Menu Expand Menu Close
Back to Top
Filter Search Expand Close Filter
Search Expand Search Close
["On the evening of Wednesday, January 16, 2019, The West Virginia Folklife Program hosted a showcase of their Folklife Apprenticeship Program, featuring master gospel and blues musician Doris Fields (aka Lady D) with apprentice Xavier Oglesby, and master old-time fiddler John D. Morris with apprentice Jen Iskow. The free event was held from 5:30-7:30pm at the historic MacFarland-Hubbard House, headquarters of the West Virginia Humanities Council (1310 Kanawha Blvd. E), in Charleston. The evening included musical performances by the two pairs and a question-answer session, followed by a reception.Doris Fields, who performs as Lady D, is known as West Virginias First Lady of Soul. A West Virginia native, she began singing in church choir as a child and has performed original and traditional blues, gospel, R&B, and soul across the state and country, including for the Obama for Change Inaugural Ball. Xavier Oglesby grew up singing in the black Pentecostal church and has performed in local a capella and theatre groups. He recently recorded voiceovers for the New River Gorge African American Heritage Auto Tour. Both Fields and Oglesby reside in Beckley.John D. Morris, of Ivydale, is an acclaimed West Virginia fiddler and tradition bearer who has been honored by the Augusta Heritage Center, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, the West Virginia Fiddler Award, and a National Heritage Fellowship for his role in sustaining the tradition. Jen Iskow, of Thomas, is a West Virginia University alumni, community organizer, artist, and designer at Beartown Design Studio. She has studied with numerous masters of Appalachian old-time fiddle.The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers a stipend 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 apprenticeships aim to facilitate the transmission of techniques and artistry of the forms, as well as their histories and traditions. 2018 was the first year of the biennial Folklife Apprenticeship Program.Read more about the apprenticeship pairs on the West Virginia Folklife blog:https://wvfolklife.org/2018/12/03/2018-master-artist-apprentice-feature-doris-fields-aka-lady-d-xavier-oglesby-blues-black-gospel/https://wvfolklife.org/2018/11/09/2018-master-artist-apprentice-feature-john-morris-jen-iskow-old-time-fiddling-and-stories-of-clay-county/"]%

1. Folklife Apprenticeship participants Jen Iskow and John Morris discuss Clay County doctor and musician Doc White and play one of his fiddle tunes

Identifier:
4224.ApprenticeshipShowcase.Video.002.1.16.19
Title:
Folklife Apprenticeship participants Jen Iskow and John Morris discuss Clay County doctor and musician Doc White and play one of his fiddle tunes
Date:
2019-01-16
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folklore, Old-time music, Apprenticeship programs, Fiddle tunes, Clay County (W. Va.), Fiddling, Folk music--West Virginia, Concerts
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.), Clay County (W. Va.)
["On the evening of Wednesday, January 16, 2019, The West Virginia Folklife Program hosted a showcase of their Folklife Apprenticeship Program, featuring master gospel and blues musician Doris Fields (aka Lady D) with apprentice Xavier Oglesby, and master old-time fiddler John D. Morris with apprentice Jen Iskow. The free event was held from 5:30-7:30pm at the historic MacFarland-Hubbard House, headquarters of the West Virginia Humanities Council (1310 Kanawha Blvd. E), in Charleston. The evening included musical performances by the two pairs and a question-answer session, followed by a reception.Doris Fields, who performs as Lady D, is known as West Virginias First Lady of Soul. A West Virginia native, she began singing in church choir as a child and has performed original and traditional blues, gospel, R&B, and soul across the state and country, including for the Obama for Change Inaugural Ball. Xavier Oglesby grew up singing in the black Pentecostal church and has performed in local a capella and theatre groups. He recently recorded voiceovers for the New River Gorge African American Heritage Auto Tour. Both Fields and Oglesby reside in Beckley.John D. Morris, of Ivydale, is an acclaimed West Virginia fiddler and tradition bearer who has been honored by the Augusta Heritage Center, the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, the West Virginia Fiddler Award, and a National Heritage Fellowship for his role in sustaining the tradition. Jen Iskow, of Thomas, is a West Virginia University alumni, community organizer, artist, and designer at Beartown Design Studio. She has studied with numerous masters of Appalachian old-time fiddle.The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program offers a stipend 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 apprenticeships aim to facilitate the transmission of techniques and artistry of the forms, as well as their histories and traditions. 2018 was the first year of the biennial Folklife Apprenticeship Program.Read more about the apprenticeship pairs on the West Virginia Folklife blog:https://wvfolklife.org/2018/12/03/2018-master-artist-apprentice-feature-doris-fields-aka-lady-d-xavier-oglesby-blues-black-gospel/https://wvfolklife.org/2018/11/09/2018-master-artist-apprentice-feature-john-morris-jen-iskow-old-time-fiddling-and-stories-of-clay-county/"]%

2. John Morris reads a Clay County poem about a "young girl from Booger Hole" at the West Virginia Humanities Council

Identifier:
4224.ApprenticeshipShowcase.Video.004.1.16.19
Title:
John Morris reads a Clay County poem about a "young girl from Booger Hole" at the West Virginia Humanities Council
Date:
2019-01-16
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folk poetry, American, Concerts, Folk music--West Virginia, Apprenticeship programs, Folklore, Fiddling, Clay County (W. Va.), Old-time music, Fiddle tunes
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)
["\"I want to sing an old song my grandmother used to sing when I was a kid... if I can remember-- I haven't thought of this for a long time. It was called \"The Two Little Orphans\" and she died when I was 12 years old and my sisters, they all, both remember her singing this. She'd sing us to make us kids cry, I guess! But let me see if I can remember it, it's been a long time. I was trying to think of it coming up here on the road today.\"West Virginia old-time musician, local historian, and collector Jim Costa sings \"The Two Little Orphans\" at the West Virginia Humanities Council MacFarland-Hubbard House, January 25, 2017.Jim Costa is a native of Summers County, and an accomplished traditional musician, storyteller, and local historian. He is also an avid collector and expert of 18th and 19th century farm tools and objects of rural life, including Hammons family fiddles, spinning wheels, cast iron cookware, and blacksmith tools. Costa has been building this collection throughout his life, and he restores many of the old tools and instruments himself. In addition to his public presentations on music and material culture, Costa appeared in the 1987 John Sayles film Matewan. Listen to the full tape of the concert here: https://soundcloud.com/user-521885027/west-virginia-folklife-presents-jim-costa-with-zoe-van-buren-12517Concert poster by Ratbee Press: http://www.ratbeepress.com/"]%

