I’ve Endured: Women in Old-Time Music
Women have always been central to old-time music – in the home and on the stage, and as instrumentalists and singers, preservationists, activists, promoters, and cultural memory keepers.
Status
Available Until April 19, 2026Gallery
Rogers-Claussen Feature Gallery“I’ve Endured: Women in Old-Time Music is a look into the past, present, and future of the genre and the integral role women played in the development of country music as we know it today,” said Head Curator Dr. René Rodgers, Birthplace of Country Music Museum. “In many cases women’s stories have been left out of old-time music or overshadowed by the achievements of male artists through the impact of gender roles and bias, unequal access to financial independence, not having access to decision-making roles, and more. We’ve done our best to include as many of these fascinating women and their stories as possible in the exhibit and reserved an area for feedback from the community to tell us who we may have missed.”
Old-time music has been passed down through generations. A commercial career in music may never have occurred to many women tending large families and domestic responsibilities. Women were frequently tied to the home. Others were discouraged or even forbidden by their husbands to keep their music going at home, or to play in public. Some women were influenced by their church leaders to stay away from dancing and the music that surrounded it. In many cases women had fewer opportunities than men to make a viable career from their music. Nonetheless, several found ways to work within these challenges – and move beyond them – in order to pass on old-time music, and the related genres of country and bluegrass, as performing musicians or in other roles in music.
The first songs I learned on the guitar were those Carter Family songs, taught to me by Helen Carter. Musical matriarchs like her have played such a pivotal role in the development of early country music, and so many of their stories aren’t well known or often told. It’s thrilling to see their contributions to our shared music history honored in this exhibit, so that we can more clearly see the path they have forged for those of us who have followed after.
Amythyst Kiah © Birthplace of Country Music; photographer: Billie Wheeler
Amythyst Kiah is an alumni of the East Tennessee State University Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Country Music Studies program and contributed to the content development for the Birthplace of Country Music Museum’s permanent exhibits. She is a roots, old-time, and alt-rock musician whose work as a songwriter and as a performer with Our Native Daughters explores the history of this music and her place in it as a woman of color.
Courtesy of Bob Cox
The Bowman Sisters – Jennie (left) and Pauline (right) – recorded at the 1928 Johnson City Sessions. They also traveled and performed with their father Fiddlin’ Charlie Bowman in the 1930s on the Loews vaudeville circuit.
Courtesy of Cathy Fink; photo credit: Irene Young
Old-time, bluegrass, and folk musicians Cathy Fink (left) and Marcy Marxer (right) have been involved with almost every aspect of the music industry over their 35 years of performing.
Virginia Folklife Program/Virginia Humanities; photographer: Pat Jarrett
Dr. Dena Jennings grows her own gourds for the banjos she makes. She also educates others about the instrument’s history and hosts the Affrolachian On-Time Music Gathering.
From the Mike Seeger Collection (Series Addition of June 2011: Photographs ca. 1950—2000), #20009, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten played blues, ragtime, and original compositions on guitar and banjo. She composed “Freight Train,” her best known song, at the age of 12
From the John Edwards Memorial Foundation Records, #20001, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Elsie McWilliams was the first woman to make a career as a country music songwriter, collaborating with her brother-in-law Jimmie Rodgers to write over 20 songs for or with him.
From the Mike Seeger Collection (Series Addition of June 2011: Photographs ca. 1950—2000), #20009, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Several iconic women in old-time music – Lily May Ledford of the Coon Creek Girls, Janette Carter, Ramona Jones, Ola Belle Reed, Rose Maddox, and Elizabeth Cotten (sitting) – photographed in the 1980s.
From the Southern Folk Cultural Revival Project Collection, 1965—1989, #20004, Southern Folklife Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
In the late 1930s, Lily May Ledford helped to form an all-girl group called The Coon Creek Girls. The Coon Creek Girls’ rendition of “Banjo Pickin’ Girl” has long been an anthem for female old-time artists.
© Birthplace of Country Music; photographer: Anna Mincey
Martha Spencer is a singer-songwriter, mountain musician and dancer from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She grew up in the musical Spencer family and learned to play several instruments (guitar, fiddle, banjo, bass, dulcimer, mandolin) and flatfoot/clog at a young age. She performs with several roots music projects
© Birthplace of Country Music; photographer: Billie Wheeler
Nora Brown performing at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival in Bristol, TN/VA in 2021
Courtesy of Cathy Fink
Ola Belle Reed played banjo and guitar and sang, performing in various family bands for dances, parties, and concerts. She embodied the “high lonesome sound” usually connected with Bill Monroe’s music, and some of her original songs included “I’ve Endured,” “Tear Down the Fences,” and “Only the Leading Role Will Do.”
© Birthplace of Country Music
Rhiannon Giddens performing as part of The Carolina Chocolate Drops with her bandmates Justin Robinson (L) and Dom Flemons (R) at Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion music festival in 2006.
© Birthplace of Country Music; photographer: Ashli Linkous
Roni Stoneman helped the Birthplace of Country Music mark the 95th anniversary of the 1927 Bristol Sessions by performing at Radio Bristol’s Farm and Fun Time show in July 2022.
At its heart, old-time is mountain folk music with strong ties to Appalachia and the diverse peoples who have called it home. It is one of the melting pots of American culture, connecting to multiple influences, instruments and genres, primarily country and bluegrass. Defined by upbeat, instrumental dance tunes played with acoustic instruments, including the fiddle, banjo and guitar, old time music often incorporates dance traditions like clogging, flatfooting and buck dancing.
I’ve Endured: The Women in Old-Time Music serves as a starting point for anyone who wishes to delve deeper into music history and women’s great contributions to the soundtrack of our lives. Extensive related programming, along with an in-depth website, will also be part of the exhibit experience.
Presented by
With Support from
Community Partners
A traveling exhibition of
