National Heritage Fellowships Program
odd: label: Introduction
content: A concern for the continued existence of folk traditions motivated the Festival project since it began in 1967. It also served as the basis of the Smithsonian's cooperation with the Folk Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, a cooperation that resulted in 1982 in a Festival program honoring the recipients of NEA's National Heritage Fellowships. The 1983 Festival saw a similar program, and organizers hoped that future years would as well.

When the Folk Arts Program presented the fellowships, they were signalled by a certificate of honor hailing each of the laureates as "a Master Traditional Artist who has contributed to the shaping of our artistic traditions and to preserving the cultural diversity of the United States."

Sixteen artists were awarded Heritage Fellowships in 1983 during the Festival. Behind each stood a phalanx of other creative Americans, reaching across neighborhoods and back through time. They were the ones from whom the honorees learned, the ones who made the mistakes, tested the limits, confirmed the aesthetic centers. In honoring these sixteen artists, the NEA also honored their forebears, and each one represented not a single creative genius but a linkage of people joined together to produce beauty and truth and meaning, each in their own special way.

The week-long series of events surrounding the awarding of the Arts Endowment's 1983 National Heritage Fellowships were made possible through the generous support of Continental Telecom Inc. In addition, from June 23 through September 5, 1983, an exhibition honoring the 1983 National Heritage Fellowship recipients was on display in the National Museum of American History.

Marjorie Hunt served as National Endowment Exhibit Coordinator and Meg Glaser as NEA Program Assistant.
label: Participants
content: Fellowship Recipients

Sister Mildred Barker, Shaker hymn singing, Poland Spring, Maine

Rafael Cepeda, Afro-Puerto Rican music and dance, Santurce, Puerto Rico

Ray Hicks, 1922-2003, Appalachian storytelling, Banner Elk, North Carolina

Stanley Hicks, 1911-1989, Appalachian instrument making, music and storytelling, Vilas, North Carolina

John Lee Hooker, blues guitar and singing, San Carlos, California

Mike "Papa" Manteo, Sicilian-American puppetry, Staten Island, New York

Narciso Martinez, Texas-Mexican  -- conjunto  -- accordion, San Benito, Texas

Lanier Meaders, southern pottery, Cleveland, Georgia

Almeda Riddle, Ozark ballads, Greers Ferry, Arkansas

Simon St. Pierre, French-Canadian fiddle, Smyrna Mills, Maine

Joe Shannon, 1920-, Irish-American  -- uilleann --  pipes, Chicago, Illinois

Alex Stewart, 1891-1985, Appalachian coopering and woodworking-Sneedville, Tennessee

Ada Thomas, 1924-1992, Chitimacha basket making, Charenton, Louisiana

Lucinda Toomer, 1888-1983, Black quilt making, Columbus, Georgia

Dewey Williams, 1898-1985, Black sacred harp singing, Ozark, Alabama

Lemuel T. Ward, Chesapeake Bay decoy carving, Crisfield, Maryland

Crafts

Mozell Benson, Black quilt making, Waverly, Alabama

Jesus Cepeda,  -- pandereta --  (tambourine) making, Santurce, Puerto Rico

Bill Henry, coopering, whittling, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Oliver Lawson, 1938-, duck decoy carving, Crisfield, Maryland

Cleater J. Meaders, Jr., southern pottery, Georgia

Rick Stewart, 1960-, coopering, Sneedville, Tennessee

Music

Sister Frances Carr, Shaker singing, Poland Spring, Maine

Liz Carroll, Irish fiddle, Chicago, Illinois

Brother Arnold Haddad, Shaker singing, Poland Spring, Maine

Pedro Juarez,  -- bajo sexto -- , Brownsville, Texas

Brother Theodore Johnson, Shaker singing, Poland Spring, Maine

James Keane, 1948-, accordion, Queens, New York

Johnny McGreevy, 1919-1990, Irish fiddle, Oaklawn, Illinois

Mick Moloney, tenor banjo, mandolin, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Robbie O'Connell, 1950-, guitar, vocals, Franklin, Massachusetts

Jerry O'Sullivan, 1959-, Irish  -- uilleann  -- pipes, Yonkers, New York

Hattie Presnell, 1907-1996, Appalachian music, Banner Elk, North Carolina

Frank Proffitt, Jr., 1946-2005, Appalachian music and storytelling, Todd, North Carolina

Isaiah Ross, 1925-1993, blues guitar and harmonica, Flint, Michigan

Sabino Salinas,  -- tololoche  -- (bass), Brownsville, Texas

La Familia Cepeda: Afro-Puerto Rican Music and Dance Group  -- La Familia Cepeda: Afro-Puerto Rican Music and Dance GroupAlba Rosario CepedaCaridad Brenes CepedaCarlos CepedaJesus CepedaJulia Caridad CepedaLuis CepedaMargarita Sanchez CepedaMario CepedaOrlando CepedaPetra CepedaJosé Lopez, 1959-Milagros MojicaJosé Calderon Pou

Wiregrass Sacred Harp Singers  -- Wiregrass Sacred Harp SingersAnnie Joy Belcher, Ozark, AlabamaGladys Bivins, 1933-1992, Ozark, AlabamaPauline Griggs, Dothan, AlabamaBernice Williams Harvey, Ozark, AlabamaHenry Jackson, Ozark, AlabamaWillie Nell Lewis, Winterhaven, FloridaRobert Reynolds, Jr., Abbeyville, AlabamaAlice Williams, Ozark, Alabama
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1983 Festival of American Folklife
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1983, Series 5
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials