Sylvia Woods

Sylvia Woods (February 2, 1926 – July 19, 2012) was an American restaurateur who co-founded the landmark restaurant Sylvia's in Harlem on Lenox Avenue, New York City with her husband, Herbert Woods, in 1962. The soul food eatery is a popular gathering place for Harlem residents and tourists not far from the Apollo Theater.

Sylvia was born to Julia and Van Pressley in Hemingway, South Carolina. Her father, Van Pressley, died when she was just three days old from complications of injuries he received during combat in World War I. By April 10, 1930, she had lived in Williamsburg County, South Carolina, with her grandmother Sylvia Johnson, the woman she was named after. Johnson had worked as a farmer, a trade that Pressley would get into when she got a little older. Research of Sylvia's ancestry is being conducted by Yonkers, New York resident Dennis Richmond Jr. In 1930, Sylvia's mother took the rest of her family to New York when so she could better provide for her family, leaving her grandmother, Sylvia Johnson to raise three-year-old Sylvia.

Sylvia Woods (harpist)

Sylvia Woods (May 23, 1951 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee) is an American harpist and composer perhaps best known for her role in the worldwide renaissance of the Celtic harp, or cláirseach. Woods began selling and writing music for Celtic harps in the 1970s, when the instrument was not widely known in the United States, contributing to a groundswell of interest in the Celtic harp and music. Woods was named one of the “most influential harp forces of the twentieth century” by HarpColumn magazine.

History

A lifelong musician, Woods began playing pedal (concert) harp in college after walking into the harp room at the University of Redlands in Southern California and asking for lessons. She continued to study pedal harp after receiving her bachelor's degree, but upon discovering and purchasing a Celtic harp, dedicated her life to making Celtic harp music available to the public. Subsequent travels around the world as a soloist and ensemble performer cemented Woods’ reputation as a formidable talent in the folk harp milieu.