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This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the FAQ section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | About 1300 items |
| Abstract | Folklorist and performer Joan Fenton earned a Masters degree in folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. She is the owner of several stores in Charlottesville, Va., that feature traditional and contemporary handicrafts. The collection consists of sound recordings and related documentation. Sound recordings include interviews, songs, and tall tales by artists in the southern roots traditions from North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Louisiana. Fenton's folklore thesis fieldwork about Howard Cotten, an African American tall tale teller in North Carolina, is represented by his songs, anecdotes, and tales about fishing and hunting that were recorded between 1976 and 1978. Also included are recordings from the 1978 John Henry Folk Festival where Hazel Dickens, Viola Clark, the Badgett Sisters, Walter Phelps, Ethel Phelps, Sparky Rucker, Pigmeat Jarrett, and Sweet Honey in the Rock performed. Interviews and sound recordings relating to Jamie Alston, Wilber Atwater, Willie Brooks, Dona Gum, Maggie Hammons, Sherman Hammons, Guy B. Johnson, Everett Lilly, Mitchell Bea Lilly, Varise Conner, Phillippe Bruneau, Carl Rutherford, and the Balfa Brothers are included. Also included are interviews with and songs of Charles Williams, a washboard player from White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., and Nat Reese, a guitarist and blues singer from Princeton, W.Va. Fenton is the primary interviewer on these recordings, some of which were made in performers' homes where she accompanied them on guitar, but there are also a few field tapes done by others, including some with the Reverend Gary Davis in Jamaica, N.Y., 1971-1972 and others done by John Cohen in New York in the 1950s. Documentation of field recordings includes transcription notes from interviews conducted by Fenton and notes compiled from the audio material. |
| Creator | Fenton, Joan. |
| Language | English. |
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Information For Users
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.
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Biographical Information
Joan Fenton earned a Masters degree in folklore in 1981 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Fenton's thesis project, Howard Cotten: A Black teller of Tall Tales, centered around the African American tall tale tradition.
In the mid-1970s, Fenton recorded Howard Cotten and other tall tale-tellers and musicians in the North Carolina Piedmont, including Jamie Alston, Wilber Atwater, and Willie Brooks. Around the same time, she recorded gospel, blues, and country music in West Virginia, as well as biblical readings, a chanted sermon, and congregational testimonies from an African-American church service. Fenton also interviewed better-known artists, such as Sweet Honey in the Rock, Alice Gerrard, and Carl Rutherford, and recorded music and workshop sessions at the John Henry Folk Festival in 1978.
Joan Fenton lives in Charlottesville, Va., and owns 9 retail stores, 7 of which feature traditional and contemporary handicrafts. Fenton, active in the Charlottesville business community, has served as chair of the Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review, a member of the Charlottesville Revolving Loan Committee, and chair of the Downtown Business Association. Fenton coordinates "Blues Week" at the Augusta Heritage Workshop in Elkins, W.Va.
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Scope and Content
The collection of Virginia folklorist Joan Fenton consists of sound recordings and related documentation. Sound recordings include interviews, songs, and tall tales by artists in the southern roots traditions from North Carolina's Piedmont region and other southern states, including South Carolina, West Virginia, and Louisiana. Fenton's folklore thesis fieldwork about Howard Cotten, an African American tall-tale teller in North Carolina, is represented by his songs, anecdotes, and tales about fishing and hunting that were recorded between 1976 and 1978. Also included are recordings from the 1978 John Henry Folk Festival where Hazel Dickens, Viola Clark, the Badgett Sisters, Walter Phelps, Ethel Phelps, Sparky Rucker, Pigmeat Jarrett, and Sweet Honey in the Rock performed. Interviews and sound recordings relating to Jamie Alston, Wilber Atwater, Willie Brooks, Dona Gum, Maggie Hammons, Sherman Hammons, Everett Lilly, Mitchell "Bea" Lilly, Varise Conner, Phillippe Bruneau, Carl Rutherford, and the Balfa Brothers are included. Also included are interviews with and songs of Charles Williams, a washboard player from White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., and Nat Reese, a guitarist and blues singer from Princeton, W.Va. Fenton is the primary interviewer on these recordings, some of which were made in performers' homes where she accompanied them on guitar. However, there is also a set of four field tapes of the Reverend Gary Davis interviewed in his home in Jamaica, N.Y., during the winter of 1971-1972 by Larry Johnson and Lionel Ragosin and three other field tapes that were recorded in New York City in the early 1950s by John Cohen.
Documentation of field recordings includes transcription notes from interviews conducted by Fenton. For every field recording in the collection, documentation notes were compiled by the Southern Folklife Collection's research assistants in the mid-1980s. The audio material was reviewed and described, some in great detail. Documentation also includes notes from the original audiotape labels.
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Series Quick Links
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Series 1. Sound Recordings, 1952-1978.
Sound recordings include interviews, songs, and tall tales by artists in the southern roots traditions from North Carolina's Piedmont region, West Virginia, and Louisiana. Joan Fenton's folklore thesis fieldwork about African American tall tale tellers in North Carolina, including Howard Cotten and others, is represented. Interviews and sound recordings of Pig Meat Jarrett, Hazel Dickens, the Lilly Brothers, Varise Conner, Phillippe Bruneau, and the Balfa Brothers are also included.
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Series 2. Documentation, 1975-1985.
Documentation includes transcription notes from interviews conducted by Joan Fenton. The folder numbers for these transcription notes are grouped according to the source. For every field recording in the collection, documentation notes were completed by the Southern Folklife Collection's research assistants in the mid-1980s. The audio material was reviewed and described, some in great detail. Moreover, documentation includes notes from the original audiotape labels.
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Items Separated
Items separated include audiotapes (FS and FT).
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