Appalachian History

In May of 1926, President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill authorizing the establishment of a 521,000-acre Shenandoah National Park. The bill stipulated that no federal funds could be used to acquire the land for the park. The job of obtaining the land therefore fell to the Commonwealth of Virginia. In order to avoid the slow [...]

When the dark clouds of war were gathering in the South in the spring of 1861, not everyone embraced the new cause. While some were eager to fight for a secessionist government, many others considered the impending war a wicked, treasonous undertaking and wanted no part of it. Indeed, a majority in the hills of [...]

“We go to bed at night and get up in the morning, and our Milk Bottles are standing on the back porch waiting for us,” observed Rev. W.L. Stidger in a sermon titled ‘Milk Bottles & Monotony.’ “Fifty years ago we got up at five o’clock, dressed in the cold, shivering as we dressed, went [...]

Listen to Ida Cox sing “Any Woman’s Blues” Any Woman’s Blues My man ain’t acting right He stays out late at night But still he says he loves no one but me But if I find the gal That’s trying to steal my pal I’ll get her told, just you wait and see I feel [...]

We post a new episode of Appalachian History weekly podcast every Sunday. Check us out on the Stitcher network, available on mobile phones, in-car dashboards and tablets worldwide. Just click below to start listening: We open today’s show with the story of the madstone. Right up till the early years of the 20th century, a [...]