Appalachian studies

27 Pages·2017·2.53 MB·English

UNIVERSITY PRESS OF
K E N T U C K Y
Appalachian Studies
Spring 2017
CONTENTS
CULTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 LAND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
HEALTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
HISTORY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 PEOPLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Cover image from Appalachian Toys and Games from A to Z (page 18):
“L is for Limberjack.”
POPULAR TITLES FOR YOUR CLASSES
Wide Neighborhoods Back Talk from Appalachia Challenge and Change
Page 5 Page 1 in Appalachia
Page 10
A History of Appalachia Talking Appalachian Singing Family
Page 6 Page 1 of the Cumberlands
Page 24
CULTURE Back Talk from Appalachia
Confronting Stereotypes
edited by Dwight B. Billings, Gurney
Weavers of the
Norman, and Katherine Ledford
Southern Highlands
“An exciting and provocative new col-
Philis Alvic
lection.”—Appalachian Journal
“Describes, defends, and celebrates the
“A challenge to ‘monolithic pejorative,
schools and workshops that made the
and unquestioned’ images of Appala-
towels, place mats, coverlets, and baby
chia.”—Chronicle of Higher Education
blankets that decorated middle-class
homes from the 1900s through the 2000 | 368 pp.
1940s.”—Journal of Southern History 978-0-8131-9001-3 | $28.00 paperback
“A cornucopia of information about
weaving, the crafts revival, benevo- Talking Appalachian
lent work, and gender in Appalachia. Voice, Identity, and Community
. . . Scholars in Appalachian studies, edited by Amy D. Clark
women’s studies, and folklore, along and Nancy M. Hayward
with weavers and other crafts persons
“Talking Appalachian is a wonderful
will fi nd this book’s arsenal of data
collection, challenging readers to learn
indispensable.”—Appalachian Journal
about the many histories that have
2003 | 258 pp., Illus. shaped Appalachian dialectical diver-
978-0-8131-9221-5 | $35.00 paperback sity and to gain tools to counter the
linguistic chauvinism that has used Ap-
Listen Here palachian dialect as a stand-in for other
Women Writing in Appalachia powerful forms of social and economic
marginalization, akin to the ways
edited by Sandra L. Ballard
speakers of Gullah and other regional
and Patricia L. Hudson
dialects have been marginalized in the
“A marvelous confl uence of compelling U.S.”—Ann Kingsolver, director of the
subject matter and almost perfectly Appalachian Center at the University
executed presentation. Those who of Kentucky
care about the literature of our region
“A sense of pride, a strong grip on old
need to have this book at their fi nger-
traditions, and a unique style of com-
tips because this is the authoritative
monality are part of both the marvel
guide to its subject.”—Appalachian
and mystery of Appalachia. Talking Ap-
Heritage
palachian . . . complies scholarly writ-
“Like a feast table piled high with sam- ing about this area from contributors
plers of everybody’s best recipes.” in a variety of professional disciplines
—Appalachian Journal as well as Appalachian writers, includ-
“A giant step forward in Appalachian ing Silas House, Jane Hicks, George Ella
studies for both students and scholars Lyon, Ron Rash, and Lee Smith.”
of the region and the general reader. . —Knoxville News Sentinel
. . Nothing less than a groundbreaking “An intimate view of regional American
and landmark addition to the national language and literature.”—Choice
treasury of American literature.”
2014 | 274 pp., Illus.
—Bloomsbury Review
978-0-8131-4096-4 | $50.00 cloth
2004 | 712 pp. 978-0-8131-4743-7 | $28.00 paperback
978-0-8131-9066-2 | $35.00 paperback
www.kentuckypress.com 1
AMY D. CLARK ON,
"THE ART OF THE VERNACULAR VOICE"
excerpted from New York Times Opinionator
February17, 2014
I come from a mountain region where the dialects take Foot in Eden, a deputy remarks that “haints are bad to stir”
many forms, from urban (Pittsburghese) to rural (Smoky on “lonesome-feeling” nights, which is what his “Momma
Mountain English). Most people call our dialects Appala- notioned.” The language of Mr. Rash’s characters connects
chian English, though many English dialects are spoken them to the history of their region, and explains why the
along the mountain chain. sheriff (and many of us in Appalachia) continues to use
Nevertheless, too many writers over the years have vernacular though his wife thinks he is a hillbilly: “It was
tried—and failed—to re-create the melody of mountain the way most folks spoke in Oconee County. It put people
speech. Some writers make us sound like plantation own- more at ease when you talked like them.”
ers from the Deep South. Other writers have depicted Well-written vernacular can also explain one character’s
mountain people in ways that make them sound ignorant perceptions of another. Consider this line from Barbara
and cartoonish. This practice of writing in “literary dialect” Kingsolver’s book Prodigal Summer:
began with unconventional spellings by mid-19th cen- “Bite,” he’d said, with the Northerner’s clipped i. An
tury writers who used them to illustrate differences in the outsider, intruding on this place like kudzu vines."
