West Virginia Mine Wars Museum's Blair 100 Kickoff Event

I’m really looking forward to the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum's Battle of Blair Mountain Centennial Kickoff Event, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, and focusing specifically on the importance of music and poetry as expressions of solidarity during the Mine Wars.

Featured musicians include blues harmonica player and National Heritage Fellow Phil Wiggins & West Virginia folklorist and musician Gerry Milnes, both of whom are featured in the film and soundtrack of John Sayles' 1987 film Matewan. Honored to be saying a few words alongside Crystal Good, Doris A. Fields, and more.

Smithsonian Folkways Curated: Emily Hilliard

“Expertly curated selections, excellent listens, this time chosen by Emily Hilliard, West Virginia state folklorist and founding director of West Virginia Folklife Program.”

Read and listen to the annotated playlist via Smithsonian Folkways

Music Makers Lecture and Panel Discussion

October 3, 2019, 5pm at the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences, Charleston, WV

Led by curator Jessica O’Hearn, Music Maker Foundation founder Tim Duffy will be joined by West Virginia State Folklorist Emily Hilliard and Clay County Fiddler John Morris, to discuss the importance of supporting artists with opportunities and funding and preserving artistic and cultural history. Attendees will learn how the Music Makers Foundation and the West Virginia Folklife program have assisted many artists and practitioners to forge a path to success, and preserve musical traditions.

This event is free and open to the public.

Non-Professional Women Songwriters Workshop at the Lexington Gathering

Join West Virginia state folklorist Emily Hilliard at The Lexington Gathering on Saturday, February 9 for a guided exploration of recordings and ephemera of non-professional women songwriters in Appalachia, including Nora E. Carpenter of Magoffin Co. Kentucky, Shirley Campbell of Kanawha Co. West Virginia, Cora Hairston of Logan Co. West Virginia, Elaine Purkey of Lincoln Co. West Virginia, and Ella Hanshaw of Clay Co. West Virginia. We will celebrate and explore the work of these talented women, including their songwriting scrapbooks and self-documentation, daily creative expression and inspiration, and the importance of their songwriting and musicianship within their own communities.

West Virginia Folklife Progam Receives Gerald E. And Corinne L. Parsons Fund Award

The Gerald E. and Corinne L. Parsons fund was founded by American Folklife Center reference librarian Gerry Parsons (1940-1995) in honor of his parents. Parsons Fund Awards provide support to bring people to the Library of Congress to make use of primary ethnographic materials housed at AFC and elsewhere at the Library.

Emily Hilliard, West Virginia’s State Folklorist, was awarded a Parsons Fund Award for a one-week research trip to research AFC’s collection of sound recordings, photographs, field notes, and ephemera related to West Virginia, focusing particularly on archival content related to African Americans and other cultural communities whose “presence and contributions are often marginalized in historical and vernacular culture narratives of the Mountain State.” Her research will inform ongoing and future work of the West Virginia Folklife Program and culminate in a series of multimedia blog posts.