Appalachian History

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 [...]

Please welcome guest author Frank Slider of Middlebourne, WV. Slider is a flyfisherman and amateur naturalist who volunteers for the US Fish and Wildlife Service on the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, and is an avid Civil War history buff.   This vivid portrayal of the guerilla uprising that galvanized this country in 1859 is a [...]

Brian D. McKnight was interviewed on With Good Reason last week about his recent book, ‘Confederate Outlaw: Champ Ferguson and the Civil War in Appalachia,’ released in April 2011. McKnight is Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, where he teaches American military history and courses in the Civil War [...]

Please welcome guest author Barbara Taylor Woodall, whose family memoir It’s Not My Mountain Anymore has just been published by Ammons Sisters Publishing/Catch the Spirit of Appalachia imprint. Woodall was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of North Georgia. She graduated from Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in 1973 and is a ‘Foxfire’ veteran. It’s Not [...]

The second annual State of Dade Heritage Festival took place last month at the Dade County [GA] Recreational Facility and Fairgrounds without much of a hitch.  However, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, State of Dade, Camp No. 707, did not mention the festival on their 2011 events calendar, though in helping to promote the 2010 [...]