Ethan Hamblin ’14
The ‘Jean Ritchie MA Scholarship,’ named after the internationally known ballad singer, dulcimer player, and “Mother of Folk” music, has been awarded to Ethan Hamblin, a 2014 Berea College graduate.
Hamblin is the inaugural recipient of the Jean Ritchie MA Scholarship, which is awarded to an outstanding Berea College student who has decided to pursue their Master’s degree at National University of Ireland (NUI) Galway. Hamblin will receive a full-tuition scholarship, beginning in September, as he pursues his degree in Rural Sustainability.
Hamblin, a native of the Perry County (KY) community of Gays Creek, majored in Appalachian Studies at Berea College with a focus in community development and contemporary issues of Appalachia. In College, Hamblin served as a Bonner Scholar working for organizations such as Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Brushy Fork Institute which occasionally took him off campus and back into the Appalachian region. Hamblin served as a board member for the Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project, the Supporting Emerging Appalachian Leadership Network, and the Appalachian Community Fund. His grassroots activism and community development experience led to being named a 2013 recipient of the Marguerite Casey Foundation’s Sergeant Shriver Youth Warrior Against Poverty Award.
After graduating from Berea College, Hamblin began working in Appalachia as the Regional Philanthropy Coordinator for the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky.
“The study of Appalachian culture has prepared me to more strongly represent and work within the region, Hamblin says. “I believe that the MA program at Galway will be a direct extension of the education I received from Berea and my community development work within Appalachia.
Galway, and the western region of Ireland, parallel to Berea by serving as a cultural center. Both locations are hubs of place-based, academic research and cultural preservation.”
The Jean Ritchie Scholarship links Berea College and NUI through a bilateral exchange established in 2015. The connection resulted from Ritchie’s time at NUI in 1952 during her studies in Ireland and Great Britain as part of her Fulbright Scholarship to research the roots of her family’s music. The Ritchie family, known as the “Singing Ritchies,” are a renowned ballad singing family from Viper, Kentucky. Jean was the youngest of fourteen children, and by then had received a degree in social work from the University of Kentucky. Her Fulbright Scholarship allowed her to spend eighteen months abroad with her husband, George Pickow, a photographer, recording folk songs and traditional musicians and taking photographs.
Hamblin states NUIG encourages students to engage and document the culture surrounding them, so he can be immersed in the rich heritage of Ireland through its history, literature, and music. “The city is accessible to Connemara, a region similar to central Appalachia: rural, impoverished, and inadequate public services,” he says. “This experience will build upon my BA in Appalachian Studies by taking me to the roots of Appalachian culture. The Scots-Irish influence on mountain people can easily be recognized in their food, dialect, music, and family relations.”
Hamblin cites how studying at NUI Galway through the Jean Ritchie Scholarship will be beneficial as he learns from a place and people similar to Appalachia. “As the regional program officer for the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, I have seen firsthand how culture can catalyze economic development. Eastern Kentucky is undergoing an extreme economic transition after the decline of the coal industry. I firmly believe that our [economic development] efforts must be rooted in culture-based ventures: local foods and agriculture, artisans, and traditional music. The transferrable knowledge I gain as a student will enable me to serve rural communities, like Appalachia, who are building place-based strategies for sustainable development.”
Upon completing his MA, Hamblin hopes to pursue a PhD program that will further prepare him to serve rural communities engaged in placed-based development.
“Throughout her career, Jean Ritchie was a pioneer of music as a composer, ballad collector, and performer,” Hamblin says. “She utilized music as a way to preserve the stories and heritage of her homeland, as well as catalyze activism for justice and equity. She was proud of her Appalachian heritage, dedicated to its preservation, and loyal to her mountain people. Like Jean, I am a proud Perry County native rooted in place, but entrusted with a purpose. Jean’s legacy calls us into action and I hope to answer that call by serving communities rich with heritage and full of hope.”
Berea College, the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, focuses on learning, labor and service. The College admits only academically promising students with limited financial resources, primarily from Kentucky and Appalachia, although students come from 40 states and 60 countries. Every Berea student receives a Tuition Promise Scholarship, which means no Berea student pays for tuition. Berea is one of seven federally recognized Work Colleges, so students work 10 hours or more weekly, earning money for books, housing, and meals. The College’s motto, “God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth, (Acts 17:26)” speaks to its inclusive Christian character.
For more information: https://legacy.berea.edu/cie/