Eusebia Hunkins

American composer and musicologist

Eusebia Simpson Hunkins (June 20, 1902 – September 9, 1980) is an American composer and expert on Appalachian music. She is known for her operas and compositions, especially the Smoky Mountain Opera, which include folk stories and music from the Appalachian region of the United States. She was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1981.

Biography

Hunkins was born in Troy, Ohio.^[1] She began learning piano and music theory in Dayton, Ohio, and later received a fellowship to the Juilliard School.^[1] She eventually worked as a representative of the Juilliard Foundation at Cornell College and later studied composition at the Aspen Music Festival and in Salzburg.^[1] She met her husband, Maurel Hunkins through their work at the Chautauqua Symphony, where she was as a piano soloist.^[1] They were married in 1931 and for several years, she worked in New York City where she wrote music, taught and conducted choruses.^[1]

Hunkins was an authority on Appalachian music.^[2] She began her research into the music of the Appalachians in 1946, shortly after she moved to Athens, Ohio.^[3] Her husband became the dean of men at Ohio University (OU) that year.^[4]

The Smoky Mountain Opera was performed in 1952 at OU.^[5] The Smoky Mountain Opera includes folk music and traditional songs from the Appalachian Mountain region.^[6] The opera was performed by college and high school students around the country.^[7] The Journal of American Folklore called the opera, "simple, unpretentious 'informal folk opera.'"^[8] The opera follows a trend of American composers using traditional folk music and stories.^[8] The Smoky Mountain Opera has been performed more than 4,000 times.^[3]

Wondrous Love is a Christmas drama which includes traditional carols sung in the Appalachian region.^[9] The world premiere of her opera, Young Lincoln, took place on television in August 1959.^[10]

Hunkins also composed children's operas,^[11] compositions for various instruments, liturgical dramas and ballets.^[1] She was active in the National Federation of Music Clubs.^[12]

Hunkins was inducted in the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame posthumously in 1981.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Royster, Jacqueline Jones (2003). Profiles of Ohio Women, 1803–2003. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press. p. 147. ISBN 9780821415085.
^ McVicker, Mary F. (2016). Women Opera Composers: Biographies from the 1500s to the 21st Century. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 121. ISBN 9780786495139.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Eusebia Hunkins". Ohio Women's Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2017-07-05.
^ "Hunkins' Salute: 'Hello There'". Ohio Today Online. Spring 2002. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
^ "Bloomingburg Youth in Ohio". Washington C.H. Record-Herald. 18 February 1952. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Opera Opens Folk Festival at College". Wilmington News-Journal. 6 March 1954. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Casting for HS Operetta is Completed". Alamogordo Daily News. 6 March 1955. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b Haywood, Charles (1957). "Review of Smoky Mountain. American Folk Opera". The Journal of American Folklore. 70 (275): 85–86. doi:10.2307/536513. JSTOR 536513.
^ Gerbrandt, Carl (2006). Sacred Music Drama: The Producer's Guide (2nd ed.). Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse. pp. 178–179. ISBN 9781425968472.
^ "Opera Premiere". Traverse City Record-Eagle. 7 August 1959. Retrieved 5 July 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Griffel, Margaret Rose (2013). Operas in English: A Dictionary (Revised ed.). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, Inc. ISBN 9780810883253.
^ "'Appalachian Mass' Scheduled Sunday". The Logan Daily News. 19 January 1977. Retrieved 6 July 2017 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Archives at

Location	Music Division, Library of Congress
Source	Eusebia Hunkins collection, 1935-1980

How to use archival material

Eusebia Hunkins Collection at the Library of Congress
Eusebia Simpson Hunkins papers at Ohio University

Ohio Women's Hall of Fame

1970–1979

1978	Florence E. Allen Helen Chatfield Black Frances Bolton Elizabeth Boyer Harriet Bracken Martha Kinney Cooper Gertrude Donahey Jane Edna Hunter Consolata Kline Virginia Kunkle Margaret A. Mahoney Helen Grace McClelland Agnes Merritt Rose Papier Lottie Randolph Ella P. Stewart Marigene Valiquette Ann B. Walker Stella Walsh Marion Wells
1979	Mary Jobe Akeley Mary Ann Bickerdyke Beatrice Cleveland Charity Edna Earley Eleanor Jammal Bernice Kochan Emily Leedy Ruth Lyons Jerrie Mock Emma Phaler Rachel Redinger Bobbie Sterne Ethel Swanbeck Clara Weisenborn Marjorie Whiteman

