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Appalachian History Month

01/27/2025
profile-icon Robyn Williams
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It's our local self-proclaimed Appalachian History Month!   While the weather's cold, curl up with a great book about Appalachia!

NONFICTION:

Cover ArtFinding the Singing Spruce by Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth

ISBN: 9781959000006
Environment, craft, and meaning in the work of Appalachian instrument makers. How can the craft of musical instrument making help reconnect people to place and reenchant work in Appalachia? How does the sonic search for musical tone change relationships with trees and forests? Following three craftspeople in the mountain forests of Appalachia through their processes of making instruments, Finding the Singing Spruce considers the meanings of work, place, and creative expression in drawing music from wood. Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth explores the complexities and contradictions of instrument-making labor, which is deeply rooted in mountain forests and expressive traditions but also engaged with global processes of production and consumption. Using historical narratives and sensory ethnography, among other approaches, he finds that the craft of lutherie speaks to the past, present, and future of the region's work and nature.
 
 

Cover ArtCelebrating Southern Appalachian Food by Jim Casada; Tipper Pressley

ISBN: 9781467152778
High country cooking fit to grace any table. Southern Appalachia has a rich culinary tradition. Generations of passed down recipes offer glimpses into a culture that has long been defined, in considerable measure, by its food. Take a journey of pure delight through this highland homeland with stories of celebrations, Sunday dinners and ordinary suppers. The narrative material and scores of recipes offered here share a deep love of place and a devotion to this distinctive cuisine. The end result is a tempting invitation, in the vernacular of the region, to "pull up a chair and take nourishment." Authors Jim Casada and Tipper Pressley, both natives of the region, are seasoned veterans in sharing the culinary delights of the southern highlands.
 
 
 

Cover ArtSoutheast Foraging by Chris Bennett

ISBN: 9781604694994
"This is the ultimate guide, and Chris is the undisputed heavyweight champion of foraging in the South." --Sean Brock, author of Heritage and chef of McCradys, Minero, and Husk  The Southeast offers a veritable feast for foragers, and with Chris Bennett as your trusted guide you will learn how to safely find and identify an abundance of delicious wild plants. The plant profiles in Southeast Foraging include clear, color photographs, identification tips, guidance on how to ethically harvest, and suggestions for eating and preserving. A handy seasonal planner details which plants are available during every season. Thorough, comprehensive, and safe, this is a must-have for foragers in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
 
 
 
 

Cover ArtMaking Our Future by Emily Hilliard

ISBN: 9781469671611
Drawing from her work as state folklorist, Emily Hilliard explores contemporary folklife in West Virginia and challenges the common perception of both folklore and Appalachian culture as static, antiquated forms, offering instead the concept of "visionary folklore" as a future-focused, materialist, and collaborative approach to cultural work. With chapters on the expressive culture of the West Virginia teachers' strike, the cultural significance of the West Virginia hot dog, the tradition of independent pro wrestling in Appalachia, the practice of nonprofessional women songwriters, the collective counternarrative of a multiracial coal camp community, the invisible landscape of writer Breece D'J Pancake's hometown, the foodways of an Appalachian Swiss community, the postapocalyptic vision presented in the video game Fallout 76, and more, the book centers the collective nature of folklife and examines the role of the public folklorist in collaborative engagements with communities and culture. Hilliard argues that folklore is a unifying concept that puts diverse cultural forms in conversation, as well as a framework that helps us reckon with the past, understand the present, and collectively shape the future.
 
 
 

Cover ArtFairy Tales of Appalachia by Stacy Sivinski (Editor)

ISBN: 9781621907626
While taking a graduate course in Appalachian literature at the University of Tennessee, Stacy Sivinski was surprised to discover that much of the folklore she had heard while growing up in Schuyler, Virginia, was rarely represented in popular published collections. In particular, they lacked the strong female heroines she had come to know, and most anthologies were full of Jack Tales--stories that focus on the adventures of the character from "Jack and the Beanstalk." Feminist critics have long discussed the gender inequalities and stereotypes that fairy tales often promote. With Fairy Tales of Appalachia, Sivinski asks whether such conclusions are inevitable and invites a fresh analysis of these regional tales with a contemporary sense of wonder. These tales, carefully and thoughtfully transcribed by Sivinski, have been passed down through Appalachia's oral histories over decades and even centuries. This wonderful selection was mainly drawn from the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University and special collections at Berea College. Drawing on the work of other regional archivists and folklorists, Sivinski grapples with issues of gender balance in Appalachian storytelling. The problem, Sivinski posits, does not rest with the fairy tale genre itself but in the canonization process, in which women's contributions have been diminished as oral traditions become transcribed. Appalachian women have historically demonstrated resilience, wit, and adaptability, and it is time that more collections of regional folklore reorient themselves to make this fact more apparent. Stories are living, breathing narratives, meant not just to be read but to be read aloud.
 
