Margaret MacArthur

Who was Margaret MacArthur?

Margaret MacArthur was an American singer and player of the Appalachian dulcimer.

Margaret MacArthur was born in Chicago. As a youngster, she moved around with her family - in California, Louisiana, and Arizona. She remembered that at the age of five she heard cowboys on the timber crew singing folk songs in the Tonto National Forest. She studied at Hutchins College of the University of Chicago. In 1948 she married John MacArthur and moved to Newfane, Vermont. She remained in Vermont for the rest of her life. In 1951 the couple moved into a 200-year-old farmhouse in Marlboro, Vermont. For the first 6 years there was no electricity or running water. In preparation for the move, she bought "Country Songs of Vermont" by Helen Hartness Flanders. It became the model for her future folk-song collecting. MacArthur volunteered to teach music at the school her children attended. She found old ballads appealing and she sought out traditional singers in the Vermont area. By 1951 she had performed several times on local radio.

In 1960 an 80-year-old neighbor gave her an old harp-zither. Her husband repaired it and customized it. Margaret became an expert player.