Anna Cebrat was known to thousands of children in East Tennessee as "Aunt Anna." She had a distinguished career as an educator and librarian; but, after retiring as librarian at Oak Ridge High School in 1975, she pursued her love of puppetry and began performing as "Aunt Anna and Her Friends."
Anna made each puppet by hand. Many are life-size, some are storybook characters she came to love as a librarian, and all reflect her true artistic sense. Prior to her death, she loaned a group of puppets to the Children's Museum for an exhibition titled "Anna Cebrat's Puppets." She visited the exhibition one week before her death and enjoyed it thoroughly.
In addition to creating puppets, she was a professional storyteller. She told her tales at the Museum, libraries throughout East Tennessee, and was a performer at the 1982 World's Fair. Ms. Cebrat was dedicated to the art of puppetry and was an active member of Puppeteers of America. While she was still able to travel, she attended puppet festivals in St. Louis, Atlanta, Tampa, Nashville and other cities. There, she became good friends with some of the top puppeteers in the world. It was not unusual for her to describe visits with the late Jim Henson of the Muppets, Vince Anthony of the Center for Puppetry Arts, Tom Tichenor of Nashville, and the famous puppeteer Bill Baird.
Anna's puppets and most of all her zest for living are part of her legacy. She passed away November 27, 1990.
