SAA 108
Nora Carpenter Traditional Music Collection
1920-1972
1 Linear Foot
Online Catalog Record (BANC)

Overview
History
Series Description
Series I - Biographical Material and Photographs
Series II - Manuscript Song and Poetry Texts
Series III - Clippings and Other Published Material
Series IV - Reel to Reel Audio Recordings

Access and Use

Provenance: The collection was given to Berea College in October, 2007 by Nora Carpenter’s daughters, Charlotte Thompson and Carolyn Cravens of Lexington, Kentucky.

Access: There are no restrictions on the collection other than federal copyright regulations.

Preferred Citation: Nora Carpenter Traditional Music Collection, Berea College Special Collections & Archives, Berea, Ky.

Related Archives

• Appalachian Ballad and Folk Music Collection, SAA 18
• Bradley Kincaid Collection, SAA 13
• Talitha Ethel Powell McClure Ballad Collection, SAA 32
• James Watt Raine Ballad Collection, SAA 6
• Leonard Roberts Collection SAA 57
• John F. Smith Traditional Music Collection SAA 5

Overview

This collection consists of song lyrics, poems, and sound recordings authored or collected by Nora E. Carpenter of Magoffin County, Kentucky, mostly during the period 1920 - 1960. It also includes numerous clippings of song lyrics, poetry, and community history from a wide variety of print sources, both loose leaf and pasted in a scrap book. There are also a few song books published by regional country music radio performers during the 1940s and 1950s.

History

Nora Owens Carpenter (1888-1975) was a formidable presence for many years in the Salyersville - Magoffin County area of eastern Kentucky. Married to Morgan Green Carpenter in 1907, she was a mother of five, businesswoman, and onetime postmaster. However for many in her home community, she is best remembered as a talented, traditional musician (banjo and harmonica) and topical song writer. She and her string band, “Big Mamma and the Half Mountain Hotshots,” had a strong following on Paintsville radio station, WSIP during the 1940s and early 1950s. Despite this local appreciation, she seems to have been overlooked by the many folklore scholars who traveled through Kentucky at various times during the 1900s.

Series Description
3 Manuscript Boxes

This series consists of newspaper clippings, photographs, and a Magoffin County, Kentucky Historical Society publication.

1. Biography

This series consists of manuscript material, hand written and typed, most of which is dated and ranges from 1912 through the 1950s. The largest portion comes from the late 1940s and early 1950s. Some include the notation, “composed by Nora Carpenter” and in few instances copyright is claimed. Others are clearly transcriptions of well known published compositions. Recurring themes in her composed repertoire include such broad areas as lost love, family life, and death along with references to such contemporary events as World War Two, the Korean War, and the Floyd County, Kentucky school bus tragedy. The texts are arranged in folders alphabetically by title or first line.

Box 1 continued

2. A
Aint Goin’ Honkey-Tonken’
Adieu To My Friends
Alone and Blue
Angels Get My Mansions Ready
Angels Get My Mansions Ready
Answer to: Don’t Forget Me Little Darling
Answer To: You Are My Sunshine
Answer To: You Are My Sunshine
As I Walked Out on the Streets in Laredo
As You Go Though Life
3. B
Battle Hymn of Cross
Blue Skies in Your Eyes
Blind Child
Bonaparte’s Retreat
A Broken Hearted Ralphman
A Broken Hearted Ralphman
Broken Hearted Wife
Brother Green
Build Me a Cabin
Bury Me Beneath the Willow

4. C
C and O Wreck
Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy
Chocolate Ice Cream Cone
Cleorita MY Cleorita
Cleorita MY Cleorita
Cottage By the Sea
Cottage By the Sea
Court Ship
Courtship and Marriage of California Joe
Crying Holy Unto the Lord

