The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #50963 Message #774969
Posted By: GUEST,shelly romalis
31-Aug-02 - 06:44 PM
Thread Name: Aunt Molly Jackson family tree?
Subject: RE: Aunt Molly Jackson family tree?
Hi folks...great to see interest in Aunt Molly! She was a truly amazing and complex woman...a fascinating mixture of midwife and activist, creator of songs (that others claimed to write) and stories (that others claimed were false). She was "discovered" at the age of 50 by a group of famous radical writers who went to Appalachia in 1931 to investigate the conditions in the coal fields. They brought her to New York City to raise money for the miners' My book, that Rick referred to-- talks about Aunt Molly's life, her relationships with half-sister Sara Ogan Gunning and half-brother, Jim Garland--they shared a father). I tell about Molly's life and the contrasting worlds she experienced as well as some of the issues that engage anthropologists and folklorists-- the making of oral tradition, history, place, class and culture. Here are the details: Pistol Packin' Mama:Aunt Molly Jackson and the Politics of Folksong, University of Illinois Press, 1999. They have it at some bookstores but since it's not exactly a hot seller, you might need to order it or find it at the library. Ciao, Shelly