Robert Felder Cunningham

Robert Felder Cunningham, harp-maker, husband and father, made his transition on April 18th at 5:15 a.m. in his beloved Atlanta feeling peaceful and loved.

Born in 1940 in Washington, DC to Adele and Jesse Bulloch, Robert’s early life was shaped by his mother’s remarriage, after which he took the name Cunningham. As a teenager in Macon, GA in the fifties, he blossomed in his curiosity and craftmanship abilities working in freight yards and apprenticing with a carpenter, electrician, and plumber. One summer, a pharmacist he worked for recognized his acumen and technique for chemistry. At home, his hands crafted wooden chimes for the door, model steamboats and other wooden dioramas. These early experiences revealed qualities that defined him throughout his life: ability, craftmanship, and quiet certainty.

Robert pursued chemistry at Georgia Tech, completing his degree back in Macon at Mercer University. He went on to begin doctoral studies at Florida State University, where, in his own understated way, he discovered that academic life—and its oversized palmetto bugs—were not to his liking. After earning his M.S. in Chemistry, Robert began work at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) crime lab, where he was one of the only members to advocate for Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement. Harcourt (Harky) Kleinfelter, MLK’s press secretary, officiated his wedding in the woods at the foot of Stone Mountain to his wife Linnie on March 28th, 1971. He welcomed the birth of his son Alan the same year.

While continuing to work in chemistry in the Atlanta area through the 1970s, including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University, Robert ultimately tired of the repetitiveness of lab work and returned to his passion for woodworking and instrument making to earn his living. Digging out his workshop in 1973, he founded Cunningham Harps, where he began making wonders. Delighting in applying mathematics to his work, he crafted psalteries, dulcimers, and even a veena. He loved the harmonics of instruments, of making them so that they sounded right and stayed that way.

He continued tinkering with harps learning their materials, the best woods, and the best construction to open their loudest voice with minimum weight. He went on to design and patent original innovations, including a unique instrument he named the hammerchord. The hammerchord, like its door chime precursor, reflected his joy of striking a note and letting it fall anew when it may. Only a handful were made, one of which was purchased by Steven Tyler of Aerosmith and another played by Bruce Springsteen’s band on the album, Rising. Cunningham Harps cultivated a loyal customer base across the United States for over 30 years during which time the workshop remained his solace and basecamp.

Robert continued to express himself through mathematics and design, constantly tinkering with theorems and even creating and trademarking the board game, Kue. The game was sold at Richard’s Variety Store on Monroe Street and is still used in some schools to teach math.

Surrounded by family, he passed away due to complications from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder under hospice care. He lives on in the house he built for his family, his wife Linnie Montgomery Cunningham, his son Alan Felder Cunningham and wife Monisha Mittal, his sister-in-law Marsha Walker Cunningham Bradley, his nephews, Corey Cunningham and wife, Stephanie, and their children, and Cody Cunningham. His light and presence are dearly missed.

At this time, in lieu of flowers, those wishing to support the family or share messages of condolence are invited to do so through the family’s Give In-Kind page.