Oral history interview with Roy Ham, 1977
Subtitle: interview H-0123-1, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007)
Contributors: Ham, James, interviewee; Dilley, Patty, interviewer; Southern Oral History Program; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Documenting the American South (Project); University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library
Edition: Electronic ed.
Publisher: University Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
Published: 2007
Place of publication: [Chapel Hill, N.C.]
Language: eng
Subjects: Interviews; Appalachians (People); Folk musicians; Stringed instrument makers; Social life and customs; Recreation; Attitudes; Old-time music
Other titles: Interview H-0123-1, Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007); Interview with Roy Ham, 1977; Oral histories of the American South.
Description: Roy Ham grew up in Ashe County, North Carolina. He recalls wading through heavy snowfalls, milk bucket in hand, to attend school. He left shortly before high school graduation to contribute to the war effort on the home front, but eventually returned to earn a high school diploma before entering the working world. What Ham did for a living most of his life is not entirely clear, although he has spent a lot of time making stringed instruments and plenty of time having fun. This interview is less useful for gleaning information about the industrializing South than it is for illustrating a life rich in storytelling and song. Skim the interview for more than one anecdote about ghosts; sleeping in a ditch after an evening at the movies; mistaking groundhogs for polecats; telling lies; and doing on-stage back flips at a concert. Listen for some music. This interview is captivating; it may or may not be useful.
Notes: Title from menu page (viewed on June 6, 2008).

Interview participants: Roy Ham, interviewee; James Ham, interviewee; Robert ?, interviewee; Unidentified Speaker, interviewee; Mike ?, interviewee; Patty Dilley, interviewer.

Duration: 03:42:15.

This electronic edition is part of the UNC-CH digital library, Documenting the American South.  It is a part of the collection Oral histories of the American South.

Text encoded by Jennifer Joyner.  Sound recordings digitized by Aaron Smithers.

Text (HTML and XML/TEI source file) and audio (MP3); 2 files: ca. 327 kilobytes, 406 megabytes.

Original version: Southern Oral History Program Collection, (#4007), Series H, Piedmont industrialization, interview H-0123-1, Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Transcribed by Jean Houston. Original transcript: 87 p.

Funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this interview.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

System requirements:  Web browser with Javascript enabled and multimedia player.