“I’ve Endured”: The music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed

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View a trailer for “I’ve Endured”: The music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed

Information on all upcoming and past screenings is available here.

With a voice born in the mountains and forged by hard times, Ola Belle Reed became an influential musician, singer, and songwriter of traditional mountain music.  “I’ve Endured”: The music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed” chronicles the remarkable life of this artist whose contributions have left an indelible mark on our cultural fabric. Ola Belle’s powerful voice and authentic lyrics resonated with her rural roots, and her passionate songs found a home within the folk-revival movement of the 1960s and beyond.  She left an enduring legacy.  In 1986, Ola Belle was honored with a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship. The Library of Congress recognized her 1973 album, Ola Belle Reed, by adding it to the National Recording Registry in 2019. Her songs have become anthems of Appalachian life, and she is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential bluegrass, folk, and old-time musicians of all time. 

The narrative presented in “I’ve Endured” explores themes of resilience, creativity, diversity, and cultural significance. The film, a product of four years of production, combines archival photographs, recordings, and newly restored film footage to create a comprehensive portrait of Ola Belle. The film also incorporates new interviews conducted with individuals who knew her, collaborated with her, and were influenced by her. By juxtaposing these interviews with the past, present, and future, the film fosters a dialogue that transcends time. The film illuminates her contributions and the profound cultural significance she embodied.

Production of the film was conducted at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and was supported in part by Maryland Traditions and the Maryland State Arts Council.

 

The film was originally produced to accompany an exhibition at UMBC’s AOK Library and Gallery.  Ola Belle Reed: I’ve Endured contextualized her achievements within a history of migration from rural Appalachia north in the twentieth century. The exhibit included photographs, concert flyers, instruments, audio, video, and memorabilia drawn from the Maryland Traditions Archive at UMBC.

Ola Belle’s story mirrors that of more than 20 million southerners, who migrated to the north and west in search of work between 1900 and 1980. This great migration, which James N. Gregory has termed the Southern Diaspora (2007), transformed American popular culture, particularly in the area of music. It was instrumental in the development of Blues, Jazz, Gospel and R&B, as well as Country and Hillbilly music. Migrating from one rural setting to another on the Pennsylvania-Maryland border in the early 1930s, Ola Belle and her family brought with them the music and traditions of the New River region of Ash County, North Carolina.  Her grandfather Alexander Campbell had been a Baptist preacher and a fiddle player.  Her father, a school teacher and shopkeeper,  formed a family string band.  As a child Ola Belle learned to sing Appalachian ballads rooted in the traditions of England and Scotland from her grandmother and mother. When her brother Alex returned home from World War II he joined Ola Belle in the North Carolina Ridge Runners and other bands in recording and performing until the 1960s.

The New River Boys and Girls

Ola Belle played the old-time style of clawhammer banjo, associated with the Appalachian south. In addition to her musical talents, she became an accomplished songwriter, speaking of Appalachian life and traditions. Following their move to the north, the Reed family performed for audiences  largely comprised of other migrants in the Mason-Dixon area, with live radio broadcasts originating from the family store at Campbell’s Corner near Rising Sun, Maryland and live performances at their New River Ranch country music park. 

Ola Belle’s central role in the revival of old-time and bluegrass music gained national recognition in the 1970s-1980s. She appeared with her husband Bud and son David at the 1972 National Folklife Festival in Washington, DC.  In 1986 Ola Belle received a NEA National Heritage Fellowship. The Library of Congress added her 1973 album Ola Belle Reed to the National Recording Registry in 2019. Her recordings are also preserved by the National Council for the Traditional Arts. 

This project is funded in part by Maryland Traditions, the folklife program of the Maryland State Arts Council. For more information contact Bill Shewbridge at shewbrid@umbc.edu.

 

For more information about the project please visit…

Ola Belle Reed Film Gallery

Short documentaries, performances and extended interviews collected during the production of the “I’ve Endured.”