5. D
Darling Nellie Gray
Darling You Have Broken My Heart
Dear Mother (11-24-50)
Death of Brother Owens
" Don’t Cry, Little Girl, Don’t Cry"
Don’t Forget the Family Prayer
Don’t Forget this Song
Don’t Rob Another Man’s Castle
Don’t Rob Another Man’s Castle
Don’t Rob Another Man’s Castle
Don’t That Moon Look Lonesome
Don’t That Moon Look Lonesome
Don’t That Moon Look Lonesome
Drunkard’s Dream
Drunkard’s Grave
Drunkard’s Grave
Dust On the Bible
Dust On the Bible
Dying From Home and Lost
Dear Mother (7-6-49)
Dear Mother (7-27-50)
[Come Listen All You Neighbors and Friends]
[Come Listen All You Neighbors and Friends]
" Death Of Muriel Baldridge, The (7-12-49)"
" [Death of Muriel Baldridge, The] (No Date)"
" Death of Muriel Baldridge, The (7-12-49,typed)"
" Death of Muriel Baldridge, The(7-12-49, typed)"
" Death of Muriel Baldridge, The (7-12-49) “copyrighted”"
" Death of William Gobel, The "
Down in the Willowed(?) Garden

6. E
Ellan Smith
End of the World
End of the World
End of the World

7. F
Farewell? Mother? I am Dying
Farther Along
Father’s Letters
Father’s Letters
" Floyd County School Bus, The Disastrous Wreck of"
" Floyd County School Bus, Wreck Of"
Foggy River
Foggy River
Forty Years Ago
" Fashion, The"

8. G
"Gals Go Wild Over Me, The"
" Gals Go Wild Over Me, The"
" Girl in Her Bonnet Blue, The"
Glory Bound Train
God Please Protect America
God’s Son
God’s Son
“ Groanin Moanin” Groanin Blues
“ Groanin Moanin” Groanin Blues

9. H
Hallelujah! We Shall Rise
Handsome Girl
The Harvest is Over
The Harvest is Over
Have I Told You Lately
Have You Any Time for Jesus
Have You Any Time for Jesus
Have You Some-one In Heaven Awaiting
Have You Some-one In Heaven Awaiting
Haven of Rest
Hawkin’s Story
Hawkin’s Story
He is Coming to us Dead
Honey in the Rock
" Hospital Blues, The"
How Beautiful Heaven Must Be 2x

10. I
I Ain’t Gonna’ Work Tomorrow
I Ain’t Gonna’ Work Tomorrow
I am a Prilgrim
I Cried Again
I Feel Like Going On
I Have but One Goal
I Have Heart Aches
I Have No Mother Now
I Have No Mother Now
I Just Don’t Like This Kind on Livin’
I Know What it Means to be Lonely
I Know What it Means to be Lonely
I Love You Because
I Will Never Marry
I Remember
I Saw the Light
I Want to be Loved
I Want to be Loved But Only by You
If it Ain’t One Thing it’s Another
If Teardrops Were Pennies
If We Never Meet Again
If We Never Meet Again
I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight
I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight
I’ll Be All Smiles Tonight
I’ll Be Listening
I’ll Be There Anyway
I’ll Be There Anyway
I’ll Have a New Life
I’ll Have a New Life
I’m Alone In This World
I’m Going to Make Heaven My Home
I’m Going to Make Heaven My Home
I’m Traveling On and On
In the Mountains
It’s A Sin
It’s Neuers To Late
I’ve Always Been A Rambler
I’ve Got My One Way Ticket to the Sky
I’ve Got My One Way Ticket to the Sky
I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine

11. J
Jack And Nell
Jack O’ Diamonds
Jackie Fresher
Jacobs Vison
Jesse James
John III :16
Just As The Sun Went Down
Just As The Sun Went Down
Just As The Sun Went Down

12. L
Lady Gay
" Last Good By, The "
Left My Gal In The Mountains
Left My Gal In The Mountains
Life’s Railway To Heaven " Little Babe, The"
Little Black Mustache
Little Black Train
Little Cabin Home On The Hill
[I just can’t forget you]
" Little Girl Dressed In Blue, The"
" Little Girl Dressed In Blue, The "
Little Mohee
" Lonely Babe, The "
" Lonely Babe, The "
" Lonely Babe, The"
" Lonely Babe, The"
" Lonely Widow, The"
" Long Lonesome Train, The"
Lost True Love
Lost True Love

