Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Joan McKinney, Janet McKinney, and Joan Bailey

  • wcu_picturing-2834.jp2
  • This 1964 photograph taken by photographer Juanita Wilson shows Joan and Janet McKinney and Joan Bailey of Mars Hill singing in the Mountain Youth Jamboree. Founder and director of the Mountain Youth Jamboree, Hubert H. Hayes (1901-1964) auditioned and directed youth to perform in folk dance, music, and folk and ballad singing. The jamboree was held in the Asheville City Auditorium (now known as Thomas Wolfe Auditorium) from 1948 to 1973, and Hayes’ wife, Leona Trantham Hayes (1913-1989) continued to direct the program after his death in 1964. Hubert Hayes was an author, playwright, and alumni of Duke University.