3. Jim Costa performs "Two Little Orphans" at a concert at the West Virginia Humanities Council

Identifier:
4224.CostaJim.Video.001.1.25.17
Title:
Jim Costa performs "Two Little Orphans" at a concert at the West Virginia Humanities Council
Date:
2017-01-25
Creator:
Costa, Jim (Banjoist)
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folk music--West Virginia, Folklore, Concerts
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)

Listen to Audio

4. Oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston

Identifier:
4224.HairsonBill.AudioInt.12.15.20
Title:
Oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston
Date:
2020-12-15
Creator:
Hairston, Bill
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
School integration, Folklore, Hairston, Bill, Racism, 4-H clubs, African Americans--Appalachian Region, Segregation in education, Storytelling
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)

Listen to Audio

5. Oral history of Bill Hairston, 1 of 2

Identifier:
4224.HairstonBill.AudioInt.001.9.10.19
Title:
Oral history of Bill Hairston, 1 of 2
Date:
2019-09-10
Creator:
Hairston, Bill
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
African Americans--Appalachian Region, School integration, Old-time music, Fiddle tunes, Saint Albans (W. Va.), Racism, Big Coal River Valley (W. Va.), Storytelling, Folklore, 4-H clubs, Folk music--West Virginia, Fiddling, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music, Banjo, Hairston, Bill
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)

Listen to Audio

6. Oral history of Bill Hairston, 2 of 2

Identifier:
4224.HairstonBill.AudioInt.002.9.10.19
Title:
Oral history of Bill Hairston, 2 of 2
Date:
2019-09-10
Creator:
Hairston, Bill
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Saint Albans (W. Va.), 4-H clubs, Fiddling, Storytelling, Folk music--West Virginia, African Americans--Appalachian Region, Big Coal River Valley (W. Va.), Walker, John Homer, Banjo, Hairston, Bill, Folklore, Racism, Fiddle tunes, School integration, Old-time music, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)
["W.I. Bill Hairston, 71, is a storyteller, old-time musician, and pastor (Westminster Presbyterian Church) living in Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in Phenix City, Alabama, and his family moved to Saint Albans, West Virginia in 1960 when he was 11. Through his storytelling, Hairston, as he says in the interview, combines the Appalachian culture that he was exposed to on the Coal River, to the African-American culture that he is a part of. For 35 years, he served as music coordinator at the Stonewall Jackson Jubilee, and is currently the coordinator of the Vandalia Gatherings West Virginia Liars Contest. Hairston is an active member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild, the Kentucky Storytelling Association, and the Ohio Storytelling Network, the National Association of Black Storytellers, and serves as the West Virginia liaison to the National Storytelling Network. He has performed in concerts, festivals, libraries, corporate meetings, conventions and schools throughout the region and the country. This interview is a follow-up to Emily Hilliards September 10, 2019 interview with Hairston. In this interview, Hairston discusses his participation in the last segregated Black 4-H Camp at Camp Washington-Carver, and the first integrated 4-H Camp at Jacksons Mill. He also speaks about his summer job with the Department of Natural Resources and his involvement in the United Methodist Youth Fellowship when he was young."]%

7. Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston

Identifier:
4224.HairstonBill.AudioInt.12.15.20
Title:
Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston
Date:
2020-12-15
Creator:
Hairston, Bill
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
4-H clubs, Racism, Storytelling, Segregation in education, School integration, African Americans--Appalachian Region, Folklore
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)
["W.I. Bill Hairston, 71, is a storyteller, old-time musician, and pastor (Westminster Presbyterian Church) living in Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in Phenix City, Alabama, and his family moved to Saint Albans, West Virginia in 1960 when he was 11. Through his storytelling, Hairston, as he says in the interview, combines the Appalachian culture that he was exposed to on the Coal River, to the African-American culture that he is a part of. For 35 years, he served as music coordinator at the Stonewall Jackson Jubilee, and is currently the coordinator of the Vandalia Gatherings West Virginia Liars Contest. Hairston is an active member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild, the Kentucky Storytelling Association, and the Ohio Storytelling Network, the National Association of Black Storytellers, and serves as the West Virginia liaison to the National Storytelling Network. He has performed in concerts, festivals, libraries, corporate meetings, conventions and schools throughout the region and the country. In this interview, Hairston speaks about growing up in one of three Black families in the Lick Skillet area of Saint Albans along the Coal River, his interest in and work with rural West Virginia old-time musicians and 4-H camps, his friendship with Frank and Jane George, experiences with racism in West Virginia, and his work and mission as an Appalachian storyteller."]%

8. Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston

Identifier:
4224.HairstonBillIntTranscript9.10.19
Title:
Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston
Date:
2019-09-10
Creator:
Hairston, Bill
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Storytelling, African Americans--Appalachian Region, School integration, 4-H clubs, Old-time music, Folk music--West Virginia, Hairston, Bill, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music, Racism, Walker, John Homer, Folklore
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)