Bessie Abrams' Song Lyrics Collection

These are song lyrics written by Bessie Leigh Thacker Abrams 1902 – 1997. The lyrics, related sound recordings, and an academic research paper were donated to the Berea College Archives by Bessie's great-granddaughter, Ella Cope. The paper is about Bessie and her song lyrics, exploring her songwriting process, family, and frustrated desire to publish her work. It was written as part of Ella Cope's Folklore studies at Indiana University.

Bessie was married to Cephas Abrams and lived much of her life in rural Jackson County, Kentucky. After the death of Cephas in 1950, she moved to Berea where she lived many more years until eventually going to live with family in Indiana where she died in 1997.

Bessie is remembered by family members as having written many songs. The Lyrics in this collection were typed from the originals by a family member in 1970. In the process of her research, Ella Cope found that Bessie’s son, Wade remembered some of the tunes. In addition to the texts, there are recordings of two of the songs sung by Ella and Wade.