Ireland in the Archives

In light of the St. Patrick's Day holiday, we decided to search for Ireland here in the land of the archives. With a little luck, we discovered a piece of Irish history tucked away conveniently in the Green-Fife-White Papers, a collection of letters from 1830 to the mid 1900s. In these letters, a loved one is writing back to the family during the Irish potato famine and reveals some information that we can all read into and learn a bit more from. Before understanding the letters, one has to know the history behind the letters.

Prior to the Potato Famine, Ireland had had serious political issues largely due to the fact that Ireland was mostly Catholic living under the thumb of a Protestant Britain. As a result, Ireland began to revolt against Britain. Thus, Britain had tried to make Ireland less of a threat by taking away their education, food, and forcing them into poverty. Some Irishmen still tried to revolt (efforts led by liberator Daniel O'Connell, who's also mentioned in the letter below), but Britain continued to place troops in Ireland and force them further into poverty. Thus, potatoes were Ireland's main crop due to their inexpensive, yet nutrient nature.

However, Ireland's cash crop went bankrupt in 1845 when American vessels exposed an airborne fungus that swept over the fields of Ireland. Literally tons of potatoes turned to black rot. The loved one talks about the black potatoes in the letter listed below, as well as the Catholics and Britain to another family member who had fled to America.

No one really knows when the famine came to an end for sure. However, the fungus began to dissipate in 1851. Nevertheless, Britain could certainly have intervened more to help the situation. Pieces of history, such as these letters, allow us to glimpse into those years long ago and learn not to make those same mistakes as Britain did. Hopefully we have learned to come together instead of ripping each other and consequently, ourselves, apart. Maybe today, we will help those in need instead of contributing to their struggle.

Reflections on Homer Ledford

At times there is nothing like traditional music and nothing like honoring craftsmanship at its finest, particularly when the two are combined. This past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday EKU hosted the annual Appalachian Studies Association conference, and, as part of the event, the EKU Libraries held a reception honoring the late Homer Ledford at noon on Friday. Among those in attendance were Colista Ledford, Homer's wife, and Bill Johnson, member of the Backroom Bluegrass Band and a good friend of Homer's. Loyal Jones of Berea, who has known Homer since the mid-1940s, remembered his dear friend in his remarks to the audience, and then three fine Kentucky musicians, Donna Lamb, Lewis Lamb, and J.R. Parrett, performed for those at the reception. For this event the EKU Archives created a display about Homer Ledford as a musician and as a luthier; in the display case were two of Homer's instruments -- a dulcibro and a dulcimer with a beautifully carved duck on the scroll of the instrument. Both of these instruments, plus at least a dozen more, have been loaned to the EKU Archives by Mrs. Ledford; she has also given the Archives her husband's papers, which are currently being processed.

What made this event especially meaningful were the instruments that were played. Lewis performed on the hog lot fiddle made by Homer as a teen-ager, but J.R. -- well, he had the opportunity to play three different banjos by Homer. A fretless banjo from 1963 and a bluegrass banjo are part of the collection housed by the University Archives. But Bill Johnson, to my delight, brought his own banjo -- number 13 and the last made by Homer -- and so J.R. got to play all three. Bill also brought one of Homer's earliest dulcimers, created when he was still living at his family home in Ivyton, Tennessee, before he attended Berea and EKU. I played "Simple Gifts" on the dulcimer before the event, and Bill later let a conference attendee who loves the dulcimer to play it as well. Bill's presence and his generosity in bringing the instruments, added immeasurably to the reception. Thanks, Bill.

As for the banjos -- well, J.R. enjoyed all three. Afterwards, he told several of us that he could not pick out one that he liked the best; he had enjoyed all three, and thought that all three felt good and sounded good. At least two people in attendance said the same about their Ledford dulcimers. These comments echo a passage in Dulcimer Maker: The Craft of Homer Ledford, a book about Homer by R. Gerald Alvey, first published in 1984 and then reprinted in 2003 by the University Press of Kentucky. Alvey writes, "It perhaps seems uncanny, but I have never met anyone who did not like Homer's dulcimers. Each of the numerous customers I questioned expressed more than satisfaction with his instrument; most were proud of their dulcimers, insisted that I see them, and wanted to know whether I owned one." (p. 37). I believe Bill Johnson knows why this is so. He feels the same about his Ledford-created instruments, and told me,thoughtfully, that Homer had put a little bit of himself in each instrument he made. That makes the privilege of having Homer's papers and taking care of some of his prized instruments all the more meaningful for the EKU Archives.