Woodcarving lesson led by Murray Martin (standing), c. 1940s. Photograph by Hemmer.

“Highlights from the Archives” features specific collections from the Folk School’s Fain Archives. The Fain Archives contains thousands of artifacts, photographs, audio recordings, publications, and paper records that document the history of John C. Campbell Folk School and its context within craft and local history.

The Brasstown Carvers is one of the longest-running programs of John C. Campbell Folk School. The group began in the early 1930s when Olive Dame Campbell observed local men whittling on a bench at Fred O. Scroggs’ store in Brasstown. Campbell thought their whittling was “idle” and wanted to turn it into a productive source of cash income for these farmers and their families. The Folk School hired instructors—most famously Murrial (Murray) Martin—to teach carving and maintain standards for the group. The Folk School also managed sales for the Brasstown Carvers, whose work soon reached urban markets enamored with the Appalachian Craft Revival. More than 150 people have been part of the Brasstown Carvers, and the craft continues to be passed down to new generations during weekly carving nights at the Folk School.

One of the largest collections in the Folk School’s Fain Archives is carvings by the Brasstown Carvers. The collection consists of around 1750 woodcarvings, ranging in size from miniature animal “least ones” to a 2.5-foot statue of St. Francis of Assisi. Over 90 individuals are represented in this collection, from some of the first Brasstown Carvers in the 1930s to carvers who are active today.

Swan carving by Hayden Hensley (1911-2001).

Goose carving by Ethel Hogsed (1920-1991).

Horse carving by Jack Hall (1920-1984).

Sketches of two-dimensional woodcarvings, drawn by Brasstown Carver Ruth Fleming Hawkins.

Besides these carvings, the Fain Archives preserves many other materials documenting the Brasstown Carvers. Several pattern books passed down between carvers are housed in the archives. There are also sets of patterns made by Murray Martin and by Hope and Glenn Brown in the collections. Recently discovered is a set of pattern sketches by Ruth Hawkins.

Goose woodcarving pattern made by Glenn and Hope Brown.

One of the Brasstown Carver pattern books.

Among the hundreds of oral history recordings in the Fain Archives are several from Brasstown Carvers. Most of the effort to record oral histories at the Folk School occurred in the 1990s and early 2000s. Carvers interviewed for these projects included Nolan Beaver, Mildred Hall, Murray Martin, Hope and Glenn Brown, Ray Mann, and Jay Morris. As the Folk School approaches its 100^th anniversary, further efforts to document JCCFS history through oral interviews are underway. Of course, current Brasstown Carvers will be interviewed for this project!

Jack Carpenter with blocks cut for woodcarving, 1993. Photograph taken by folklorist Georgia Weir as part of fieldwork she did in western North Carolina for the Southern Highland Craft Guild. The original materials from Weir’s project are at the Folk Art Center in Asheville, NC.

Cassette tapes with oral history and music recordings made by JCCFS folklorist Douglas Day in the late 1980s and early 1990s, now housed in the Fain Archives.

Murray Martin (standing) working with woodcarvers, c. 1941. Left to right: Talmadge Massey, John Hall, A. Ben Hall, Jack Hall, Ethel Hogsed, Ruth Hawkins (hidden), Sue McClure, and Lou Cable. Photograph attributed to Betty Denash.

Two unidentified women apply finish to woodcarvings.

Jess Ledford selling woodcarvings at the JCCFS booth during the Asheville Craftsman’s Fair, c. 1958. Photograph by Charles A. Clark.

The Fain Archives also contains some paper records related to the Brasstown Carvers. These include brochures, articles about the carvers, price lists, and reflections written by carvers about Murray Martin. Among the papers are illustrations of woodcarvings made by June Coolidge Cary. June, a relative of Olive Dame Campbell, was an artist who lived with her family at the Folk School for several years in the 1940s. Though she was not a woodcarver, she illustrated brochures for the Brasstown Carvers and JCCFS Craft Shop, and she may have even designed some carvings, such as purse handles.

Selection of brochures and advertisements for the Brasstown Carvers.

Section of the 1967 woodcarving price list.

Article about Jack Hall and the Brasstown Carvers in the magazine People and Places, October 1954.

Illustrations of woodcarvings by June Coolidge Cary.

Selected Brasstown Carver materials from the Fain Archives may be viewed online through Southern Appalachian Digital Collections. This online collection will be added to as more materials in the Fain Archives are processed. The Fain Archives at John C. Campbell Folk School is open to visitors and researchers by appointment. Please contact Susanna Pyatt, Collections and Archives Manager, for more information (susanna@folkschool.org).