True Love / Marty Gray	45
Cheryle Thompson	Coral 62493	Mansion of Tears / The Third Person	45
Hoyle Miller	K-Ark 722	Twelve Years on Death Row / Someone Else's Bride	45
Gloria Fay	Kash K-1031	Wild Desire / Lonely Heart	45	Nashville, TN
Mac Wiseman	Dot 45-1131	Waiting For the Boys / By the Side of the Road	45	Gallatin, TN
David Price	Hickory K-1416	Truck Driver's Waltz / Jack Knife	45
Archie Jones	Jalyn 321	I'd Never Make You Blue / Without You I'll Have No Future	45	Dayton, OH
Mary Madison	Silver Star 1014	A Mountain of Love / I Didn't Steal Him From You	45	Nashville, TN
Georgia Rae	K-Ark 705	War With the Blues / You Have My Number	45
J.D. Jarvis and Ralph King with the White Water Valley Boys	Ark 212	Tragedy of Sandy River / Spaceship Song	45	Cincinnati, OH
Pelfrey Brothers and the Bluegrass Partners	Ark 243	Ohio Prison / You Broke a Vow	45	Cincinnati, OH
Wayne and Jo Tilford	Ark 264	Jesus is the Way / I Found What It Takes	45	Cincinnati, OH
Jimmy Hibberd	Ark 295	Hand Her Over / I'll Come Back	45	Cincinnati, OH
Jimmy Jackson	Jean 501	Never Tell a Lie / I'm Glad I Met You	45
Roy Shepherd and the Tri-State Singers	Jewel EP-400	When Paul and Silas Were In Jail / In My New Home / Between Two Thieves // The Old Brush Arbor / Angels Carry Me Home / I'll Fly Away	45	Cincinnati, OH
Gene Hall	G&J 7862	Yes By George / Why Do I Love You	45	Dayton, OH
Ray Westmoreland	Sulkie 101	On Calvary's Mountaiin Top / I Think I've Waited Too Late	45	Dayton, OH
Don Johnson and the Mountain Wizards	Echo 1003	How Much You Mean To Me / Flying Low	45
Arlie Petree and the Christian Music Makers	Ray of Hope CP-3507/3508	He'll Be There / We Can Please God	45
Gene Hall	Ark 233	Yes By George / Why Do I Love You	45	Cincinnati, OH
Bill Brownlee Brown County Boys	Tela-Star 106	The Thresher / In a Jiffy	45	Cincinnati, OH
Bill Haley and His Comets
Dayton Harvesters Quartet	Self 45-02	I'll Meet You / Walking With the King of Kings	45
The Prophets Quartet	Skylite 5007	House of Gold / So High, So Low	45	Memphis, TN / Atlanta, GA
Becky Shepherd	Ark 218	Air Mail to Heaven / Hear Me Jesus	45	Cincinnati, OH
Jack Lynch & the Lee Brothers with Lonnie Bolin	Jalyn 205	Will You Miss Me / Roy Lee's Breakdown	45	Dayton, OH
Roy Shepherd	Tela-Star 103	I'll Love You Til I Die / Tomorrow I'll Be Coming Home	45	Cincinnati, OH
Chuck Sivley	Log Cabin 912	It's Love, It's Love / I Do Believe	45	Mt. Healthy, OH
Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart	Starday 668	Waitin' / Goodbye New Orleans	45	Nashville, TN
Benny Benfield	K-Ark 701	The Same Ole Me / Send Back	45
Jimmy Dean	Columbia 4-42175	I Won't Go Huntin' With You Jake (But I'll Go Chasin' Women) / Big Bad John	45
The Kentuckians	Jalyn 317	The Mountains Are Calling / Crazy Arms	45	Dayton, OH
Ace Cannon	Hi 45-2111	Spanish Eyes / More	45
Donovan	Hickory 1402	Turquoise / To Try For the Sun	45
Acorn Sisters	Acorn 2-62	Roses Have Thorns / Do Lord // Twisted Words / Come Back to Me	45
The Buckaroos featuring Jerry Wiggins	Capitol 2810	Rompin' and Stompin' / Country Pickin'	45
The Overlanders	Hickory 1258	Yesterday's Gone / Gone the Rainbow	45
Mary Madison	Bryte 13025	World of Make Believe / I've Left the Past Behind	45	Newbury, OH
Billy Don Morgan The Southern Gospel Singers	Laurel Leaf 6857	A Few More Seasons / Poor Rich Man // Be Good to Your Neighbor / Walking That Same Road	45	London, KY
