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This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Archival processing of the Mary Seelhorst Recordings was made possible through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Size | 7 items |
Abstract | Live audio recordings created by Mary Seelhorst, a white museum professional, writer, musician, and auto racing crew member, when she was a graduate student of Folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The recordings include a 1983 documentary recording of the funeral of Mary Seelhorst's grandmother, Sena Edith Burke (1902-1983) of Greenup County, Ky., as well as a performance of old-time tunes, bluegrass, and country songs performed by the house band of the Pollirosa Restaurant in King, Stokes County, N.C. in 1984. The funeral service for Sena Edith Burke was recorded by Mary Seelhorst in November 1983 at the Morton Funeral Home in South Shore, Ky. This recording includes lined out hymns and a chanted sermon by Brother Baxter Osborne and members of the Regular Baptist Church from South Shore, Ky. The Pollirosa Restaurant house band features musicians Ralph McGee, white fiddler; J. J. Rierson, white electric guitarist, fiddler, and vocalist; Rex McGee, white pianist (Ralph's son); Rex McGee, Jr., white banjo player (Ralph's grandson); and Coy Vogler, white bass player. Mary Seelhorst recorded the band on 5 October 1984 in the Pollirosa Restaurant. The collection also contains supporting documentation, including a field collection cover sheet prepared by former library staff, as well as tape logs and a transcription of the funeral service recording made by the collector. |
Creator | Seelhorst, Mary. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Folklife Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Anne Wells and Meredith Kite, January 2021
Encoded by: Anne Wells, January 2021
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
Archival processing of the Mary Seelhorst Recordings was made possible through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
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Mary L. Seelhorst, of Ypsilanti, Mich., is a white museum professional, writer, musician, and auto racing crew member. Seelhorst was born in Athens, Ohio. She received her bachelor's degree in English and Comparative Arts from Ohio University in 1983 and her master's degree in Folklore from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1985. Her master's thesis, "Folklife Research for the Living History Museum: Theory and Practice," looks at research for open-air museums, historical museums, and historic farms.
Back to TopLive audio recordings created by Mary Seelhorst, a white museum professional, writer, musician, and auto racing crew member, when she was a graduate student of Folklore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The recordings include a 1983 documentary recording of the funeral of Mary Seelhorst's grandmother, Sena Edith Burke (1902-1983) of Greenup County, Ky., as well as a performance of old-time tunes, bluegrass, and country songs performed by the house band of the Pollirosa Restaurant in King, Stokes County, N.C. in 1984. The funeral service for Sena Edith Burke was recorded by Mary Seelhorst in November 1983 at the Morton Funeral Home in South Shore, Ky. This recording includes lined out hymns and a chanted sermon by Brother Baxter Osborne and members of the Regular Baptist Church from South Shore, Ky. The Pollirosa Restaurant house band recording features musicians Ralph McGee, white fiddler; J. J. Rierson, white electric guitarist, fiddler, and vocalist; Rex McGee, white pianist (Ralph's son); Rex McGee, Jr., white banjo player (Ralph's grandson); and Coy Vogler, white bass player. Mary Seelhorst recorded the band on 5 October 1984 in the Pollirosa Restaurant, which burned down in January of 1985. The funeral recording is on audiocassette, while the Pollirosa house band recordings are on 1/4" open reel audio. The collection also contains supporting documentation, including a field collection cover sheet prepared by former library staff, as well as tape logs and a transcription of the funeral service recording made by the collector. Tape logs include titles of songs performed by the Pollirosa Restaurant house band, including "Cripple Creek", "Fisher's Hornpipe", "Old Joe Clarke", "Please Release Me", Nine Pound Hammer", and "I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Some Day", among others.
Back to TopProcessing information: Titles and descriptions compiled from SFC database and supporting documentation.
SFC Audio Cassette FS-20238/1236 |
Regular Baptist Funeral Service for Sena Edith Burke, South Shore, Ky., November 1983Audiocassette |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20238/1665 |
Pollirosa Restaurant house band, King, N.C., 5 October 1984: tape 1 of 21/4" Open Reel Audio Songs performed include: "Cripple Creek", "Fisher's Hornpipe", "Old Joe Clarke", "Please Release Me", Nine Pound Hammer", and "I'm Gonna Be a Diamond Some Day" |
SFC Audio Open Reel FT-20238/1666 |
Pollirosa Restaurant house band, King, N.C., 5 October 1984: tape 2 of 21/4" Open Reel Audio Songs performed include: "Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad", "Golden Slippers", "Mockingbird", "Satan (Up Jumped the Devil)", "Moonlight Waltz", "Sally Goodin", "Turkey in the Straw", "Orange Blossom Special, "Arkansas Traveller", and "Flop-Eared Mule" |