 

Cover ArtFoxfire Story: Oral Tradition in Southern Appalachia by T. J. Smith

ISBN: 9780525436324
Folktales, anecdotes, songs, ghost stories, and legends highlight the role of storytelling in the region and how they convey a sense of place and community.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cover ArtKatherine Jackson French by Elizabeth DiSavino

ISBN: 9780813196701
The second woman to earn a PhD from Columbia University - and the first from south of the Mason-Dixon Line to do so - Kentucky native Katherine Jackson French broke boundaries. Her research kick-started a resurgence of Appalachian music that continues to this day, but French's collection of traditional Kentucky ballads, which should have been her crowning scholarly achievement, never saw print. Academic rivalries, gender prejudice, and broken promises set against a thirty-year feud known as the Ballad Wars denied French her place in history and left the field to northerner Olive Dame Campbell and English folklorist Cecil Sharp, setting Appalachian studies on a foundation marred by stereotypes and misconceptions.
 
 
 

Cover ArtMovie-Made Appalachia by John C. Inscoe

ISBN: 9781469660134
While Hollywood deserves its reputation for much-maligned portrayals of southern highlanders on screen, the film industry also deserves credit for a long-standing tradition of more serious and meaningful depictions of Appalachia's people. Surveying some two dozen films and the literary and historical sources from which they were adapted, John C. Inscoe argues that in the American imagination Appalachia has long represented far more than deprived and depraved hillbillies. Rather, the films he highlights serve as effective conduits into the region's past, some grounded firmly in documented realities and life stories, others only loosely so. In either case, they deserve more credit than they have received for creating sympathetic and often complex characters who interact within families, households, and communities amidst a wide array of historical contingencies. They provide credible and informative narratives that respect the specifics of the times and places in which they are set. Having used many of these movies as teaching tools in college classrooms, Inscoe demonstrates the cumulative effect of analyzing them in terms of shared themes and topics to convey far more generous insights into Appalachia and its history than one would have expected to emerge from southern California's "dream factory."
 
FICTION:
 

Cover ArtMemorials by Richard Chizmar

ISBN: 9781668009192
1983: Three students from a small college embark on a week-long road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another. But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret. Paranoia sets in when it appears they are being followed. Their vehicle is tampered with overnight and some of the locals appear to be anything but welcoming. Before long, the students can't help but wonder if these roadside deaths were really random accidents...or is something terrifying at work here?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cover ArtHoller of the Fireflies by David Barclay Moore

ISBN: 9781524701291
Javari knew that West Virginia would be different from his home in Bushwick, Brooklyn. But his first day at STEM Camp in a little Appalachian town is still a shock. Though run-ins with the police are just the same here. Not good. Javari will learn a lot about science, tech, engineering, and math at camp. And also about rich people, racism, and hidden agendas. But it's Cricket, a local boy, budding activist, and occasional thief, who will show him a different side of the holler--and blow his mind wide open. Javari is about to have that summer. Where everything gets messy and complicated and confusing . . . and you wouldn't want it any other way.
 
 
 
 

Cover ArtAll We Thought We Knew by Michelle Shocklee

ISBN: 9781496484161
She was so sure she knew her family's story . . . Now she wonders if she was wrong about all of it.1969.When Mattie Taylor's twin brother was killed in Vietnam, she lost her best friend and the only person who really understood her. Now, news that her mother is dying sends Mattie back home, despite blaming her father for Mark's death. Mama's last wish is that Mattie would read some old letters stored in a trunk, from people Mattie doesn't even know. Mama insists they hold the answers Mattie is looking for.1942.Ava Delaney is picking up the pieces of her life following her husband's death at Pearl Harbor. Living with her mother-in-law on a secluded farm in Tennessee is far different than the life Ava imagined when she married only a few short months ago. Desperate to get out of the house, Ava seeks work at a nearby military base, where she soon discovers the American government is housing Germans who they have classified as enemy aliens. As Ava works to process legal documents for the military, she crosses paths with Gunther Schneider, a German who is helping care for wounded soldiers. Ava questions why a man as gentle and kind as Gunther should be forced to live in the internment camp, and as they become friends, her sense of the injustice grows . . . as do her feelings for him. Faced with the possibility of losing Gunther, Ava must choose whether loving someone deemed the enemy is a risk worth taking, even if it means being ostracized by all those around her.In the midst of pain and loss two women must come face-to-face with their own assumptions about what they thought they knew about themselves and others. What they discover will lead to a far greater appreciation of their own legacies and the love of those dearest to them.
 
