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Thanksgiving and Bess Lomax Hawes
Let us pause in the holiday rush and recall with gratitude the life and work of Bess Lomax Hawes, who passed away the day after Thanksgiving at age 88. Singer, educator, folklorist, organizer, Bess was the founding director of the NEA’s Traditional Arts Program, created the National Heritage Fellowships which continue to honor the heroes of America’s homegrown culture, and inspired the creation of Old Town School of Folk Music.
Bess was born into one of America’s first families of folk culture. The daughter of John Lomax and sister of Alan Lomax, as a teenager she formed the Almanac Singers with Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and others. In the nascent years of the Folk Revival, Bess pioneered a new method for teaching guitar to groups of students. “Students learning guitar individually can get intimidated because they can hear their own mistakes,” she explained. “In a group, the students feel bolder about playing, take more risks, enjoy it more, and feel part of something bigger, which sounds better, anyway.”
One of the pickers she inspired was a young singer named Frank Hamilton, who a few years later joined Win Stracke to create a school in Chicago for teaching folk songs. Win and Frank borrowed Bess’ teaching methods, which form the backbone of Old Town School’s appeal to this day. “She introduced me to traditional folk music like no other did and I owe my teaching skills to her,” writes Frank. “No Bess – no Old Town School of Folk Music.”
Bess Lomax Hawes went on to champion traditional culture and progressive causes throughout her exceptionally productive life. Her musical progeny include entire generations of players, many of whom probably don’t know her name but continue to benefit from her contributions to the great river of song. “There was a time,” Theodore Bikel once said, “when folk music lit a fire in our souls.” Bess Hawes was among those who held the match. We all bask in the reflected glow.
Filed under: Uncategorized by Bau | November 30, 2009 | Comments (2)
2 Comments so far
Rest in peace, Bess Lomax Hawes. And many thanks to Frank Hamilton for borrowing her group teaching style, and applying to the school 52 years ago.
When I began my tenure at Old Town in 2000, I contacted Bess who had been a mentor during the 80s and 90s as a consultant and panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts. I was able to connect her back to Frank and to her seminal role in the history of the School. She had been completely unaware of her influence.It was a great moment for me to feel that charge of recognition as she remembered Frank and shook her head in amazement at what had transpired over the years.
A great lady with a vision that established the field of public sector folk arts in the world of American arts (paralleling the work of folkorist Archie Green with the Library of Congress and her brother Alan with field recordings), she inspired many and will be deeply missed. But her legacy really does live in the School’s pedagogy, as Bau so eloquently put it.She has left her mark.