1980–1989

1980	Grace Berlin Erma Bombeck Patricia M. Byrne Ruth Crawford Louisa Fast Dorothy Fuldheim Lillian Gish Esther Greisheimer Edith Keller Tella Kitchen Blanche Krupansky Hattie Larlham Mary Louise Nemeth Annie Oakley Doris Weber
1981	Mildred Bayer Tina Bischoff Lovin Dorothy Cornelius Doris Day Phyllis Diller Eusebia Hunkins Andre Norton Jean Starr Untermeyer Harriet Taylor Upton Nancy Wilson
1982	A. Margaret Boyd Ann Eriksson Bernice Foley Zelma Watson George Grace Goulder Izant Toni Morrison Phyllis Sewell Jayne Spain Helen Zelkowitz
1983	Harriet J. Anderson Ione Biggs Eula Bingham Mary O. Boyle Mariwyn Heath Josephine Irwin Barbara Janis Minnie Player Gloria Steinem Freda Winning Mary E. Miller Young
1984	Sally Cooper Sarah E. Harris Cindy Noble Hauserman Marcy Kaptur Karen Nussbaum Mary Rose Oakar Catherine Pinkerton Willa Player Judith Resnik Helen Hooven Santmyer Marian Trimble Joyce Wollenberg
1985	Lois Anna Barr Cook Mercedes Cotner Zell Draz Barbara Easterling Nikki Giovanni Aurora Gonzalez Mary Lazarus Barbara Mandel Norma Marcere Helen Mulholland Lauretta Schimmoler Marge Schott Mary Jen Steinbrenner
1986	Margaret Andrew Kathleen Barber Fay Biles Elizabeth Blackwell Marie Clarke Eva Mae Crosby Ruby Dee Cynthia Drennan Hooker Glendinning Louise Herring Katherine LeVeque Ruth Ratner Miller Amelia Nava Arline Webb Pratt Anastasia Ann Przelomski Virginia Purdy Selma Lois Walker Julia Walsh Faye Wattleton Mary Ellen Withrow
1988	Anna Biggins Patricia Clonch Norma Craden Jewel Freeman Graham Cathy Guisewite Rebecca D. Jackson Carol Heiss Jenkins Carol Kane Bea Larsen Alice Raful Lev Linda Rocker Sogg Eleanor Smeal Carolyn Utz Anita Smith Ward
1989	Jeanette Grasselli Brown Maxine Carnahan Tracy Chapman Betsy Mix Cowles Ann Gazelle Michelle Graves Florence Harshman June Hutt Geraldine Jensen Carolyn Mahoney Linda Myers Jennie Porter Diane Poulton Renee Powell Charlene Spretnak Charlene Ventura

