Corn Husk Doll with Dulcimer: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This corn husk doll was made by May Ritchie Deschamps in 1980. It is made of dried corn husk (or shuck) and corn silk. The doll has a hand-woven collar and dulcimer and a painted face. It was previously owned by Jean Ritchie.

Jean Ritchie (1922-2015) became known as "The Mother of Folk" for her contributions to American folk music. She was instrumental in introducing the dulcimer to a wider audience as well as making dulcimers with her husband George Pickow (the maker of the "Wedding" dulcimer, Cat. #2015.0234.01).

In 1952, Jean Ritchie received a Fulbright scholarship to research folk songs and music that originated in Britain and Ireland, which subsequently made their way to the United States. Ritchie performed these songs in concerts throughout England and included some of the songs in her recording Field Trip, in 1954. After Jean Ritchie's return to the United States, she continued to perform and record. In 1959, she performed at the first Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. Jean Ritchie recorded over 30 albums and authored 7 books throughout her career. In 1977, she received the Rolling Stone Magazine Critics award for her album None But One.

In 2002, Jean Ritchie received a National Endowment for the Arts heritage fellowship. She continued to perform until 2009, when she suffered a stroke. A tribute album, Dear Jean: Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie was released in 2014 and featured musicians Janis Ian, Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, and Kathie Mattea.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1980
• user: Ritchie, Jean
• Object Name: doll
• Physical Description: corn shuck/husk (overall material)
• Physical Description: corn silk (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 10 in x 4 1/2 in x 4 in; 25.4 cm x 11.43 cm x 10.16 cm
• ID Number: 2015.0234.06
• accession number: 2015.0234
• catalog number: 2015.0234.06
• Credit Line: Gift of Peter Pickow
• 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.