Counting the Patsy Edwards Benefit Show proceeds

This 1951 photograph shows three bank executives counting the proceeds donated from the Patsy Edwards Benefit Show. Patsy Edwards was the ballad champion in 1949 and 1951 in the Mountain Youth Jamboree. Her father was accidentally killed while Ms. Edwards was performing for the Dance Masters of America in Washington, D.C. with other Mountain Youth Jamboree contestants. The Jamboree champions gave a benenfit program to assist her and her family. Founder and director of the Mountain Youth Jamboree, Hubert H. Hayes (1901-1964) auditioned and directed youth to perform in folk dance, music, and folk and ballad singing. The jamboree was held in the Asheville City Auditorium (now known as Thomas Wolfe Auditorium) from 1948 to 1973, and Hayes’ wife, Leona Trantham Hayes (1913-1989) continued to direct the program after his death in 1964. Hubert Hayes was an author, playwright, and alumni of Duke University