Folk School’s Appalachian ambassador retires

Trudy Strawn stood before a packed Keith House on Saturday evening where hats piqued with spikes and feathers dotted the crowd and announced that this was not a funeral. 

This was a party for a man, very much alive. This was a party to celebrate the effortful and 25 year career of Jan Davidson, now the former director of John C. Campbell Folk School.

Celia Larson helped to put the beginning of Davidson’s tenure at the helm of the school. “When Jan came, they didn’t have any classes from November to March.” Teachers and other staff had to find winter jobs because the school didn’t operate year round.