In an almost forgotton time, the Midwest and upper South were home to thousands of Americans, such as sharecroppers, fishermen, mussel shellers, button cutters, traveling minstrels, and even moonshiners. These people lived and worked along on the rivers. Work was their lives, and the work was hard. This work was the backbone of industrial cities like Muscatine, IA, and Cairo, IL. These hard working Americans played, too, enjoying music of places like Memphis, TN, and St. Louis, MO, along their way.
On Thursday, October 20, 2016, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Odell Public Library presents “Mussels, Moonshine, Music: Mississippi Valley Migrants in the Twentieth Century.” The talk will be presented in the program room at the library, 307 S. Madison Street, Morrison, IL. A question and answer session will follow.
Musician and cultural historian Dennis Stroughmatt will use artifacts, photographs, folktales, and his fabulous fiddle to transport us to early-twentieth-century Illinois, where his grandfather, Chancy Stroughmatt, worked as a mussel sheller. This free program is made possible by a grant from the Illinois Humanities Council’s Road Scholars Speakers Bureau, a program that provides organizations with affordable, entertaining, and thought-provoking humanities events for their communities.
Dennis Stroughmatt, born and raised in southeastern Illinois, is an authority on French Creole music and the culture of “Upper Louisiana” (the southern parts of Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana). Stroughmatt received a degree in historic preservation from Southeast Missouri State University in 1993. While there, he sought out descendants of the original French settlers to learned to speak Illinois-Missouri Creole French, to play the fiddle (his great-grandfather’s), and to sing the traditional songs of the region. Later, he worked and performed in the Cajun country of Louisiana, received a master’s degree in history from Southern Illinois University, and studied French language and culture in Quebec. Since 1999, Dennis has been a touring French Creole musician and speaker working across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Dirty Linen magazine called him “a jaw-dropping fiddler.” The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts website notes that he has kept a region alive with stories and music that will “make your soul jump, your head spin, and your heart glad to know that it is still here.”
This program is part of the fall life-long learning series sponsored by Odell Public Library and the Odell Public Library Friends. It is free and open to the public. Please mark your calendars for Thursday, October 20, 2016, at 6:30 p.m., at Odell Public Library. For more information, visit the Odell Public Library Facebook page or call 815-772-7323. To help the library staff set up for the event, reservations are requested but not required.
The Illinois Humanities Council is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. The IHC creates programs and funds organizations that promote greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by all Illinoisans, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location. The IHC is supported by State, Federal and private funds. Visit the IHC online here.