In the fall of 2025, the WVRHC received nearly $45,000 from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) to digitize recordings from its expansive folk music collection. With this funding, an important collection of early field recordings of folk music will become digitally accessible for the first time.
“The musical talents of everyday West Virginians are showcased in these recordings,” said WVRHC Director Lori Hostuttler. “They have long been an important resource for people studying arts and culture in the region. Online access will expose them to a much larger audience. We are grateful to CLIR for the funding to make it happen.”
Edden Hammons (seated) playing fiddle and his son James (standing) playing banjo, undated.
As an internationally recognized collection of West Virginia and Appalachian folk music recordings dating from the 1930s to the 1980s, the West Virginia Folk Music Collection includes early noncommercial field recordings, African American folksongs recorded in southern West Virginia in the mid-20th century, and folk music collected in the 1970s during a revival of interest in Appalachian folk culture. The collection’s breadth, as well as its documentation of traditions of performance technique and repertoire, make it a unique and significant resource for scholars. However, original analog formats make this collection difficult to access, currently limiting its reach to researchers and the public.
“While the History Center has always treasured the collections, they are now fully capable of and ready to bring the collection up to modern standards in terms of preservation and accessibility,” said Chris Haddox, associate professor in West Virginia University’s School of Art and Design. “There are so many wonderful digital folk music collections out in the world today, and to have the Chappell, Gainer, Reece, Carvell, and Brown collections added to that mix will be a boon to both performers and scholars around the globe.”
The CLIR “Recordings at Risk” grant, made possible by the Mellon Foundation, will support the digitization of 488 aluminum discs, 324 reel-to-reel tapes, 43 audio cassette tapes, among other formats. Recordings come from the collections of Louis Watson Chappell, Cortez D. Reece, Kenneth L. Carvell, Thomas S. Brown, and Patrick Ward Gainer.
For more information about the West Virginia Folk Music Collection or the digitization project, please visit folkmusic.lib.wvu.edu.