Oxford, once the center of major transportation routes, is now a quiet rural town off the beaten path. Oxford’s quiet, rural character is what so many who live here love. It may then be hard for some to believe that in the not so distant past a musician who was known as far away as Germany and Japan and who performed at a Presidential Inauguration lived in our area. Not only did she live here, but she recorded records and broadcasted a radio show all right here in Oxford. Despite her renown, many folks living in Oxford today may never have heard of Ola Belle Campbell Reed or know how much she contributed to old-time music.

Ola Wave, as she was named at birth, was the fourth of thirteen children born to Arthur and Ella Mae (Osborne) Campbell on August 17, 1916, in Ashe County near Lansing, NC. Arthur taught school until 1920 when he opened his first grocery store in Lansing, at one point owning six grocery stores. He also played in a string band called the New River Boys and Girls with his siblings, Dockery and Ellen, and a neighbor, Rebecca Jones. It was Ola Belle’s uncle Dockery who taught her at an early age to play clawhammer style banjo. In this style of banjo picking, associated with old time music, the hand is formed into a claw shape and only the thumb and index or middle finger are used to pick a down pick motion.

The Campbells were forced to leave their mountain life behind during the Great Depression, as they and many other mountain families moved North in search of work. In February 1934, Ola Belle, her mother, and siblings loaded all the belongings they could fit in the back of a truck owned by Kurt Gamble, Arthur’s cousin. Her father stayed behind to close the last store. Ola Belle and her older siblings rode in the truck bed covered with a canvas tarp. The ride north took 10 long, cramped, cold hours. The Campbell’s first home was a farmhouse on a working dairy farm in Nottingham. The house had no electric or running water and her family worked the farm as part of their rent agreement.

After living on the dairy farm for a year, the Campbell family moved to a 100+ acre farm on Lee’s Bridge Rd. On this farm they grew tomatoes as a cash crop and rented rooms to young men who were coming up from down South. During this time of transition, music never left Ola Belle’s life. She and her younger brother, Alex, practiced when they could, and Ola Belle wrote songs. They often went to the Barnsley sale on Tuesday nights and played music standing in the bed of a pickup truck.

In 1936 Ola Belle met Arthur “Shorty” Woods, who asked her to join the North Carolina Ridge Runners. At the time Alex was considered too young to perform professionally. The NC Ridge Runners traveled and played at venues in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. With them, Ola Belle played her first live radio show in 1939 on WILM out of Wilmington, DE. Later the Ridge Runners had their own show on WDEL and played regularly at Sunset Park in West Grove in the 1940s. When Alex returned from World War II in 1945, he also joined the Ridge Runners until he and Ola Belle left the group in 1948.

For the next two decades, Ola Belle’s life, professional and personal, would be extremely full. Upon leaving the Ridge Runners, she and Alex formed a new band called the New River Boys and Girls in honor of the river near their birthplace. At about the same time, Ola Belle met Ralph “Bud” Reed and the two were married on February 19, 1949. After the wedding, Ola Belle and Bud owned and operated a diner in Rising Sun, MD where the New River Boys and Girls performed each Saturday night. In addition to performing at the diner, they also performed at Sunset Park. 

After only a year, they sold the diner, and the New River Boys and Girls signed a contract to be the park band at Rainbow Park outside of Lancaster. In the summer of 1950, the band performed as the summer band at Sunset Park and had a weekly live radio show on WASA out of Havre de Grace, MD. Also, during 1950 Ola Belle’s first child, Ralph, Jr., was born. Unhappy with the management of Rainbow Park, Ola Belle and Alex broke their contract and in February of 1951 decided to open their own entertainment park outside Rising Sun, MD.

