Appalachian History

The word ‘Hillbilly’: Linguistic Mystery and Popular Culture Fixture

Whether you embrace the word proudly or decry it as a derogatory epithet, the Hillbilly term, and stereotype, is cemented in America’s mind.

It’s been 100 years since Ernest “Mooney” Warther, known as the “World’s Master Carver,” built a 10-foot by 14-foot workshop in his backyard.

In October 1960, Dr. Bernice Eddy gave a talk to the NYC Cancer Society without warning her employer in advance. It cost Dr. Eddy her career.

In the 1970s Garret Mathews, columnist for Bluefield, WV’s ‘Daily Telegraph,’ traveled back into the hollows with photographer Wade Sprees.

Dr. Claudius Meade Capps organized the Knox County Medical Society, and was special surgeon of the staff of the Knoxville General Hospital.