Bowler Hat, worn by Wade Ward: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This hat was made by an unkown maker in the United States, undetermined dat. It is a bowler style hat, made of felt with a black grosgrain ribbon and red feather. It was worn by Wade Ward (see banjo Cat. #72.01).

Benjamin Wade Ward of Independence, Virginia one of the most admired traditional banjo players of this century owned this banjo. Ward performed with the Galax, Virginia group the “Bog Trotters” often providing entertainment during auctions and other local events. The “Bog Trotters” were comprised of “Uncle” Alec Dunford, fiddle, Dr. W.P. Davis, autoharp, “Uncle” Davy Crockett Ward, second fiddle, Wade Ward, banjo, and Fields Ward, guitar. On Tuesday, January 9th, 1940, the group performed for the American School of the Air broadcast from WDBJ radio studio in Roanoke, Virginia. The CBS American School of the Air programs were written and directed by Alan Lomax.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Object Name: hat
• Physical Description: felt (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 5 in x 11 1/4 in x 10 in; 12.7 cm x 28.575 cm x 25.4 cm
• place made: United States
• ID Number: MI.72.02
• accession number: 297200
• catalog number: 72.02
• Credit Line: Gift of Estate of Wade Ward through Dorothy Heffinger
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.