 

Cover ArtThe Collected Breece D'J Pancake: Stories, Fragments, Letters by Breece D'J Pancake; Jayne Anne Phillips (Introduction by)

ISBN: 9781598536720
A definitive edition of the haunted and haunting stories of the legendary West Virginia writer, with rare unfinished stories and fragments and revealing letters Breece D'J Pancake published only a handful of stories before he took his own life in 1979, just shy of his twenty-seventh birthday. Those stories and a small number of others found among his papers after his death comprise the remarkable posthumous collection. The Collected Breece D'J Pancake brings together the original landmark book, several story drafts and fragments, and a selection of Pancake's letters to offer an unprecedented picture of his life and art. Among the unfinished stories are fragments from Pancake's two planned novels. The letters document his relationship with writers such as Peter Taylor, John Casey, James Alan McPherson, and Mary Lee Settle, and offer a picture of his collaborative relationship with his mother, who sent him newspaper clippings and helped him research his stories.
 

Cover ArtRednecks by Taylor Brown

ISBN: 9781250329332
Rednecks is a tour de force, big canvas historical novel that dramatizes the 1920 to 1921 events of the West Virginia Mine Wars--from the Matewan Massacre through the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed conflict on American soil since the Civil War, when some one million rounds were fired, bombs were dropped on Appalachia, and the term "redneck" would come to have an unexpected origin story. Brimming with the high stakes drama of America's buried history, Rednecks tells a powerful story of rebellion against oppression. In a land where the coal companies use violence and intimidation to keep miners from organizing, "Doc Moo" Muhanna, a Lebanese-American doctor (inspired by the author's own great-grandfather), toils amid the blood and injustice of the mining camps. When Frank Hugham, a Black World War One veteran and coal miner, takes dramatic steps to lead a miners' revolt with a band of fellow veterans, Doc Moo risks his life and career to treat sick and wounded miners, while Frank's grandmother, Beulah, fights her own battle to save her home and grandson. Real-life historical figures burn bright among the hills: the fiery Mother Jones, an Irish-born labor organizer once known as "The Most Dangerous Woman in America," struggles to maintain the ear of the miners ("her boys") amid the tide of rebellion, while the sharp-shooting police chief "Smilin" Sid Hatfield dares to stand up to the "gun thugs" of the coal companies, becoming a folk hero of the mine wars.
 

Cover ArtWrecked by Heather Henson

ISBN: 9781442451056
For as long as Miri can remember it's been her and her dad, Poe, in Paradise--what Poe calls their home--hidden away from prying eyes in rural Kentucky. It's not like Miri doesn't know what her dad does or why people call him "the Wizard." It's not like she doesn't know why Clay, her one friend and Poe's right-hand man, patrols the grounds with a machine gun. It's nothing new, but lately Paradise has started to feel more like a prison. Enter Fen. The new kid in town could prove to be exactly the distraction Miri needs...but nothing is ever simple. Poe doesn't take kindly to strangers. Fen's DEA agent father is a little too interested in Miri's family. And Clay isn't satisfied with being just friends with Miri anymore. But what's past is prologue--it's what will follow that will wreck everything.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Cover ArtCounting Miracles by Nicholas Sparks

ISBN: 9780593449592
Tanner Hughes was raised by his grandparents, following in his grandfather's military footsteps to become an Army Ranger. His whole life has been spent abroad, and he is the proverbial rolling stone: happiest when off on his next adventure, zero desire to settle down.; But when his grandmother passes away, her last words to him are find where you belong. She also drops a bombshell, telling him the name of the father he never knew--and where to find him. Tanner is due at his next posting soon, but his curiosity is piqued, and he sets out for Asheboro, North Carolina, to ask around;He's been in town less than twenty-four hours when he meets Kaitlyn Cooper, a doctor and single mom. They both feel an immediate connection; Tanner knows Kaitlyn has a story to tell, and he wants to hear it. To Kaitlyn, Tanner is mysterious, exciting--and possibly leaving in just a few weeks. Meanwhile, nearby, eighty-three-year-old Jasper lives alone in a cabin bordering a national forest. With only his old dog, Arlo, for company, he lives quietly, haunted by a tragic accident that took place decades before. When he hears rumors that a white deer has been spotted in the forest--a creature of legend that inspired his father and grandfather--he becomes obsessed with protecting the deer from poachers. As these characters' fates orbit closer together, none of them is expecting a miracle . . . but that may be exactly what is about to alter their futures forever.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Or take the opportunity to look up your family tree, and see where the all the old folks at home came from, via Ancestry. 

