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Appalachian History

Stories, quotes and anecdotes from Appalachia. 1880s-1950s era.

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Category: Songcatchers

Listening to Lena with Aunt Nicky
September 10, 2020 Appalachian music / Ballad singers / Folklore / North Carolina / Songcatchers

Songcatching “Bolakins”

Composer/folklorist Derek Piotr catches up with Nicola Pritchard in NC to learn about the roots of the ancient Scottish tune ‘Bolakins.’

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Katherine Jackson French in cap and gown
May 15, 2020 Appalachian music / Ballad singers / Songcatchers

Book Excerpt: ‘Katherine Jackson French: Kentucky’s Forgotten Ballad Collector’

Katherine Jackson French’s collection of traditional KY ballads, which should have been her crowning scholarly achievement, never saw print.

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loraine wyman at pine mountain settlement school 1916
October 18, 2018 Appalachian music / Ballad singers / Songcatchers

Primarily an impression of Kentucky music

Loraine Wyman was among the first persons to systematically search for folk songs in the Southern Appalachians.

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Poster for movie Songcatcher
March 16, 2017 Appalachian music / Ballad singers / North Carolina / Songcatchers

I were tellin’ some mount’n stories

Jane Gentry — piano teacher, Appalachian folk-music historian, weaver — was an inspiration for the movie Songcatcher.

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new orleans prostitute early 1900s
September 15, 2007 Appalachian music / Ballad singers / Kentucky / Songcatchers

How ‘House of the Rising Sun’ traveled from KY to Bangkok–and back!

The song’s odyssey began September 15, 1937 when folklorist Alan Lomax recorded a version by 16-year-old Georgia Turner in Middlesboro, Ky.

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  • guineas of west virginia The Guineas of West Virginia
    May 19, 2017
  • The Prophet Ezekiel; art ca. 1900 The Blood Verse
    March 7, 2008
  • John Shell in hat, with a cane World’s oldest man — Kentuckian John Shell
    July 5, 2019
  • cloverine salve and packaging Kids! Get rich selling Cloverine Salve!
    May 31, 2016
  • still from TV series Christy Christy and Leonora: City Girl, Country Gal
    November 3, 2011
  • Source: Unsplash Appalachian Innovators: Untold Stories of Invention and Ingenuity
    July 16, 2024
  • The Southeast Floods of 1916 in North Carolina; Public domain image provided by NOAA Heavy Rainfall Events and Their Impacts in Appalachian History
    February 27, 2024
  • canning and pickling jars still life From Root Cellars to Larders to Modern Pantries: The Evolution of Food Storage in Appalachian Homesteads
    January 12, 2024
  • chef holds cluster of grapes to camera A Journey Through Appalachian Winemaking History
    November 9, 2023
  • 1930s Ford truck untended in a garage / Library of Congress The Historic Role and Contemporary Allure of Vintage Appalachian Farm Trucks
    September 7, 2023
  • David Doerr on Tapping Oil at the Roots of a Family Tree
  • Tami on The Guineas of West Virginia
  • Marbles in the Graveyard - The Secret Life of Marbles on Put the corpse in the barn till spring
  • Brian Sherwood on 125 reasons you’ll get sent to the lunatic asylum
  • Kat on “Everyday” Appalachian Superstitions

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