The Kentucky Four Quartet with the Brewster Brothers	Kentucky KS 203	Awaiting the Boat Man / If the Angel of Death // Jesus Paid the Price / I Was Once Out in Darkness	45
Jeannie Johnson	Alta 186	Dark Hollow / Too Big to Cry	45	Hurricane, WV
Jack Lynch and the Lee Brothers	Jalyn 300	I'll Always Remember / It's Not Right	45	Dayton, OH
George Jones	Musicor MU-1298	As Long As I Live / Your Angel Steps Out of Heaven	45
Wilburn Brothers	Decca 9-30871	I Love Everybody / Somebody's Back In Town	45
Allen Mills - Bobby Atkins and the Blue Ridge Buddies	Reno-Smiley 45-100-1	Big Wheels Rollin' / Trading the Blues	45	Hollins, VA
Dottie Lund	Ripcord 114	My Bowling Ball and Me / Believe In Me	45	Vancouver, WA
Howard and the Darts	Dixie 1000	Lightning / Oh My Love	45
The Gospel Travellers	G-T 525	Jesus is Standing at My Right Hand / Where Will I Shelter My Sheep	45	Dayton, OH
The Statesmen Quartet with Hovie Lister	Statesmen 1023	One of These Mornings / Just a Closer Walk With Thee	45
J.D. Jarvis	Ark 287	In That City / Life of Ransom	45	Cincinnati, OH
Jimmy Gordon	Challenge 59194	Something Else / Buzzzzzz	45
Lee Mahnke	Cupid C-1814	Country Morning / Little Letters	45
Davis Brothers Hubert and Pee Wee The Bluegrass Ramblers	Spires SR-904	Breaking a Heart Is All You Care / I Don't Get It // For So Many Years / Two By Two	45	Macon, GA
The Count V	Lemco 1010	It's Gonna Take Time / If I Had My Way	45	Lexington, KY
Zeke Clements	Janet EP 301	I Don't Like It / Hear My Love Calling Me // I'm Going Steppin' Out With You / I've Tried to Forget You
Buckskin Bill	K-Ark 115	Christmas Everday / Jingle Bell Jane	45
Jack Hawkins	Spires SR-901	Center of Attraction / Waiting Down the Line	45
Ernest Carter and the Hymn Trio	Melody 101	Jesus of Nazareth / I Will Not Be a Stranger // Ain't No Grave / Building a Mansion	EP
Ron Shackleford	Truth Gospel Sounds	I'm Ready to Go / To My Mansion in the Sky
Coy Jackson	Rimrock RS-211	Look Out Heart / The Ring	45	Concord, AR
J.D. Jarvis	Ark 262	Rememberence of Brother Earl Brown / The Missing Sub	45	Cincinnati, OH
Roy Acuff	Hickory K-1424	Kaw Liga / I Couldn't Believe It Was True	45
The Laytonaires	Tela-Star 102	Another Night Alone / Just Another Tear	45
Country Gospel-Aires	Ark 220	Paul and Silas / Someone Will Love Me In Heaven / Jesus Savior Pilot Me // Hear Jerusalem Mourne / By Way of the Cross / Rank Strangers	EP	Cincinnati, OH
Jeanne Johnson	Alta 191	Gone Astray / Juanita Penelope Jones	45
Glenn Barber	Pic 1 140	Go Home, Letter (I Wish I Were You ) / Cheatin'	45
The Roamers featuring Ron Willis	Appro 1890	The Time of Man / Shady Grove	45
Johnny and Jonie Mosby	Columbia 4-43344	The High Cost of Loving / The Home She's Tearing Down	45
Ray Hobbs	Great 1071	Daddy Where's Mommy / I Hurt Too Much to Die	45	Nashville, TN
Rosemarie Acorn	Acorn 366	Mud-Puddle Road / Stepping Stones	45
Grant Turner	Chart Records 1275	Old North Star / Maco Light	45
Roy Drusky & Priscilla Mitchell	Mercury 72650	Bed of Roses / I'll Never Tell On You	45
Ron Brooks and Don Hill	Rimrock RS-223	Take Me Back to Atlanta / Smoky Mountain Fizz	45
Country Pardners	Pine Mountain 7	Loneliness Has Caught Up With Me / Feeling Lonesome	45
Stuart Hamblin	Kapp K-733	Tho' Autumn's Coming On / This Old House Has Got to Go	45
Gene Hood	Great 1045	Just Another Heartache (To Go Thru) / Lips That Taste of Honey	45
Jerry Lane	Chart 1335	Anywhere But Gone / I'll Miss You Every Chance I Get	45
Ivan and the Sabers	Prism 1893	Just Let Her Go / It's Not Like You	45