April 28th, 1947 – September 13th, 2024
Folklorist | Museum Specialist | Community Scholar | Educator | Cultural Conservationist | Friend
The Kentucky Folklife Program is broken hearted to learn of the passing of a true friend of the program and the Kentucky community, Miss Wathetta Buford. Her passion for African American cultural preservation was fierce, and her kind soul made an impact everywhere she went. It is very difficult to fully encapsulate who Wathetta was in this life, so we decided to let her friends fill in the gaps for us.
“…She remained so constantly steadfast in her mission to bring forth and validate the voices, and the rich stories, of African American life here in our region.”
“As so many of you in our Bowling Green community know, the passing of Wathetta Buford is a tremendous loss. I first became acquainted with Wathetta when she, Maxine Ray and Alice Gatewood Waddell participated in the 2001 Kentucky Folklife Program’s Kentucky Folklife Festival held in Frankfort. That year the three of them were central figures helping to interpret the stories and the culture of Bowling Green’s Shakerag Community for thousands of festival goers over three days. This was my first experience understanding Wathetta’s lifelong desire to transmit the powerful story of the local African American experience to the world. Fast forward to 2014, when on my first week of becoming the Director of the Kentucky Museum, Wathetta was in the Kentucky Building, up in the Library Special Collections Archive researching for an upcoming exhibit she and Maxine Ray were about to curate for the African American Museum of the Bowling Green Area. Knowing my position over both the KFP and now the Museum, Wathetta Met me with her infectious smile, shared some of her vision and said, “I think we are going to do great things together!!”
Since that time our friendship grew fast. She became a strong voice for community folklife documentation and training, allowing the Kentucky Folklife Program and our partner, the Kentucky Arts Council, to hold a Community Scholars Workshop at her museum on the edge of WKU campus. She was first a participant in the workshops, then at subsequent training sessions, acted as a mentor and an experienced inspiring voice to others in the classes as she lifted up the good work she and her colleagues were doing to share the intimate voices, the culture and history of Bowling Green African American community, with all visitors. Later on, in 2021, she also was a major force in the documentation work, through the most recent Community Scholars training that year, that led to the creation of the “What Happened to Jonesville?” exhibit that opened at the Kentucky Museum and continues to travel and educate thousands about this former neighborhood.
It is hard to not get teary-eyed when I think about all she has given to not only me but countless friends and community members here in Bowling Green as she remained so constantly steadfast in her mission to bring forth and validate the voices, and the rich stories, of African American life here in our region. I am lucky to have had her as my friend, colleague and mentor and take her with me today as I work toward similar goals. Her vibrant memory walks with me each day.”Brent Björkman
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Kentucky Folklife Program Director| Kentucky Museum Director | Folklorist | Archivist | Oral Historian | Cultural Preservationist
“If I had to choose one word to describe Wathetta, it would be DEDICATION.“
“If I had to choose one word to describe Wathetta, it would be DEDICATION. When she committed to a task, she followed through to the end. She spent her time being a part of things with a good purpose.
I will always have fond memories of Wathetta serving our community and state through her dedication to the many organizations she belonged to. Through our opportunities to work together, we built a sisterhood of support for one another. I am eternally grateful for our paths crossing!”Alice Gatewood Waddell
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Visual Artist | Folk & Traditional Artist | Bowling Green Human Rights Commission Executive Director | Community Scholar | Producer
“She seemed to know the best way to do just about everything. Whenever decisions needed to be made, she had clear insights and ideas on how to proceed.“
“Wathetta Buford was a wise and decisive leader and she cared deeply about all of her Bowling Green neighbors and their shared history. I am grateful I got to know her during two of Community Scholar training series in Bowling Green, which she helped the arts council and the Ky. Folklife Program coordinate, from start to finish and beyond. I first met her in the early 2000s when she shared her Bowling Green neighborhood traditions at the Kentucky Folklife Festival. As a project manager at the Bowling Green African American Museum, she dedicated much of her life to telling her community’s rich stories. She seemed to know the best way to do just about everything. Whenever decisions needed to be made, she had clear insights and ideas on how to proceed. Her life was a great gift, and she will be missed.”
Mark Brown
Frankfort, Kentucky
Kentucky Arts Council Folk & Traditional Arts Director | Folklorist | Musician | Cultural Preservationist
“Everything Wathetta stands for is resiliency, and that’s all I’ve known her to be.“
“Oh Wathetta. Wathetta meant the world to me, in more ways than she probably could have ever imagined. I first had the privilege of meeting Wathetta during the Jonesville Symposium that the WKU Jonesville Reconciliation Workgroup had crafted. Wathetta was taking part in a narrative stage, in which she discussed the importance of a community near and dear to her heart. She spoke with such bravery, such honesty, and such strength from beginning to end. Everything Wathetta stands for is resiliency, and that’s all I’ve known her to be.
