Florida Memory is administered by the Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services, Bureau of Archives and Records Management. The digitized records on Florida Memory come from the collections of the State Archives of Florida and the special collections of the State Library of Florida.
One reel to reel recording. Images from the concert can be found in S 1576, volume 1: slides S77-78 through S77-95. Ritchie was born in Viper, Kentucky to a family that preserved and sang many old time (mountain) songs -- many dating back to England and Scotland -- numbering by Ritchie's count to well over 300. Raised within the Appalachian-based musical tradition, Ritchie graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1946, after which she moved to New York City as a social worker. While there, she became involved in the emerging folk revival scene, performing the old family songs on her dulcimer and autoharp. She recorded for the newly-created Electra Records, starting in 1952. By the 1960s, she was a well-respected and sought after performer and authority of Appalachian music. By 1976, she and her husband, photographer George Pickow, started their own label, Greenhays Records. Many of the songs performed here appear on their first self-released album: None But One. For other Ritchie recordings, see reels T78-312 through T78-314; T79-1.