Readers Respond

George McKinney, Santa Rosa, California: My mother was an orphan in Appalachia who was accepted into Pine Mountain, a school for poor children in Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1936 and 1937, the school sent an octet of girls, including my mother, on a tour of the Northeast to give concerts and raise donations. The octet performed at the White House on April 6, 1937, at a dinner given in honor of Admiral Byrd. The octet was recorded by the musicologist Alan Lomax, who traveled around the mountain country recording many different groups. Several of those recordings have survived, and one of my proudest moments was when I found them in the Library of Congress, obtained a record, and played the recordings for my mother.

Bob Hall, North Easton, Massachusetts: My grandmother Ethel Louisa Flagg (Spooner) (Hall) Haynes was an accomplished amateur whistler. Around 1900, traveling professional whistlers were famous due to their 78rpm records. I have digitized my grandmother’s 78s, which include examples of this type of recording. 

My grandmother was in demand in her small town of Randolph, Vermont, and would whistle at formal events, like meetings of the Grange.

Scott Fisher, Washington, Utah: My grandfather was a drummer boy for a G.A.R. post in New York City in the 1890s and he raised his two boys to love music. My uncle started a band as a teenager in the early 1920s that included my dad, all of 9 years old, who played clarinet and saxophone. When radio came along around that time, the band was heard locally in New Jersey and then on CBS throughout the country. In the 1930s, Dad played in Russ Morgan's Orchestra. Imagine my shock when, in 2008, when YouTube was new, I found a film of him at age 22 playing with the orchestra back in 1936! I had never seen him play. He eventually became the music arranger for The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, and the Tony Awards.

Ken Bonvallet, Westerville, Ohio: My uncle George Bonvallet was an excellent trumpet player since Boy Scouts (I inherited his trumpet). Although he graduated with an engineering degree, in his first job after college he was a high school band leader in Plainfield, Illinois. From a pamphlet titled Chicago World's Fair Guide Memories, I learned that he was chosen to form and lead the band for the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress World's Fair.

Stacey Reimer, Clermont, Florida: My ancestor Supply Belcher is known for choral singing and composing "The Harmony of Maine" (1794). He's been called the "Handel of Maine." I've listened to some of his music streaming on Amazon. It is very heavy, but beautiful.

Anne Crockett, Woburn, Massachusetts: My father, James A. Brickett Jr., was a lieutenant on board the aircraft carrier USS Nassau in the South Pacific during World War II. The ship’s chaplain was given money to spend on the men. He solicited ideas and he decided to follow my father’s suggestion and buy musical instruments. It was a great way for the men to while away the hours. To my mother's dismay, my father brought home his chosen instrument, an accordion, which he continued to play with enthusiasm for many years—in the basement!