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Harpers Ferry is a historic West Virginia city and international tourist hub. But four years ago the national park and surrounding town were devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On September 7, 1955, the great fiddler Edden Hammons died at age 80. The Pocahontas County native was part of an extended family known for its music and traditional ways.
The family had migrated into the Webster-Pocahontas county area just before the Civil War.
In 1947, Edden Hammons was recorded by folklorist and West Virginia University professor Louis Chappell in a Richwood hotel room. The resulting 52 tunes document a frontier fiddling tradition with links to the Old World. Here’s a sample:
edden_hammons_-_digging_potatoes.mp3
Edden Hammons, Digging Potatoes
Most of these tunes were later released as record albums by West Virginia University Press. These 52 tunes are the only known recordings of the great Edden Hammons.
An artificial intelligence (AI) tool being developed at West Virginia University (WVU) could lessen medication errors that send recently discharged patients back to the hospital.
On this West Virginia Morning, it was a shock when author, musician and West Virginia University professor Travis Stimeling died abruptly in November. They were 43. Folkways Reporter Zack Harold collected remembrances from colleagues, former students and friends. He shared them recently on Inside Appalachia.