This news comes to us from Olga Wilhelmine Mathus, a long-time advocate of Jessie’s music, and founder of the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation: On July 30, 2007, a headstone will be dedicated at the grave of blues and gospel artist Jessie Mae Hemphill, who died on July 22, 2006, and was buried a week later on July 30, 2006. Hemphill, who was born October 18, 1923, was best known as a blues guitarist, songwriter and vocalist, and in this capacity toured widely in Europe, and won several W.C. Handy Awards (later renamed Blues Music Awards) for her recordings. For many years, Jessie also performed as drummer in fife and drum bands, a long-established musical tradition in her native North Mississippi. Her grandfather was Sid Hemphill, a multi-instrumentalist who was recorded by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. The dedication ceremony will take place beginning at 4:45pm at the Senatobia Memorial Cemetery, which is located on Highway 51 South in Senatobia. Reverend John Wilkins, the son of early blues and gospel recording artist Robert Wilkins, will lead a prayer service, after which attendees are invited to join in a group performance of Hemphill’s "Lord Help the Poor and Needy.” The tombstone was donated in part by the Rodgers Funeral Home in Coldwater, Mississippi, with additional expenses provided by funds raised for funeral expenses following Hemphill’s death. “By erecting this tombstone, we wanted to publicly memorialize the important contributions to North Mississippi Blues traditions made by Jessie Mae”, says Olga Wilhelmine Mathus, who founded the Jessie Mae Hemphill Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of North Mississippi music. Jessie’s music was timeless, and we wanted to ensure that people can discover and learn about Jessie’s music and the musical traditions of Jessie’s family for generations to come.
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