“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.”

Ola Belle Reed Film Gallery

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“I’ve Endured”: The music and legacy of Ola Belle Reed, is a documentary now in production on Ola Belle Campbell Reed (1916-2002). The film is planned for completion in 2022-2023 and will accompany an exhibition at UMBC’s AOK Library and Gallery on Ola Belle.  The project is funded in part by Maryland Traditions.  Here are short documentaries, performances and extended interviews collected during the production of the “I’ve Endured.”

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Calling me home
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Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer remember Ola Belle Reed.
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David Reed - "Moma"
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Zane & Hugh Campbell - "Springtime of Life"
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Caleb Stine - "We Will Endure"
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Zane & Hugh Campbell - "Ola Wave"
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Zane Campbell - "Tear Down the Fences"
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Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer - "Hopelessly in love with you"
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Del McCoury remembers Ola Belle Reed
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Francis Riale remembers New River Ranch
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Hugh Campbell - "I've Endured"
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Hugh Campbell - "Undone in Sorrow"
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Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer
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David Reed
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Hugh Campbell Trio
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 For more information contact Bill Shewbridge at shewbrid@umbc.edu.

 

 

For more about the Ola Belle Reed project please visit…

Ola Belle Reed Film Gallery

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

 

Baltimore’s Arabbers

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Selling fruit and vegetables by horse-drawn cart is an international practice; yet, Baltimore may be the last city to host this tradition, which includes brightly decorated wagons and musical hollers while providing foodways from the city’s historic public markets to its neighborhoods. The mostly African American men who ply the trade are called arabbers. Arabbers represent a cultural tradition essential to Maryland’s heritage. Folklorist Charley Camp traces the term “arabber” to 19th century England, where those hustling in city alleys were compared to street “arabs,” a reference to a nomadic and outsider nature of street culture. The term quickly lost its original ethnic reference. Arabbers often pass on the tradition to their children and today serve as an alternative to the rampant drug trade. Camp says that while they represent a 150-year-old tradition, arabbers still operate on the city’s margins. The elderly and the poor who live in areas of food apartheid, where people without cars have few options for healthy food, depend on and trust arabbers.

At the beginning of the pandemic, UMBC partnered with the Arabber Preservation Society on a public health ‘zine created by a local artist to go out with the arabbers who were delivering free food and masks. This venerable Baltimore tradition now has connections to local youth and violence interruption programs along with the potential to expand into new facilities by the B&O Museum in Southwest Baltimore  (see attached media sample). The arabbers currently have momentum to grow and sustain their important tradition. 

Arabbing is recognized as an African American folk tradition, an economic system, and a method of apprenticeship unique to Baltimore. There are three remaining Arabber stables on Carlton Street, Bruce Street, and North Fremont Avenue in West Baltimore. The Arabber Preservation Society was created in 1994 to assist arabbers in navigating city building codes and is dedicated to the support and preservation of Baltimore’s arabbers and functional horse-cart vending, known as arabbing. James Chase, a longtime arabber, is president. M. Holden Warren is vice president.

The Arabber Preservation Society is dedicated to preserving this vital and autonomous cultural tradition and economy without interference. The Arabbers and the Preservation Society stepped up recently during the coronavirus pandemic to bring free food, masks, and public health resources to residents of the city’s neighborhoods most in need. Warren explained. “People ask, ‘Why are the arabbers important?’ It’s a trusted means of communication with a community that’s at risk.” Arabber Lavar Mullen who runs the Carlton Street stable represents the multigenerational connections of the arabbing tradition in Baltimore. His grandfather was an arabber, his grandmother the first African American woman to own a stable, and his daughter currently works taking care of the horses with her father. Mullen received funding for a horsemanship program for local at-risk youth and works with the Arabber Preservation Society to sustain this important tradition. Lavar led a group of arabbers to escort a walking tour at UMBC’s A Walk Down West Baltimore Street public humanities event last year. 

Baltimore Arabbers have received the 2021 Maryland Heritage Award in the category of tradition from Maryland Traditions in recognition of the 150 years during which arabbing has been upheld by and for Baltimore’s Black communities.

Phil Wiggins

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Phil Wiggins of Montgomery County is a master harmonica player in the tradition of the Piedmont blues, a delicate, lyrical style of blues originating in Black communities in the eastern United States in the 1920s and 1930s. Phil has taught thousands to both play and value the Piedmont blues and is the recipient of many awards, including the National Endowment for the Arts’ National Heritage Fellowship, the nation’s highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. He also  received the 2021 Maryland Heritage Award from Maryland Traditions.

The Violin Whisperer

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David Ludwik Rapkievian is a master instrument maker, musician, and folk dancer, who works in the Russian, Polish and Armenian traditions. As an instrument maker, David crafts violins in his Washington Grove, MD workshop (http://fineviolinsbydavid.com). While growing up  in Detroit, David discovered a love of music through his Polish grandfather who repaired musical instruments. Through Detroit’s immigrant community he became exposed to Russian folk music and built his first balalaika based on photos. Over time he perfected his technique as a builder and a musician, eventually becoming on of the most accomplished balalaika players in the United States. Eventually, David led his own ensemble at the famous Russian Tea Room in New York.  He also played with Russian Carnival at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He also had a brief career as a dancer with the New York City Ballet.

Mill Stories: Remembering Sparrows Point

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View a trailer for “Mill Stories: Remembering Sparrows Point”

Filmed at the time of the closing of the historic Sparrows Point steel mill in 2012, “Mill Stories” explores the intangible heritage of the mill community in a time of change. Featuring recorded interviews with Sparrows Point workers and community members, the film contextualizes individual steelworker stories to build a broader narrative about what life was like at Sparrows Point. For more information on the documentary and the broader “Mill Stories” project please visit millstories.org.