Pressley, Karen Helms

Ethnomusicologist Karen Helms Pressley was born in Union County, N.C. Classically trained in piano, organ, and voice, Pressley developed an interest in the preservation of old-time music and the oral tradition.

From the description of Karen Helms Pressley collection, 1973-1990 (bulk 1975-1978) [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 54030688

Ethnomusicologist Karen Helms Pressley was born in Union County, N.C. Classically trained in piano, organ, and voice, Pressley later developed an interest in the preservation of old-time music and the oral tradition. Her maternal grandfather, David Price, was a well-known folk fiddler.

Pressley received a Bachelor of Music degree from Queens College in Charlotte, N.C., and in 1974 a Master of Arts in Ethnomusicology from East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. Her Master's thesis, The Role and Function of Oral Tradition of Ballad Form as Related to the Society and Culture of Ocracoke Island, was based on fieldwork she conducted on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the early 1970s. Grants from the North Carolina Arts Council, 1976-1978, and the National Endowment of the Arts, 1978-1979, enabled her to conduct fieldwork in her native Union County, N.C.

From the guide to the Karen Helms Pressley Collection, 1973-1990 (bulk 1975-1978), (Southern Folklife Collection)