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This is another episode from the first season of FOLKWAYS in 1982. While most of the artists in that first series are no longer with us, this is a chance to visit them again and see some of the very best and authentic folk art practiced in the southern Appalachians. Although the production tools available then can't match the quality of today's digital video, it's still a fascinating look back at part of our cultural heritage.
The blacksmith was a very important member of a rural community, especially for homesteaders. If a blacksmith wasn't available, homesteaders had to forge or repair the tools they needed for farming and raising animals.
This episode features Francis Whitaker, one of the foremost blacksmiths in the nation. He works in the shop at the John Campbell Folk School.
The photo shows one of Whitaker's students, Clay Spencer, at the instructor's forge in the Francis Whitaker Blacksmith Shop at John C. Campbell Folk School. Spencer took over Whitaker's classes after he left the Folk School. |