1990–1999

1990	Marilyn Gaston Dorothy Jackson Luella Talmadge Jackson Janet Kalven Rosabeth Kanter Maggie Kuhn Joan Lamson Maya Lin Anne Variano Macko Alicia Mott Ludel Sauvageot Fanchon bat-Lillian Shur Phebe Temperance Sutliff Grayce Williams
1991	Berenice Abbott Earladeen Badger Hallie Brown JoAnn Davidson Raquel Diaz-Sprague Rita Dove Mary Ignatia Gavin Sara Harper Donna Hawk June Holley Martha C. Moore Darlene Owens Helen H. Peterson Martha Pituch Yvonne Pointer Virginia Ruehlmann Josephine Schwarz Suzanne Timken Nancy Vertrone Bieniek Stella Marie Zannoni
1992	Mary of the Annunciation Beaumont Antoinette Eaton Rubie McCullough Nancy Oakley Harriet Parker Susan Porter Helen Steiner Rice Alice Schille Louella Thompson
1993	Mildred Benson Amelia Bingham Virginia Coffey Viola Famiano Colombi Ivy Gunter Virginia Hamilton Lucy Webb Hayes Joy Alice Hintz Geraldine Macelwane Anne O'Hare McCormick Rena Olshansky Edna Pincham Maxine Plummer Jean Reilly Pauline Riel
1994	Christine M. Cook Claudia Coulton Ellen Walker Craig-Jones Nanette Ferrall Jill Harms Griesse Georgia Griffith Florence Melton Lucille Nussdorfer Jane Reece Emma Ann Reynolds Carol Scott Paula Spence Deanna Tribe Lillian Wald
1995	Sandra Beckwith Daeida Hartell Wilcox Beveridge Patricia Ann Blackmon Mary Bowermaster Christine Brennan Joy Garrison Cauffman Bunny Clark Grace Drake Naomi Evans Frances Dana Gage Jane Kirkham Sylvia Lewis Tami Longaberger Donna Moon Gratia Murphy Alice Robie Resnick Muriel Siebert
1996	Carol Cartwright Elizabeth Evans Rae Natalie Goodall Elizabeth Hauser Bernadine Healy Carol Kelly Fannie Lewis Betty Montgomery Hope Taft
1997	Carol Ball Marilyn Byers Jean Murrell Capers Martha Dorsey Joan Heidelberg Clarice Herbert Beatrice Lampkin Jacquelyn Mayer Townsend Ann O'Rourke Beryl Rothschild Thekla Shackelford
1998	Marianne Boggs Campbell Carole Garrison Nancy Hollister Stephanie J. Jones Bettye Ruth Kay Barbara Ross-Lee Audrey Mackiewicz Kathy Palasics Margaret Diane Quinn Henrietta Seiberling Mary Emily Taylor Virginia Varga Jacqueline Woods Nancy Lusk Zimpher
1999	MaryJo Behrensmeyer Alvina Costilla Sarah Deal Electra Doren Daisy Flowers Annie Glenn Ann Hamilton Carole Hoover Cheryl Han Horn Carol Latham Nancy Linenkugel Marie Barrett Marsh Marjorie Parham Mary Regula Lee Lenore Rubin Harriet Beecher Stowe Jerry Sue Thornton Janet Voinovich

2000–2009

2000	Paige Ashbaugh Maude Charles Collins Faye Dambrot Margarita de Leon Patricia Louise Fletcher Jean Patrice Harrington Shirley Hoffman Dorothy Kazel Farah Majidzadeh Ada Martin Lorle Porter Lanna Samaniego Yvonne Taylor Margaret Wong Betty Zane
2001	Rebecca Boreczky Frances Jennings Casement Ruth L. Davis Lucille Ford Susan F. Gray Kathleen Harrison Adella Prentiss Hughes Janet E. Jackson Dottie Kammie Kamenshek Maxine Levin Irene Long Martha MacDonell Mary Andrew Matesich Elizabeth Powell Deborah Pryce Maria Sexton Farah Walters Georgeta Blebea Washington
2002	Judy Barker Frances Seiberling Buchholzer Joan Brown Campbell Nancy Frankenberg Zell Hart-Deming Elsie Helsel Katie T. Horstman Jennie Hwang Cathy Monroe Lewis Viola Startzman Robertson Stefanie Spielman Kathryn D. Sullivan
2003	Sheila Bailey Jeraldyne Kilborn Blunden Shannon Carter Luceille Fleming Olga González-Sanabria Elsie Janis Lois Lenski Ellen Mosley-Thompson Cathy Nelson Evlyn Gray Scott Yvonne Williams
2007	Rogers Margaret Brugler Julia Chatfield Lucille Hastings Lillie Howard Mary Ann Jorgenson Joyce Mahaney Rozella Schlotfeldt Katherine May Smith Florence Wang
2008	Dorothy Baunach Carrie Black Caro Bosca Yvette McGee Brown Loann Crane Joan Durgin Carol Gibbs Billie Johnson Jih Lei Elizabeth Magee Kasturi Rajadhyaksha Julie Salamon Michele Wheatly
2009	Gail Collins Pamela B. Davis Kim de Groh Beverly J. Gray Sharon Howard Carol Kuhre Virginia Manning Helen Moss Judith Rycus Mary Adelaide Sandusky Glenna Watson Bernett Williams Celia Williamson

2010–2019

2010	Owens Alvarene Tenenbaum Gayle Channing Dorothy McAlpin Maguire Chapman Barbara Fergus Merle Grace Kearns Rebecca J. Lee Nina McClelland Lana Moresky Martha Potter Otto Elizabeth Ruppert Rita Singh
2011	Cheryl A. Boyce Elizabeth H. Flick Frances Harper Brenda J. Hollis Mary C. Juhas Kleia R. Luckner Valerie J. Lyons Linda S. Noelker Carrie Vonderhaar