Master instrument builder M. B. Green was born in Soso (Jones County) in 1930, into a family of farmers. When his father died in 1945, the family moved to be around his mother’s relatives in nearby Louin. He married in 1951 and his family would eventually include six children. He worked as a baker (including […]
I arrive at Mr. Gipson’s place of residence at approximately 4 pm. Canterbury Crest is an assisted living facility; when I arrive, I notice two elderly African American gentlemen sitting outside, one of whom is in a wheelchair. As I approach them, I ask the man in the wheelchair if he is Mr. Gipson because
Unlike those who carve walking sticks or canes, Vernon Errington of New Hebron finds gnarled, unique pieces of wood in the woods surrounding his home and converts them to walking sticks. Most of them come from small tree trunks that have been twisted and deformed by honeysuckle vines that grow and wrap around them. Errington
McArthur Chism was born in Glendora, Mississippi in 1942 and grew up in Water Valley. As a child, he became interested in drawing and sketched many aspects of his community, including houses, trees, cars, and other objects. During this time period, his grandmother gave him a couple of vases that had been made by wiring
Claudia Cartee is a skilled potter with an eclectic background. Her father’s family was and is based in Seminary, Mississippi. Claudia was born in Orange County, California, where her father cultivated the craft of mold making for pottery and her mother painting pieces. They soon collaborated in the making and sales of slip-cast earthenware. (Slip-casting
Jessie Burge lives near his family’s “old home place” in Lamar County; his father was a sharecropper there. He first handled a guitar when his father bought one for an older brother in 1955. Jesse started playing regularly at the age of ten, then played bass and bluegrass guitar during and after a four-year stint
Long known as a center of chair making in the state, Thomastown lies south of Kosciusko in Leake County, Mississippi. Thirty years ago, there were up to a dozen builders in and around Thomastown, but Jett “Bubba” Biggart may be the last active chair maker in the area. Born in 1975, Biggart is the third
George Berry was born in Oklahoma at White Oak Indian Hills, a Cherokee Indian village. His father was a carpenter and made utilitarian objects (like ax handles) in his spare time. He started his son out in carving by the age of seven. Berry started out by making simple toys and carvings of animals that
Gustina Atlas was born in Claiborne County and has lived there all of her life. Her mother and all of the women in their neighborhood would quilt, but she did not take an interest in it as a child. She left Port Gibson to attend college but returned to teach mathematics at the local high
Amoah was born in Ghana, a country on the western coast of Africa. He grew up in the village of Ahwarse and went to grammar school in Accra, Ghana’s capital. Amoah comes from a long line of woodcarvers. His great-grandfather was a master carver and was his first teacher. Richard began carving when he was
Richard Kwaku Amoah Read More »