Ancestry
 

Answers await everyone—whether professional or hobbyist, expert or novice, genealogist or historian—inside the more than 7,000 available databases. Here, you can unlock the story of you with sources like censuses, vital records, immigration records, family histories, military records, court and legal documents, directories, photos, maps, and more.

 

You can look at our library guide for HUM 203 to find more great ideas about researching Appalachian studies online and in person:

https://bigsandy.libguides.com/HUM203

 

 
HUM 202
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World Water Week

08/26/2024
profile-icon Robyn Williams
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What else makes up 73% of your brain?  What else leaves an empty stomach 5 minutes after entering it?  What can kill you in less than a week?  It's water.   World Water Week is not just the leading annual conference on global water issues, it is also a powerful movement for change.  As water conservancy issues have arisen, so has the threat of losing this resource.  The conference in Stockholm is held online, but members discuss major changes, political moves, and local practices that influence their countries' access and use of water.   

 

More information about water conservancy in Kentucky and Appalachia:

Water in Kentucky: Natural History, Communities, and Conservation

Home to sprawling Appalachian forests, rolling prairies, and the longest cave system in the world, Kentucky is among the most ecologically diverse states in the nation. Lakes, rivers, and springs have shaped and nourished life in the Commonwealth for centuries, and water has played a pivotal role in determining Kentucky's physical, cultural, and economic landscapes. The management and preservation of this precious natural resource remain a priority for the state's government and citizens.

 

The Robinson Forest environmental monitoring network: Long‐term evaluation of streamflow and precipitation quantity and stream‐water and bulk deposition chemistry in eastern Kentucky watersheds

Through a partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and U KY, daily precipitation data for six stations and stream data from four watersheds in Robinson Forest have been compiled for 1971–2018, checked for transcription errors, and annotated for changes in methodologies.  Preliminary results indicate that these data present a valuable opportunity to evaluate linkages among atmospheric deposition and stream chemistry, the effects of environmental policy, such as the Clean Air Act, and effects from nearby land disturbance in the form of surface mining. Furthermore, these data fill a geographic and physiographic gap in what is available to examine deposition and streamflow patterns over the last 45 years, supplementing those long‐term records of research sites in northern (e.g., Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest), central (e.g., Fernow Experimental Forest) and southern Appalachia (e.g., Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory). As an oasis in the midst of significant surface mining activity, Robinson Forest presents a unique opportunity to understand environmental conditions characteristic of minimally disturbed forests similar to pre‐mining conditions in the Central Appalachian region.

 

"As Long As We Have the Mine, We'll Have Water": Exploring Water Insecurity in Appalachia

Water insecurity is a condition when affordability, reliability, adequacy, or safety of water is significantly reduced or unattainable resulting in jeopardized well‐being.   Throughout the Appalachia region, water access and quality are compromised as a result of contamination from extractive industries (such as coal mining) and failure of infrastructure investment. The water problems have been reported by journalists, activists, and social and natural scientists who describe a reliance on discolored, sulfuric, and sometimes toxic water to meet household needs. In this article, we build upon applied anthropology studies of human–environment interaction to answer the exploratory question: "Do patterns about water acquisition and consumption exist in Appalachian Kentucky?" Our methodologies included participant observation and informal go‐along interviews at three sites based on convenience.

 

Self-Reported Consumption of Bottled Water v. Tap Water in Appalachian and Non-Appalachian Kentucky

Quantitative studies on drinking water perceptions in Appalachia are limited. High-profile water infrastructure failures in the U.S. and Eastern Kentucky, coupled with human-made and natural disasters in the Appalachian Region, have likely impacted opinions regarding tap water. Among Appalachian (n=356) and non-Appalachian (n=1,125) Kentucky respondents, a significantly higher frequency of Appalachian Kentuckians reported drinking bottled water more often than tap water relative to non-Appalachian Kentuckians (57% v. 34%; X2 p < 0.001). These results warrant further investigation into tap water aesthetics in Appalachia, bottled water consumption impacts on personal finances, and approaches to build public trust for public drinking water among multiple populations including Appalachian Kentuckians.

HUM 202, Science

World Tourism Day in Appalachia

09/27/2023
profile-icon Robyn Williams
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On World Tourism Day, celebrate the beauty of Appalachia and the draw of others to her lands and byways!

