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Historic Marker Dedicated To Elizabeth Cotten

Elizabeth Cotten conducting a guitar workshop at the 1968 Newport Folk Festival
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In the early 1900s in Carrboro, a young Elizabeth Cotten took her brother's handmade guitar from under his bed.

She started playing the instrument upside down - with her right hand on the fret and strumming with her left hand. The young woman went on to become a famous blues and folk musician. Next weekend, Carrboro will dedicate a historic marker to honor Cotton’s legacy and ties to the town.

Glenn Hinson is a professor of anthropology and folklore at the University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill. He joins Host Frank Stasio to talk about the life and legacy of Elizabeth Cotten.

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.