Early 1930s 5-string peghead banjo handcrafted by a Black musician from southern WV. The instrument, constructed from carnation condensed milk cans glued to a wooden box, was acquired from the Gospel Hill section of Lewisburg by Jim Costa. Photograph by Gerry Milnes, Aug 1991, Summers County, WV. archive reference: GM S1199. Project description: The Milnes Collection contains audio-visual recordings made and collected by the Augusta Heritage Center’s former Folk Arts Coordinator, Gerald Milnes. Throughout his career with Augusta, Milnes conducted field work to amass a large collection of photographs, oral histories, music, and event recordings. He recorded the bulk of the collection from the early 1970s to 2013, but the collection also includes tapes with earlier dates that others sent to him.
