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Portraits from our Past:
FAMOUS MUSICIANS
Southwest Virginia Music
KATE O'NEILL PETERS STURGILL

(Music: 1930's -
1970's)
Kate O'Neil Peters Sturgill was born and raised in Wise County,
Virginia. She learned to play the organ at age seven and the
guitar in her teens. She was also a singer and songwriter, playing
with both "The Lonesome Pine Trailers" and "The
Cumberland Valley Girls." In the thirties, she helped her
cousin, A.P. Carter, collect songs from the mountains of their
native Virginia. During the depression, she worked for the Works
Progress Administration (WPA), teaching guitar and giving performances
in local schools. She was well-known for her performances on
WNVA radio in Norton, Virginia, from 1947-1954. She performed
throughout her life at local events and festivals. She recorded
one song for the Library of Congress Archive of Folksong as well
as various other recordings. Sturgill performed many traditional
songs and ballads of the mountains. A popular tune of hers was
"My Stone Mountain Home."
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