13. M
Mansion’s For Me
Mansion’s For Me
Mansion’s For Me
Mathew Twenty Four
Mathew Twenty Four
Me Mudder
Medium-Rare
Memories Of Love
" Merchant Boy, A"
Missing In Action
Missing In Action
" Morning Hymn, A"
Mother
Mother
Mother of Mine
Mothers Not Dead
Mothers Not Dead She’s Only Sleeping
Mother’s Only Sleeping
Mountain Shiners
Mountain Shiners
Moutnain Shiners
My Ego
My Ego
My Grandpa’s Motto
My Jersey Lily
My Main Trial Is Yet To Come
My Main Trial Is Yet To Come
My Prayer
My War Fair Soon To Be Ended

14. N
New Birmingham Jail, The"
No Room In My Heart

15. O
Old Churchyard, The"
" Old Country Church, The"
" Old Country Church, The"
" Old Crossroad Is Waiting, The "
" Old Crossroad Is Waiting, The "
" Old Oaken Bucket, The"
" Old Rugged Cross, The"
One More Day
[Over Jordan Water’s]

16. P
Pale Horse and His Rider
" Pearl Bryan,The Murder Of"
Pins and Needles
Pins and Needles
Plenty Of Everything But You
" Praise The Lord, Psalms 146"
Preacher And The Bear
Preaching By The Roadside
" Prince of Peace, The"
" Psalm of Life

17. R
Rambling Boy
Rank Strangers
Red River Valley
Rowan County Crew
Rowan County Crew

18. S
Salty Tears
Salty Tears
Seven Are We
Seven Are We
Seven Are We
Shall We Gather At The River
She Was Reared In Old Kentucky
Sing While You Drive
Singing Waterfall
Sinner You Must Die
" Soldier’s Bride, A"
" Soldier’s Bride, A"
" Soldier’s Lost Letter, The " Song
Song Of Little Albert
Southern Moon
Southern Moon
Sun Going To Shine In My Backyard
Sweet Birds
Sweet Birds
Sweet Birds
Sweetheart You Done Me Wrong
Sweet Valerie
Sweeter Than Flowers

19. T
Talking Blues
[I was Waltzin’ With my Darlin’]
Tennessee Waltz
Tennessee Waltz
This World Can’t Stand Long
These Lonely Tombs
These Lonely Tombs
These Lonely Tombs
Till the End of the World
Too Little- To Late
The Joy Heart
Trouble On My Mind
Trouble On My Mind
Trouble On My Mind
Try and Make the Best of Everything
The Tumble Down Shack
Turn Your Radio On
The Gals Go Wild Over Me
Turn Your Radio On
Turn Your Radio On

20. V
"Vacancy In My Heart, A"
Village Churchyard
21. W
Waxford Girl
[We Shall Sleep But Not Forever]
We Two forever
Weary Weary Walking Blues
Wedding Bells
Wedding Bells #2
Wedding Bells #2
What Difference Does it Make
What Difference Does it Make
What Difference Does it Make
What Is Home Without Love
What Is Home Without Love
When He Reached Down His Hand For Me
When He Reached Down His Hand For Me
When I Get to The End of the Way
When My Dream Boat Comes Home
When the Roses Bloom Again
When the War is Over in Korea
When the War is Over in Korea
" When the War is Over, Over There"
" When the War is Over, Over There"
When They Ring the Golden Bells
When They Ring the Golden Bells
Where Could I Go
Where Could I Go
Where Could I Go But to The Lord
Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight
Whiter Than Snow
Why Dont you Haul Off and Love Me
Will Jesus Find Us Watching
Will My Mother Know Me there?
Will They Miss Me When I’m Gone
William Goebel
Wish I was a Belgium
Wreck on the Number Nine
Wreck on the Number Nine
Wedding Bells #2
When The Redeemed Are Gathering In

22. Y
You Are My Sunshine
You Going Change or I’m Going Leave

23. Manuscript Fragments

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