ID 222/333 - Chronicling Shifts and Stories: Timeline: Culture, Art, and Music

The Crockett family papers comprise song books of original Crockett compositions, scrapbooks of song lyrics and performance reviews, tour itineraries and set lists, correspondence, and photographs that document the Crockett family and their shared professional career as members of the string band music group, the Crockett Family Kentucky Mountaineers.

John Jacob Niles, composer, performer, and author, was born in Louisville in 1892. Coming from a musical family, Niles began to play the dulcimer at an early age. As a teenager he worked with a surveying team in eastern Kentucky. During this time he kept a notebook in which he recorded lyrics and music of old folk songs known in the area. Niles served as a U.S. Army pilot in World War I and made numerous reconnaissance flights until he suffered serious injuries in a plane crash. After the war he studied music at the University of Lyon and the Schola Cantorium in Paris. Niles completed his musical education at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He renewed his search for folk songs in Appalachia as he accompanied noted photographer Doris Ulmann on her travels through the mountain region. He set traditional songs in new arrangements and composed many original songs.

The Southern Appalachian Poetry records (dated 1989-2010; 2 cubic feet; 4 legal document boxes and 1 slim document box) consists of correspondence with and submissions by poets; drafts of the manuscript; and grant, publication, and publicity materials for Southern Appalachian Poetry: An Anthology of Works by 37 Poets (McFarland, 2008), edited by Marita Garin.

The Kentucky Quilt Project, Inc. Why Quilts Matter: History, Art, and Politics documentary records (dated 1994-2023, bulk 2007-2013; 4 cubic feet; 4 boxes; 418.6 Gigabytes, 3,006 digital files) comprise letters, emails, scripts, transcripts, meeting notes, reference materials, budgets, digital images, digital videos, promotional releases, and planning materials that document the production and distribution of this nine-episode quilt documentary series.

n 1974, Marketing Appalachia Through the Church (MATCH), a cooperative of craft groups was founded. Nina and Ben Poage created the organization as an outgrowth of the Commission on Religion in Appalachia (CORA) and worked in tandem with the Human/Economic Appalachian Development Corporation (HEAD). After the success of the organization's first Appalachia Handcraft Catalogue, MATCH moved headquarters to Berea, Kentucky and renamed itself, Marketing Appalachia's Traditional Community Handcrafts. MATCH marketed craft products for more than thirty craft groups from nine Appalachian states.

Amidst the Sparrow's Nest: A Look at Eastern Kentucky Through the Arts Oral History Project explores the many forms of art practiced throughout Eastern Kentucky and how the region and its culture informs the art and artists.