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A JOINT RESOLUTION designating the Jean Ritchie Memorial Highway in Perry 1
County. 2
WHEREAS, Jean Ruth Ritchie was born to Abigail Hall Ritchie and Balis Ritchie 3
on December 8, 1922, in Viper, Kentucky, the youngest of fourteen children; and 4
WHEREAS, Jean Ritchie was a curious child and spent her childhood learning 5
traditional songs from her parents and other relatives; and 6
WHEREAS, the Ritchie family was known for their love of traditional folk music 7
passed down for generations, and were a major repository of Appalachian Mountain 8
songs and traditions for folk music scholars, as detailed in Jean Ritchie's 1955 book titled 9
Singing Family of the Cumberlands; and 10
WHEREAS, Jean Ritchie attended Perry County High School and Cumberland 11
College, before graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1946 with a degree in 12
social work; and 13
WHEREAS, Jean Ritchie moved to New York City after graduation to become a 14
social worker at the Henry Street Settlement in the Lower East Side; and 15
WHEREAS, in 1950, Jean Ritchie married photographer George Pickow, with 16
whom she had two sons, Peter and Jonathan, both of whom would later perform and sing 17
with her; and 18
WHEREAS, by 1951, Jean Ritc hie changed careers to become a full -time singer, 19
folk song collector, and songwriter; and 20
WHEREAS, while living in New York City, Jean Ritchie befriended many popular 21
folk musicians of the day, including Woody Guthrie, Oscar Brand, and Pete Seeger. Jean 22
Ritchie also met Alan Lomax, a noted American ethnomusicologist and folk music 23
historian, who recorded her extensively for the Library of Congress in 1951; and 24
WHEREAS, in 1952, Jean Ritchie released her first solo album of family songs and 25
was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to travel around Scotland and Ireland to study the 26
origins of the songs her family held dear in Appalachia; and 27
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WHEREAS, Jean Ritchie published several books throughout her career, including 1
A Garland of Mountain Song , The Dulcimer Book , Jean Ritchie's Swapping Song Book , 2
Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians, and Jean Ritchie's Dulcimer People; and 3
WHEREAS, Jean Ritchie performed at the first Newport Folk Festival in 1959, and 4
the burgeoning folk music revival of the day continued to grow into the 1960s, when folk 5
music became a major force in popular American music; and 6
WHEREAS, in 1977, Jean Ritchie's album None but One won the critics' award in 7
the Rolling Stone magazine; and 8
WHEREAS, Jean Ritchie was crucial to the popularity in the United States of the 9
mountain dulcimer, the instrument her family traditionally played with a goose feather, 10
and was the reason many were introduced to it. The dulcimer became so popular that Jean 11
Ritchie released an album titled The Most Dulcimer in 1984; and 12
WHEREAS, in 1996, a documentary film, Mountain Born: The Jean Ritchie Stor y, 13
was released nationwide and chronicled her life and work with Appalachian folk music; 14
and 15
WHEREAS, in 2002, Jean Ritchie received a National Heritage Fellowship from 16
the National Endowment for the Arts and was also inducted into the Kentucky Music 17
Hall of Fame; and 18
WHEREAS, Jean Ritchie left these earthly bounds on June 1, 2015, at her home in 19
Berea, Kentucky; and 20
WHEREAS, Jean Ritchie's impact on folk music continues to this day and her 21
enduring love of her family's music, home state of Kentucky, and th e mountain dulcimer 22
lives on in those impacted by her music; 23
NOW, THEREFORE, 24
Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 25
Section 1. The Transportation Cabinet shall designate a portion of Ken tucky 26
Route 7 in Perry County, from mile point 1 to mile point 7, as the "Jean Ritchie Memorial 27
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Highway" and shall, within 30 days of the effective date of this Resolution, erect 1
appropriate signage denoting this designation. 2