Biography:Emma Lee Dickerson
Emma Lee Dickerson
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|---|---|
| Given name: | Emma |
| Middle name: | Lee |
| Family name: | Dickerson |
| Place of birth: | Stephens, Kentucky |
| Place of death: | Ashland, Kentucky |
| Year of birth: | 1923 |
| Year of death: | 2001 |
| Profile: | Musician |
| Source of information: | |
Biographical notes
EMMA LEE DICKERSON (1923-2001) was one of the few documented women to compete at fiddlers' conventions in the 1930's. Her father was a fiddler but died when she was very young, after which the family moved in with her uncle Walter Brickey and his family. Walter was a fiddler as well, and Emma learned from his playing and from musicians in the surrounding community. Still in her teens, she was playing dances and community events, and competing in contests. She married and moved to Baltimore during World War II, where her husband worked in the Navy yards, but returned to Kentucky after the war, moving to Ashland, in the northeastern corner of the state. She put aside the fiddle for some time to raise a family, but picked it up again later, mostly for her own and her family's enjoyment. Her only recordings are eleven field recordings from 1973 when she was visited and interviewed by collector Barbara Kunkle.
Her cousin, Carl Brickey, recalled:
I saw her when she was young, a teenager. Play the fiddle, Charleston dance, and sing, all at the same time. I never see nobody do that but her.