In a few days, teachers from across the state will gather at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) to discover why the banjo, originally a primitive gourd instrument brought to the New World by African slaves, has become such a centerpiece in Appalachian folk music.

NCCAT provides residential seminars in the arts, sciences, humanities and technology for prekindergarten through 12th grade public school teachers. The seminars are offered on a year-round basis at no cost to participating teachers. In this seminar, teachers will learn more about a time in our history when string band music focusing on the banjo and fiddle thrived in the black community. They will also learn about the world of the 1920s and early 1930s when whites and blacks gathered in the streets to listen to the music of racially integrated groups. With the emergence of the blues and changes in urbanization, economic pressures, and other social factors, the black string band tradition began to fade. Soon the banjo became known as a “hillbilly” instrument.

In addition to listening to some of the best banjo pickin’ found in the mountains of Western North Carolina and attending the Mountain Heritage Day Festival, teachers attending the NCCAT seminar will hear lectures/discussions from Cece Conway, a professor of Appalachian studies at Appalachian State University and author of African Banjo Echoes in Appalachia. Another session includes Noel Booth of Waynesville, who will share information with the teachers about African-style and old-time banjos. They will also learn from Darrel Rose, a performer from Charlottesville, Va., about several of the one-string African instruments that are the precursors to the banjo.

Teachers in this seminar will join the Western Carolina University community on Thursday, Sept. 27, at 7:30 p.m. in a tribute to celebrate the contributions of Mary Jane Queen, who died June 29, 2007, at her home in Cullowhee. She was 93 years old. Just a few days earlier, she had been given a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship and the Brown-Hudson Folklore Award for her lifetime work to preserve Appalachian songs. Mary Jane Queen grew up in the Appalachian region of Western North Carolina. Her parents’ home was a local hub of musical activity and family members sang at church and social events. In addition to learning tunes on the banjo, much of the singing repertoire that she absorbed included the old ballads and story songs sung around the house to accompany everyday work.

Performers (Sheila Kay Adams, Frank Lee, African storytellers and percussionists Obakunle Akinlana and Darrel Rose, Balsam Range, Frogtown Four, WCU’s Inspirational Choir, Henry Wong and Laura Strother, and The Queen Family Band) to posthumously celebrate the contributions of Mary Jane Queen. In recognition of her lifetime work to preserve our Appalachian musical heritage, Mary Jane was named the recipient of the 2007 National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship and the Brown-Hudson Folklore Award.