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May Issue 2003
SC Announces New Folk Heritage Awards
On April 23, the 2003 Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Awards presentation took place in the House Chambers of the SC State House in Columbia, SC, as a Joint Legislative Session. Presiding will be the Honorable Andre Bauer, Lieutenant Governor, and the Honorable David H. Wilkins, Speaker of the House.
The Jean Laney Harris South Carolina Folk Heritage Awards were created by the SC Legislature in 1986 to recognize lifetime achievement in the state for traditional folk arts. Administered jointly by the SC Arts Commission and McKissick Museum at the University of SC, this program annually selects up to four artists along with an advocate for traditional arts. This year's recipients are: Loyd "Slick" & Steve McGaha, Pickens; Maree Dowdey, West Columbia; George Herron, Springfield; Shell Johnson, St. George; and Bill Kinney, Jr., Bennettsville.
Loyd "Slick"
McGaha & Steve McGaha
Bones & Blues Guitar
Loyd "Slick" McGaha learned to play "bones," a traditional rhythmic technique well-established in the South, from a local African American performer. In turn, he passed this love of music on to his son, Steve. Steve has become a highly regarded blues guitarist, learning to play, as many traditional musicians of his generation do, by copying adults, other regional blues musicians, and by listening to the radio
Both father and son synthesize the blending of South Carolina cultural traditions, in which African Americans and Anglo-Americans share performance styles and adapt them to their own use. As folklorist Charles Joyner of Coastal Carolina University has noted, a blending between black and white traditions has characterized the state for almost four hundred years.
In addition to being a musician, Slick is also known as a walking archive of life working for the Easley Mill. While also performing with his father, Steve plays with the Weasel Creek String Band. Both men have worked extensively with efforts to document and present traditional music in the South Carolina National Heritage Corridor.
Maree Dowdey Traditional Domestic Arts
Maree Dowdey learned a variety of folk arts from different family members. She grew up watching her relatives create items of beauty as well as practical products for everyday living. For most of her adult life she has shared her skills and knowledge in quilting, natural dyes, spinning, weaving, soapmaking, basketry, candlemaking and cornshuck dolls.
Dowdey has been very active in her endeavors to educate the public about the many traditional crafts in which she is involved. She works extensively in the public schools, universities, museums, and demonstrates her skills at many historical locations within South Carolina. She has conducted special programs for SC Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, Historic Camden, Historic Columbia Foundation, Walnut Grove Plantation, Kings Mountain State Park, and Andrew Jackson State Park. She is a graduate of the South Carolina Arts Commission's Institute for Community Scholars, a winner in the Steams and Foster 1976 Bicentennial Quilt contest and a member of the SC Traditional Arts Network.
George Herron
Bladesmithing
According to Art Carter of The Sporting Craftsmen, George Herron is widely regarded as the "Grandaddy of South Carolina knifemakers." Herron has certainly maintained his place as one of the standard bearers in traditional knifemaking circles. His ability to transform raw materials into gracefully designed, working tools is a testament to the high level of skill and long hours of practice that bladesmithing requires.
Herron has been a full-time knifemaker since 1975 and is one of the founding members of the South Carolina Association of Knifemakers. In addition, he was one of the first members of the Knifemakers Guild, a national association of knifemakers formed in 1970. The organization is dedicated to promoting custom knives and ensuring that its members follow sound business practices. In 1981-82 Herron served as the president of the organization, which is known by its members as "The Guild." Herron was inducted into the Knifemakers Hall of Fame in 1987.
Shell Johnson Camp Meeting Horn Blowing
The story of two camp meetings, Indian Field and neighboring Shady Grove, is the story of the role religion has played in the shaping of rural life in the Lowcountry. The earliest camp meetings were affiliated with the Methodist church, although many other denominations used such gatherings to establish permanent congregations. The camp meeting soon became a widespread institution within American Christianity.
Shell Johnson upholds an unbroken camp meeting tradition that has been in existence since the 1850s. Caesar Wolfe, the founder of the African American camp meeting Shady Grove, served as the first trumpeter. Shell Johnson is only the fourth trumpeter in the rich history of the Shady Grove Camp Meeting. Johnson has been blowing the horn since October of 1959, playing at both Shady Grove and the white camp meeting at Indian Field. Both camp meetings revolve around the tradition of blowing the horn, or trumpet, to call participants to the tabernacle for worship. Both Shady Grove and Indian Field are set up much like the Israelite camps described in the book of Exodus. The central worship site, or tabernacle, faces east and is surrounded by "tents."
While these tents were not initially permanent structures, by the turn of the century, camp meeting participants had begun to build small, permanent buildings, although they are still commonly called tents. In fact, many even refer to Shell's horn as a shofar, the Hebrew word describing the ram's horn blown by the Israelites.
Bill Kinney, Jr.
Folklife & Traditional Arts
Bill Kinney was born and raised in Bennettsville, South Carolina, where his parents were publishers of the local newspaper. Today, Kinney follows in the footsteps of his parents, serving as the editor and publisher of the Marlboro Herald-Advocate Kinney is being recognized for his tireless efforts to promote South Carolina traditional arts, which includes his work on the Board of Trustees at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Kinney was appointed to the Board of Trustees in 1982 by Senator Strom Thurmond. Since that time, Kinney has added his distinctive Southern voice to the deliberation of the board, many of the years serving as its president.
Kinney continues to be a superb representative of the state of South Carolina and constant advocate for traditional arts and culture in our state. In addition to his work at the American Folklife Center, Kinney also is very committed to issues of historic preservation, the arts, and other issues surrounding quality of life in South Carolina. He was awarded the 2002 Individual in Business Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Award in recognition of his support of the arts in the state.
For more information on the SC Folk Heritage Awards and other programs of the SC Arts Commission, check the agency website: (www.SouthCarolinaArts.com) or call 803/734-8696
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