Guide to the Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten Oral History Interview 1980
Cage 5134

Summary Information

Repository
Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Creator
Cotten, Elizabeth
Title
Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten Oral History Interview
ID
Cage 5134
Date [inclusive]
1980
Extent
0.1 Linear feet of of shelf space, 1 Folder
Language
Collection materials are in English.
Abstract
One audiocassette containing an interview with Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten, conducted by Martha Mullen and Dan Maher, recorded in a 1980 Women’s Studies class at Washington State University (WSU) regarding her musical interests and working life as a woman.

Preferred Citation

[Item description]

Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten Oral History Interview, 1980 (Cage 5134)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Biography/History

Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten (1893-1987) was an African American musician who spent much of her life around Chapel Hill, North Carolina, cleaning houses. She taught herself to play guitar and composed songs starting as a pre-teen. When she was in her 40s, she moved to Washington D.C. be with her daughter, who was pregnant. There she met and eventually became a house keeper and child sitter for Ruth Crawford and Charles Seeger, the former a composer and music teacher and the latter an ethno-musicologist (also the parents of folk singers Pete, Mike and Peggy Seeger). After many years with the Seeger family, she rediscovered her love of and ability to play guitar, and began traveling and playing with Mike Seeger in the 1960’s. Her most well-known song is titled “Freight Train.”

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Scope and Content

One audiocassette of an interview with Elizabeth “Libba” Cotten when she was 86 years old, taking place on the WSU Pullman campus during a Women’s Studies class on “Women and Work” in 1980. The inverview was conducted by Martha Mullen and Dan Maher. The interview focuses on Ms. Cotten’s working life as an African American woman, as well as her love of music and establishing a successful musical career later in life. Audiocassette (both sides) is approximately 55 minutes long.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections  © 2020

https://libraries.wsu.edu/masc/

Terrell Library

P.O. Box 645610

Pullman, WA, 99164-5610 USA

509-335-6691

mascref@wsu.edu

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open and available for research use.

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions apply.

Acquisition Information

Martha Mullen donated this collection to the Washington State University Libraries in 2020 (MS 2020-18).

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Ally Butzke in 2020.

Alternative Form Available

The oral history in this collection was digitized in November 2020, and the audio file retained as an unedited wav file in MASC’s archival digital storage. The digital file contains both sides of the audiocassette tape.

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Names and Subjects

Genre(s)

  • Oral histories

Personal Name(s)

Subject(s) :
  • Cotten, Elizabeth
Creator(s) :
  • Mullen, Martha (Marty)
  • Maher, Dan

Subject(s)

  • African American women musicians
  • African American women composers
  • African American women -- Employment
  • African Americans -- Songs and music
  • African Americans
  • Women
  • Music
  • Oral histories

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