Toe-tapping music, theatrical vignettes, archival images, fascinating facts
and interpretive narration give a tour of the entwined musical and
social geography of 19th century rural Hadley
Trudy Williams, Author
Presented by the Hadley Historical Society
in partnership with the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum
Performed at the Hadley Public Library
"Corn Stalk Fiddles: Soundscape and Place in 19th Century Hadley, performed at the Hadley Public Library, was wildly successful.The research, interpretation and artful scripting of narration and storytelling woven in between stellar live music, theatrical cameos, poetry, a children’s chorus, demonstration cornstalk fiddles, and historic imagery, was creative and brilliant. Built around a 19th century letter found in the Hadley Historical Society’s collection, the production also shows the important role that local history-keeping and story-telling organizations such as the Hadley Historical Society, the Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum, the Hadley Farm Museum, and the Forbes Library have in preserving, exploring and educating the public about our community’s heritage". Karen Sanchez-Eppler, President, Board of Directors, Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum
Corn stalk fiddles have largely faded from cultural memory. 19th century music,
manuscripts and poetry indicate the presence of this vernacular instrument across age, identities and social class. In 1896 Fanny Allen, a Hadley ten-year-old, told her father in a letter that she had a corn stalk fiddle made by her brother Otis. This became the starting point into a vibrant multi-media story of the town's entwined lives and shared music–related engagements in 19th century Hadley, where boundaries of race and class often dissolved through creativity and community. Joys, hopes, fears, values, passions, and pride found expression in the variety of the rural soundscape. The show ends with a contemporary example of our traditional music making and its social bonding.
During the author's activity as a volunteer researcher in the Documenting Black Lives in the Connecticut River Valley project, Fanny's 1896 letter was found tucked between two pages of her father Elam Allen's Selectman Committee notes in the archives of the Hadley Historical Society/Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum.
manuscripts and poetry indicate the presence of this vernacular instrument across age, identities and social class. In 1896 Fanny Allen, a Hadley ten-year-old, told her father in a letter that she had a corn stalk fiddle made by her brother Otis. This became the starting point into a vibrant multi-media story of the town's entwined lives and shared music–related engagements in 19th century Hadley, where boundaries of race and class often dissolved through creativity and community. Joys, hopes, fears, values, passions, and pride found expression in the variety of the rural soundscape. The show ends with a contemporary example of our traditional music making and its social bonding.
During the author's activity as a volunteer researcher in the Documenting Black Lives in the Connecticut River Valley project, Fanny's 1896 letter was found tucked between two pages of her father Elam Allen's Selectman Committee notes in the archives of the Hadley Historical Society/Porter-Phelps-Huntington Museum.
The Red Skies Corn Stock Consort demonstrates the rhythmic role of the Cornstalk fiddle.
These corn stalk fiddles were crafted from Hadley corn stalks by Sarah Bluestein using directions published in 1886.
These corn stalk fiddles were crafted from Hadley corn stalks by Sarah Bluestein using directions published in 1886.
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When the corn's all cut and the bright stalks shine Like the burnished spears of a field of gold; When the field-mice rich on the nubbins dine, And the frost comes white and the wind blows cold; Then it’s heigho! fellows and hi-diddle-diddle, For the time is ripe for the corn-stalk fiddle... Click on the PDF below to display the full poem (1896) 
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Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906)
Novelist, Poet, Essayist, Playwright
Novelist, Poet, Essayist, Playwright
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Production
Author/Curator: Trudy Williams Director: Trudy Williams Music Director: Jerry Bryant Director, Corn Stalk Childrens Choir: Cindy Naughton Production Coordinator: Shirley Van Kainen Sound Engineer: Jared Libby |
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Music recorded live at 2024 performance, Hadley Library.
Copyright 2025 George Boziwick and Trudy Williams The Red Skies Music Ensemble: Co-founded in 2010 by George Boziwick and Trudy Williams