Carol Appalachian Dulcimer: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This Appalachian dulcimer was made by Bonnie Carol in Boulder, Colorado, in 1976. It is a double-bout dulcimer, serial #103, made of cherry, with a rosewood fingerboard with 16 metal frets, four heart-shaped sound holes, 4 strings with Schaller tuners made of chrome with perloid buttons. There is label inside the instrument:

This dulcimer was previously owned by Anne Grimes (1912-2004) an American journalist, musician, and historian of American (particularly Midwestern) folklore. Grimes studied voice and piano at Ohio Wesleyan and initiated graduate studies at Ohio State University. Following her education, Grimes was a music teacher, music and dance critic, and radio host. After WWII, Grimes began collecting and documenting folk songs throughout Ohio, as well as collecting Appalachian dulcimers and zithers. She would continue this work, performing, recording, and lecturing on instruments from her collection throughout the rest of her career.

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Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1976
• maker: Carol, Bonnie
• Object Name: dulcimer
• Physical Description: cherry (body material)
• Physical Description: metal (frets material)
• Physical Description: perloid (button material)
• Physical Description: rosewood (fingerboard material)
• Measurements: overall: 31 1/2 in x 7 1/2 in x 3 in; 80.01 cm x 19.05 cm x 7.62 cm
• place made: United States: Colorado, Boulder
• ID Number: 2016.0196.01
• accession number: 2016.0196
• catalog number: 2016.0196.01
• Credit Line: Gift of Sara Grimes
• 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.