Appalachian History

To the locals, he was an arrogant and self-serving businessman, responsible for the dislocation of over 400 families when he sold his mountaintop acreage to create the core of the Shenandoah National Park. One neighbor felt “especially betrayed by George Pollock…[for] “pushing the people out. And, you know, coming up with all the stories of [...]

Listen to 1921 recording of “St. Louis Blues” by Original Dixieland Jazz Band, with Al Bernard William Christopher “W.C.” Handy, acknowledged ‘Father of the Blues’ and composer of such American musical standards as St. Louis Blues and Beale Street Blues, was born on November 16, 1873, in Florence, AL. He grew up in a log [...]

Amelia Earhart flew into the Anderson, SC airport in her Pitcairn PCA-2 Autogyro on Nov 14, 1931 and attracted over 1,000 spectators. Mayor G.T. McGregor and other city leaders met her at the airport. In May of that year, flying that plane, the thirty three year old had set a world altitude record of 18,415 [...]

William E. Carpenter shot these 8×10 glassplate photographs at the scene of a November 17, 1901 fire in Freemansburg, WV. According to the Weston Independent of November 19, 1901, the fire destroyed the businesses of Robinson and Hall and C. H. Taylor, the post office (in Robinson and Hall), and the Grange Hall. Lost were [...]

It’s the first Saturday in November and you’re a single girl at home watching television. Well, don’t just sit there, go out and find a man! It’s Sadie Hawkins Day! According to American folk tradition, Sadie Hawkins’ Day affords women the opportunity to ask out a man. Although not an uncommon practice today, when this [...]