Violet Hensley (born October 21, 1916) is an American

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

and musician who makes and plays the

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

Early life

Violet Hensley was born in

Mount Ida, Arkansas Mount Ida is a city in and the county seat of Montgomery County, Arkansas, United States. Founded in 1842, the city saw a silver boom in the 1880s bring early prosperity and economic development to the area. Today, the economy is largely ranchi ...

, to George Washington and Nora Brumley. George was also a musician. She had two sisters. In 1935, she married Adren Hensley and had nine or ten children with him in total, after which she ceased to make fiddles for several decades. The couple moved to

Yellville, Arkansas Yellville is a city in and the county seat of Marion County, Arkansas, Marion County, Arkansas, United States. Yellville is located in the Ozark Mountains along the banks of Crooked Creek (Arkansas), Crooked Creek, and neighbors the small town of ...

, in 1968, where she has lived ever since. Adren died in 1997.

Public attention

Hensley's expertise on fiddles gave her national attention in the form of being featured on the magazine

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

in 1970. She was also invited to television shows such as ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...

'', ''The Art Linkletter Show'', ''

Captain Kangaroo ''Captain Kangaroo'' is an American children's television series that aired weekday mornings on the American television network CBS for 29 years, from 1955 to 1984, making it the longest-running nationally broadcast children's television program ...

'', '' The Bob Braun Show'', ''

Live with Regis and Kathy Lee Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

'', and ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featu ...

''. In 1974, Hensley (along with her family) released the first of three albums called ''Old Time Fiddle Tunes''. Nine and forty years later respectively, she released two more albums.

Later life

In 2014, Hensley published her autobiography ''Whittlin' and Fiddlin' My Own Way: The Violet Hensley Story''. It was co-authored by the American actor and musician

Randall Franks Randall Franks is an American entertainer recognized for his multifaceted career in the arts. He is known for his roles as a film and television actor, author, and as a Bluegrass music, bluegrass singer and musician. Franks is proficient in playi ...

. She turned 100 years old on 21 October 2016, making her a

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

. At the age of 105, she contracted

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, although her symptoms were mild. As of February 2024, she was 107 years old.

Awards

In 2004, Arkansas Art Council honoured Hensley as the state's living treasure. In 2018, at the age of 101, she became an inductee in the ''National Fiddler Hall of Fame''. She has also received other local awards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hensley, Violet 1916 births Living people American women musicians American luthiers Musicians from Arkansas American women centenarians Southern old-time fiddlers 20th-century American fiddlers American women fiddlers