Nora Carpenter Traditional Music Collection
Scope and Contents
This collection consists of song lyrics, poems, and sound recordings authored or collected by Nora E. Carpenter of Magoffin County, Kentucky, mostly during the period 1920- 1960.
Listen To Recordings In Digital Library of Appalachia
Listen To Recordings and Interviews
The collection also includes numerous clippings of song lyrics, poetry, and community history from a wide variety of print sources, both loose leaf and pasted in a scrap book. There are also a few song books published by regional country music radio performers during the 1940s and 1950s.
Dates
- created: 1920-1960
- Other: Date acquired: 10/01/2007
Creator
- Carpenter, Nora. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Records can be accessed through the Reading Room, Berea College Special Collections and Archives, Hutchins Library, Berea College.
Conditions Governing Use
Federal copyright regulations apply to all other materials.
Extent
3.00 ms_boxes
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Nora Owens Carpenter (1888-1975) was a formidable presence for many years in the Salyersville - Magoffin County area of eastern Kentucky. Married to Morgan Green Carpenter in 1907, she was a mother of five, businesswoman, and onetime postmaster. However for many in her home community, she is best remembered as a talented, traditional musician (banjo and harmonica) and topical song writer. She and her string band, “Big Mamma and the Half Mountain Hotshots,” had a strong following on Paintsville radio station, WSIP during the 1940s and early 1950s. Despite this local appreciation, she seems to have been overlooked by the many folklore scholars who traveled through Kentucky at various times during the 1900s.
Arrangement Note
The collection is arranged in the following series:
Series 1: Biographical Material and Photographs
Series 2: Manuscript Song and Poetry Texts
Series 3: Clippings and Other Published Material
Series 4: Home Disc and Reel-to-Reel Audio Recordings
Source of Acquisition
The collection was given to Berea College in October, 2007 by Nora Carpenter’s daughters, Charlotte Thompson and Carolyn Cravens of Lexington, Kentucky.
Other Descriptive Information
BCA 0108 SAA 108
Processing Information
The collection was processed by Harry Rice, Sound Archivist.
- Title
- Archon Finding Aid Title
- Author
- Harry Rice
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- eng
Repository Details
Part of the Berea College Special Collections and Archives Repository
Hutchins Library
100 Campus Drive
Berea Kentucky 40404 US
859.985.3262
special_collections@berea.edu