Called New River Ranch, the park was built in just four months on the banks of the Octoraro Creek. The stage and park were open air, so performances were only held in the summer and not during inclement weather. The audience sat under the shade of tall trees on blankets or chairs brought from home. A concession stand, for which Ola Belle cooked the food, was located not too far from the stage. Their first performers were the well-known bluegrass duo, Flatt & Scruggs. Other popular Nashville acts to play at New River Ranch included, Hank Williams Sr, Johnny Cash, and the Carter Family. The New River Boys and Girls were the park band. During all this activity, Ola Belle and Bud also grew their family as they welcomed their second son, David in 1953. New River Ranch operated for seven years until 1958 when a blizzard destroyed the stage.

After deciding to not repair the damage to the stage and close New River Ranch, Ola Belle and the New River Boys were hired to be the park band at Sunset Park, a position they held for the next 27 years. Being the park band at Sunset Park wasn’t the only undertaking for Ola Belle, however. She and Alex continued to perform weekly radio programs on WASA but left that radio station in 1960 to begin their next family venture, opening Campbell’s Corner in Oxford.

Campbell’s Corner was located on Old Baltimore Pike in the current location of Oxford Beverage. Ola Belle, Alex, and their sister, Mary (Campbell Owens) owned and operated this grocery store which carried several items from down South not carried in larger stores, but Campbell’s Corner was so much more than a grocery store. Located in the back of the store was a homestyle music hall with a small stage and crates and planks for benches where local musicians as well as the occasional Nashville artists would perform. In addition to the music hall, Ola Belle and Alex broadcast a radio show from the back of the store on station WCOJ out of Coatesville from 1960-1984. Campbell’s Corner was also a gathering place, where folks would often come to talk and find understanding, compassion, and often assistance.

During this time, Ola Belle didn’t just work in the grocery store and perform locally at Campbell’s Corner or Sunset Park. In 1961, the New River Boys with Ola Belle and Alex recorded 5 singles in Washington, DC and released several more albums during the 1960s. During the early 1960s they also broadcast over WWVA out of Wheeling, WV on Saturday nights from midnight - 1 AM. With the resurgence of interest in folk music during the 1960s, Ola Belle became involved in the folk genre, opening her up to new audiences.

As she gained more notoriety in the folk genre, she made new connections which would gain her the recognition she deserved for her contributions to old-time traditional music. In 1969 Ola Belle, Bud, and their son David were invited to represent Pennsylvania at the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife, a festival which embraced people of all nationalities working together to preserve traditional folk art, held in DC. They would also represent Maryland at this festival in 1972 and 1976. In January 1977 Ola Belle,along with Bud, Alex, David, and John Miller were the featured performers at President Jimmy Carter’s Inauguration ceremony. During the latter 1970s and early 1980s Ola Belle was invited to perform in many festivals featuring folk and traditional musicians, including the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville, TN. In addition to receiving invitations to festivals, Ola Belle was awarded a Doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of MD in 1978, for which she was much appreciative as the family’s move north in 1934 caused Ola Belle to leave school just months before her high school graduation.

In October 1987 Ola Belle Reed suffered a brain aneurysm and a stroke leaving her paralyzed on her left side and debilitated. She lived for almost 15 more years in the care of her sister, Darthula, but she never performed again. On August 16, 2002, just one day shy of her 86th birthday, Ola Belle Campbell Reed died. She is buried in the West Nottingham Cemetary in Colera, MD.

Ola Belle Reed has been described as a genuine person of strong character, values, and opinions. Some have called her a feminist who lived her convictions. She rarely turned anyone in need away, saying “what you do to your fellow man is your religion.” This article only scratches the surface of the life and importance of Ola Belle Reed to old-time music and Oxford. If you would like to learn more about Ola Belle, OAHA will be featuring the traveling exhibit I’ve Endured: Women of Old-Time Music from Sept 22-mid December at our History Center located at 119 S. 5th Street. Costs for the exhibit are being underwritten by Styers Peonies, LLC and Oxford Mini Storage. The History Center is open regularly from 9 AM-12 PM Tuesdays and Wednesdays and the first Sunday of each month from 12-3 PM. To honor Ola Belle, OAHA will be hosting the Crossroads Music Festival featuring 5 musical acts performing old-time music on Sunday October 13th from 3-8 PM at the Barn of Nottingham.