Ritchie, Jean

Folksinger Jean Ruth Ritchie was born the youngest of 14 children on December 8, 1922, to Balis W. and Abigail Hall Ritchie in Viper, Perry County, Kentucky. She learned to play the dulcimer from her father at the age of five. After graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1946, Ritchie moved to New York City to work at the Henry Street Settlement House. While there she became known for singing ballads and playing mountain dulcimer. Alan Lomax, a folk song collector, recorded her in 1949 for the Library of Congress Folk Song Archives and she became a regular performer on his radio program in New York City. She began her recording career in 1952 and is considered a major contributor to the folk music boom of the 1950's and 1960's. She wrote "Singing Family of the Cumberlands" in 1955 and has compiled several songbooks. She received a Fulbright fellowship to study songs in Ireland and England from September 1952 to October 1953. In 1980 she was scholar in residence at California State College at Fresno and received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Kentucky in 1982. Besides singing folksongs, Ritchie wrote her own songs including "Sorrow in the Wind" which was recorded by Emmylou Harris. She married George Pickow in 1950 and has two sons, Peter and Jonathan.

From the description of Jean Ritchie Collection, 1955-2001. (Kentucky Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 50104465

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