She ran the African American Museum daily, often working through personal medical complications of her own. But no matter what, she would step into her workspace and continue to spread the importance of African American cultural heritage and preservation. She always smiled when giving presentations to local school groups or community members, and it was clear that her overall passion in life was to keep her story going; keep a people’s story going.
One of the last times Wathetta and myself were able to speak one to one, we were both sitting in her church. At the time, we were shooting an upcoming documentary project about Jonesville. It was a chilly winter day, and Wathetta asked me if I knew where she could get any coffee. She loved coffee, any kind. We spoke about the neighborhood we were in, and where she lived. How lovely the people were, and that she wanted me to come over sometime to eat with her. She told me I was always welcome.
That’s who Wathetta was. A person always inviting others in – to her workspaces, her studies, her research, her family, her thoughts, her livelihood – Wathetta was the kindest human on the planet. She never wanted you to feel alone.
I miss her alot, and I can’t wait to share a hot cup of coffee with her again one day, and hopefully get a taste of her home cooking as well.”Camille Maria Acosta
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Folklorist | Kentucky Folklife Program Folklife Specialist | Cultural Preservationist | Podcast Host & Producer | Performance Activist
“”One of the first people who welcomed and consistently welcomed my family, myself, and my scholarship to Bowling Green was Ms. Wathetta Buford!“
“One of the first people who welcomed and consistently welcomed my family, myself, and my scholarship to Bowling Green was Ms. Wathetta Buford! For the few years I knew and got to know her, Ms. Wathetta always greeted the Pearleys with a smile, encouraging words, and an idea to assist in uplifting the community and the narrative of the community! I was unsure if I should make such a post, but I have been compelled to! There is one piece of unfinished business that was asked of me that I will honor! I am genuinely grateful that my family and I had the opportunity to meet and get to know her! #RestWell”
To read Lamont’s NPR Article on Wathetta, Visit: The African American Folklorist: Wathetta Buford, Preserving Black Bowling Green
Lamont Jack Pearley
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Folklorist | African American Folklorist | Podcast Host & Producer | Oral Historian | Musician | Ethnomusicologist | Cultural Preservationist
“Wathetta Buford made a tremendous impact on the Bowling Green community through all she did, particularly her work to raise deep awareness about the many important roles and achievements of African Americans residents of Bowling Green and the surrounding region.“
“Wathetta Buford made a tremendous impact on the Bowling Green community through all she did, particularly her work to raise deep awareness about the many important roles and achievements of African Americans residents of Bowling Green and the surrounding region. The WKU Folk Studies program has been a direct beneficiary of Ms. Buford’s work and her kindness, as many of our students served as volunteers and interns at the museum over the years. She will be sorely missed, but her work will live on.”
Dr. Ann Ferrell
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Folklorist | WKU Folk Studies Program Coordinator/Professor | Oral Historian | Author | Cultural Preservationist
“Her kind and generous spirit was a hallmark of the leadership and wisdom she so seamlessly dedicated throughout her lifetime.”
“Wathetta was a beloved community member whose mark on Bowling Green will be felt for generations. She was also family. Constantly referring to her as “cousin Wathetta,” my mother’s fond memories of her go back to their childhood days, including the time they spent together as classmates at High Street Elementary. I was told that even in the days of her early youth, Wathetta would prove a friend and helper to all she met. In the final years of her life, I was honored to work and learn from her through shared civic interests. I distinctly remember that she was always willing to volunteer her gifts for whatever need was unmet, no matter how challenging, until the time she departed this earthly realm. Her kind and generous spirit was a hallmark of the leadership and wisdom she so seamlessly dedicated throughout her lifetime. She is deeply missed by all.”
Akisha Townsend Eaton
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Folklorist | Oral Historian | Attorney | Activist | Historian | Cultural Preservationist | Producer
“From my perspective, Wathetta had always just… been there, an ever-present driving force for the community she called home.”
“When I try to reflect on when I first met Wathetta, I realize that I can’t pinpoint precisely that moment. The more I think about the different times our paths crossed, the more I realize we had met even earlier than I had first thought. From my perspective, Wathetta had always just… been there, an ever-present driving force for the community she called home. The best opportunity to work directly with her and thus get to know her better was on the recent Jonesville Documentary project, to which she brought energy and compassion that I will forever be grateful. Always a gentle guiding voice, her wisdom, perspective, and kindness will be deeply missed.”
Josh Niedwick
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Folklorist | Oral Historian | Documentarian & Producer | Broadcast Journalism | Storyteller | Cultural Preservationist
Photos Courtesy of Lamont Jack Pearley, Mark Brown, and the Kentucky Folklife Program
If you would like to share a memory of Wathetta, feel free to comment on this webpage, or send an email to kyfolklife@gmail.com.
Kentucky Folklife Program 