Ethel Caffie-Austin

Ethel Caffie was born in Bluefield, WV, and soon moved to Mount Hope, WV.

Ethel Caffie graduated from Mount Hope High School and enrolled at West Virginia Tech in Montgomery, WV.

Ethel Caffie began teaching music and leading the choir at the Alderson Federal Prison Camp for women.

As part of her job with an anti-poverty program, Ethel Caffie began teaching piano to and leading choirs for children living in public housing in Charleston, WV.

Ethel Caffie married James Austin, who died from an enlarged heart in 1989.

Ethel Caffie-Austin recorded two songs for _The Harry Smith Connection: A Live Tribute to the Anthology of American Folk Music_.

Ethel Caffie-Austin was the subject of a Kentucky Education Television documentary _His Eye Is on the Sparrow_.

Ethel Caffie-Austin received the Vandalia Award, West Virginia's highest folklife honor.

Ethel Caffie-Austin was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.