 

Welcome to The Kentucky Wildlands. Rich in natural beauty, ancient forests, mist-shrouded mountains, soaring cliffs, lakes, adventurous outdoor recreation, culture, folklore, and tradition, this sprawling 14,000-square-mile region is home to one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. The Kentucky Wildlands, a largely untamed wilderness spanning eastern and southern Kentucky is filled with the same breathtaking natural wonders Daniel Boone first set eyes on when he crossed the Cumberland Gap in 1769. And today, this wide-open playground is still waiting to be explored.

 

 

[Dawkins Line Rail Trail]The Dawkins Line Rail Trail is the largest rail-to-trail in the state and is open year-round.  The entire 36 miles of the trail, stretching from Hagerhill in Johnson County to Evanston in Breathitt County, is now open to hikers, bikers, and horseback riders. The first 25 miles up to Tip Top Tunnel features 24 trestles and the 662-foot Gun Creek Tunnel.

 

[Hillbilly Trails]Hillbilly Trails mission is to be the capitol of Adventure Tourism east of the Mississippi River, offering scenic, rugged, mountainous trails where adults can ride at day or night and enjoy spectacular views of the Appalachian and Pine Mountain ranges.​

 

 

[Appalachian Trail]The Appalachian National Scenic Trail — commonly known as the Appalachian Trail or simply “the A.T.” — is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world, measuring roughly 2,190 miles in length. The Trail travels through fourteen states along the crests and valleys of the Appalachian Mountain Range, from its southern terminus at Springer Mountain, Georgia, to the northern terminus at Katahdin, Maine.  More than 3 million people visit the Trail every year and over 3,000 people attempt to “thru-hike” the entire footpath in a single year.

 

 

[Barter Theatre]Barter Theatre is a repertory company of resident artists dedicated to serving others by creating world-class theatre in the heart of Appalachia. Located in Abingdon, Virginia, it opened on June 10, 1933. It is the longest-running professional Equity theatre in the United States.  Famous alumni include Ned Beatty, Frances Fisher, Gregory Peck, and James Burrows. 

 

 

 

[See Rock City]Located atop Lookout Mountain, just 6 miles from downtown Chattanooga, Rock City is a true marvel of nature featuring massive ancient rock formations, gardens with over 400 native plant species, and breathtaking "See Seven States" panoramic views. Made famous by payment to farmers to paint their barns with the "See Rock City" moniker, Rock City officially opened as a public attraction on May 21, 1932.  Take an unforgettable journey along the Enchanted Trail where each step reveals natural beauty and wonders along the woodland path.

 

 

[Museum of Appalachia]The Museum of Appalachia, founded in 1969 by John Rice Irwin, portrays an authentic mountain farm and pioneer village, with some three dozen historic log structures, several exhibit buildings filled with thousands of authentic Appalachian artifacts, multiple gardens and free range farm animals, all set in a picturesque venue and surrounded by split-rail fences. There are over 250,000 artifacts housed in 3 multi-story exhibit buildings; vast collections of folk art, musical instruments, baskets, quilts, Native American artifacts, and much more.

HUM 202, Sociology

Massive Floods in Appalachia - A Look Back

07/27/2023
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It's been one year since the eastern KY floods affected our region.   These 2022 floods are reflective of other floods in the Appalachian highlands, described below, and we're also highlighting what people are doing about them.

 

 

A 38 minute documentary on the Eastern Kentucky floods, produced by Daily Yonder, containing interviews and first-person narratives.

Articles:

Flood Fatalities in eastern Kentucky and the Public Health Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

After Flooding, a Kentucky Church Offers Shelter Alongside Prayers

Generations Endured in Kentucky. Then, Floods

They Need Flood Relief, Not Another Prison

 

 

Other floods:

 

The Buffalo Creek Disaster, February 26 1972

 

Articles:

The June 23, 2016 floods in Greenbrier County, West Virginia

The Madison County, Virginia, Flash Flood of 27 June 1995

 

 

Weathering The Future:

 

As extreme weather in the U.S. impacts more people--with longer heat waves, more intense rainstorms, megafires and droughts--discover how Americans are fighting back by marshaling ancient wisdom and innovating new solutions.

HUM 202, Sociology, Science

New Books about Appalachia and Kentucky

08/18/2021
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As we begin a new semester, the library has ordered over a dozen new books related to Appalachia.  Here are just a few of them.   Whether checking them out for school or for your own enjoyment, the Appalachian literature shown here will be a great way to improve your knowledge about this area.  Here's a sampling:

 

Fiction:

[cover art]  [cover art][cover art]

 

Nonfiction:

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Ask any librarian about these books, and be sure that you request a new title if you know another great Appalachian themed title.  You can search the catalog from the search box at the top of this page to find them and others like them.

HUM 202, Cultural Studies