Appalachian History

re-posted from Appalachian State University NewsJune 29, 2009 BOONE, NC— Meredith Doster Edgerton has received an Appalachian Sound Archives Fellowship at Berea College. The fellowship program encourages scholarly use of Berea’s non-commercial audio collections that document Appalachian history and culture, especially the areas of traditional music, religious expression, spoken lore and radio programs. The fellowship [...]

We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. You can start listening right away by clicking the podcast icon over on the left side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here. We open today’s show with an oral history from Brenda Collins [...]

“Mother was born April 4, 1919, Zelma Zane Bennett. She was all of two pounds and fit very nicely into a cigar box. She was the daughter of Fred and Mollie (Perry) Bennett who lived in Curtin, WV. Fred was a fireman on the logging train that ran through the mountain community. “The Flu outbreak [...]

I Hate the Company Bosses A Song by Sarah Ogan Gunning I hate the company bossesI’ll tell you the reason whyThey cause me so much sufferingAnd my dearest friends to die Oh yes, I guess you wonderWhat they have done to meI’m going to tell you, misterMy husband had T.B. Brought on by hard work [...]

There were plenty of days to ‘make hay while the sun shines’ the summer I worked for the Grant brothers. Lee started by driving the team of horses pulling the wagon to the far corner of the field. The fluffy piles of sun-cured alfalfa hay smelled as wonderful as they looked. I kept my eye [...]