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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 right side of your screen. If you’d rather grab the show off itunes for later listening, click here:

We open today’s show with the story of Dendroica cerulea, until the middle of the 20th century a bird that was common throughout much of eastern North America, and was most abundant in the central Appalachian Mountains. But today the Cerulean Warbler is America’s fastest declining migratory songbird. We’ll take a look at some of the key environmental challenges this species faces.

We’ll pause in between things to catch up on a Calendar of Events in the region this week, with special attention paid to events that emphasize heritage and local color.

The Greenville, SC jury was divided in its opinion. Some thought it was just a plain case of suicide, while others held out that Ben Allen was killed by somebody. Perhaps the most startling testimony taken was that of Allen’s father, who said that he had been with his son the evening before and that he was cheerful, and that he did not believe his son committed suicide, and that he met with foul play.

“F. A. Seagle was called to Marion today in connection with the undertaking department of Seagle Bros,” reports the April 20, 1928 edition of The Southwest Times. It doesn’t appear that much happened that particular day; it was just another day in the life of Pulaski County, VA.

We’ll wrap things up with a look at the work of Tennessee suffragist Lizzie French. “Bullets and ballots are not companions;” said Lizzie French in a famous 1912 speech to the Tennessee Bar Association. French was at the time the recently elected president of the Tennessee Equal Suffrage Association, Inc. When the first woman in Tennessee history to address the organization took the podium, she delivered what many scholars believe today was one of her greatest messages stating her position on the state’s law forbidding women from voting.

And, thanks to the good folks at the Digital Library of Appalachia we’ll be able to enjoy some authentic Appalachian music by Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers in a 1928 recording of Shootin’ Creek.

So, call your old Plott hound up on the porch, fire up your corn-cob pipe, and settle in for a dose of Appalachian History.