Participation Type
Performance
Session Title
Session 7.18 Music
Presentation #1 Title
The Red Rose and the Briar: An Alternate View of Early Balladry in the Southern Appalachians
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
The Ballads of Katherine Jackson French Elizabeth DiSavino, Berea College Preface: This is a performance and analysis of several ballads from the collections of Katherine Jackson French (Scottish-English Ballads from the Hills of Kentucky, completed 1910) and Cecil Sharp (English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, published 1917), and an exploration of and how the failure of Berea College to help Jackson publish her collection impacted upon the ensuing scholarly impression of music in the mountains. Abstract: There is a woman who should be famous, whose story should be on the lips of every Kentucky schoolchild, and to whom statues should be erected across the state - yet no one knows her name. Katherine Jackson French was the first Kentucky woman to receive a PhD from any university, the first from south of the Mason-Dixon line to earn a PhD from Columbia University, and the second in the history of Columbia University to do so. She was a brilliant scholar who collected ballads in the Kentucky hills (1909-1910), and whose attempt at publishing these ballads (1910) predates Cecil Sharp’s (1917). She made numerous requests to Berea College for help in publishing her ballad collection. These requests were not honored. Had they been, Katherine Jackson French and Berea, Kentucky might very well have been the epicenter for the Sharp Collection rather than North Carolina, and the overall lasting definition of “American folk music” might have been quite different. My presentation is comprised of performances of several of the ballads from Jackson’s collection and their counterparts in the Campbell-Sharp collection, and an analysis of their lyrical and musical similarities and differences. From this analysis, we explore whether the failure to publish Jackson’s ballads resulted in markedly different (and lasting) assumptions about Appalachian balladry. A brief exploration of possible reasons for Berea’s refusal (including the fact that she was a woman) is included.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
A lifelong traditional and classical musician, Elizabeth DiSavino currently teaches music education, piano, and horn, and directs the Folk-Roots Ensemble at Berea College. She is currently working on a biography of Katherine Jackson French for the University Press of Kentucky.
The Red Rose and the Briar: An Alternate View of Early Balladry in the Southern Appalachians
The Ballads of Katherine Jackson French Elizabeth DiSavino, Berea College Preface: This is a performance and analysis of several ballads from the collections of Katherine Jackson French (Scottish-English Ballads from the Hills of Kentucky, completed 1910) and Cecil Sharp (English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, published 1917), and an exploration of and how the failure of Berea College to help Jackson publish her collection impacted upon the ensuing scholarly impression of music in the mountains. Abstract: There is a woman who should be famous, whose story should be on the lips of every Kentucky schoolchild, and to whom statues should be erected across the state - yet no one knows her name. Katherine Jackson French was the first Kentucky woman to receive a PhD from any university, the first from south of the Mason-Dixon line to earn a PhD from Columbia University, and the second in the history of Columbia University to do so. She was a brilliant scholar who collected ballads in the Kentucky hills (1909-1910), and whose attempt at publishing these ballads (1910) predates Cecil Sharp’s (1917). She made numerous requests to Berea College for help in publishing her ballad collection. These requests were not honored. Had they been, Katherine Jackson French and Berea, Kentucky might very well have been the epicenter for the Sharp Collection rather than North Carolina, and the overall lasting definition of “American folk music” might have been quite different. My presentation is comprised of performances of several of the ballads from Jackson’s collection and their counterparts in the Campbell-Sharp collection, and an analysis of their lyrical and musical similarities and differences. From this analysis, we explore whether the failure to publish Jackson’s ballads resulted in markedly different (and lasting) assumptions about Appalachian balladry. A brief exploration of possible reasons for Berea’s refusal (including the fact that she was a woman) is included.