perceived intelligence and social status of their characters. Here, Ms. Kingsolver capitalizes on the power of vow-
These images have persisted in television shows and mov- els in vernacular speech. One vowel instantly marks the
ies over the years in large part because of how little people speaker as the Outsider, leading to assumptions about his
know about the how and why behind a language, its dia- politics, religion and trustworthiness. It’s a brilliant com-
lects and the people who speak them. parison to the kudzu vine, a choking weed imported from
Capturing the true cadence of any region’s dialect in writ- Japan in the late 19th century that swallows entire hills
ten form is tricky, because it should harmonize sounds and trees.
with words and grammar patterns (the three elements
Finally, vernacular speech should never be used to sug-
of dialect) that may be centuries old. There may be gen-
gest that one character is less intelligent than another, a
erational differences among those who use them, as well.
myth about dialect and cognition that was debunked by
For example, I grew up hearing my great-grandmother
linguists half a century ago and many times since. Non-
use the 15th-century word counterpin for quilt, and the
standard grammar patterns such as double negatives or
Scots-Irish haint for ghost. My grandparents use hit for
the leveling of irregular verbs like blowed for blow tend to
it and least’uns to describe the youngest in a family. They
be the most stigmatized of dialect patterns, though their
also pile on modifiers, especially if they had a right smart
origins and usage are historical and cultural.
bunch of company for the holidays, a holdover from our
Writers who want to tune their ears to a particular
storytelling, ballad-singing ancestors who migrated from
spoken dialect should spend an extended amount of time
Western Europe through the Pennsylvania cultural hearth
in the part of the region where the dialect is spoken, not
in the early 1700s and populated the Appalachian moun-
only to learn the features, but to study ways that it may be
tain chain.
used among different groups. Primary documents such as
My parents, though they live in the same holler (what
letters, journals and recipe books, which are often written
we call the narrow valley between hills), typically do not
in unguarded, spoken vernacular, may also be counted on
use those expressions and pronunciations, though their
as authentic recreations of voice. My great-grandmother’s
patterns and vocabulary are recognizable to southern
recipe book includes spellings like “baloney” for “bologna,”
midland or central Appalachians. My generation’s version
illustrating the way she pronounced it.
of our dialect reflects the most change; like many in my
Above all, writers should know that people speak the
age range, I tend to vocalize the words or grammar pat-
way they do intentionally, and for many reasons. The au-
terns only if I’m with my family, though my accent—or
thor Lee Smith, who grew up in central Appalachia and
the way I pronounce words—can be clearly heard when
whose characters often speak in those dialects, says in her
I speak.
essay “Southern Exposure,” “I have no intention of ever
So, literary dialect can be used to illustrate changes
giving up this accent … it’s a political choice.”
in spoken usage among families who have lived in the
Sometimes dialect is the only way a person can stay
same area for generations. In Denise Giardina’s turn-of-
rooted to family, to community, to everything that is fa-
the-century novel “Storming Heaven,” Miles has returned
miliar in a fast-changing world where nothing is certain.
from the mountains with a formal education and refuses
Behind that decision is an entire linguistic history and
to say “hit” for “it” like his siblings, resisting the speech he
an army of ancestors whose language patterns were car-
equates with backwardness. When his brother Ben points
ried forward like guarded treasure, which is all the more
out that Chaucer said “hit,” Miles replies, “He’s been dead
reason for writers to choose their words carefully.
a long time. He was medieval. This is the scientific age.”
However, in Ron Rash’s more contemporary novel One
2 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
Smoky Mountain Voices The Land of Saddle-bags
A Lexicon of Southern Appalachian A Study of the Mountain People
Speech Based on the Research of Appalachia
of Horace Kephart James Watt Raine
edited by Harold F. Farwell
“A lively, fi rst-hand account of a Berea
and J. Karl Nicholas College professor’s favorable experi-
“A delight. It belongs in all Appalachian ence with mountain people.”
Studies collections and is invaluable —Now & Then
to any serious student of Appalachian “Will enable modern readers to experi-
language and dialect. It is just plain ence how early-twentieth-century
fun for the browser who like words of writers viewed the Appalachian region
is interested in Appalachian speech and its people. The foreword, penned
and expressions.”—Now & Then by Dwight Billings, is especially
1993 | 200 pp. outstanding as a modern critique of
978-0-8131-9334-2 | $25.00 paperback the work.”—Register of the Kentucky
Historical Society
Two Worlds in the 1997 | 330 pp., Illus.
Tennessee Mountains 978-0-8131-0929-9 | $30.00 paperback
Exploring the Origins of Appala-
chian Stereotypes Jean Ritchie’s Swapping
David C. Hsiung Song Book
Jean Ritchie
“Well organized and accessible, this
book would prove ideal for use in Ap- “One of the fi nest authentic traditional
palachian history courses . . . while tell- folk singers we have in the United
ing what happened, Hsiung explains States today.”—New York Times
how to do social history.”—Journal of
“From a time not so long ago, when
Appalachian History
television was non-existent and even
“In demolishing several stereotypes, radio was scarce, comes this wonder-
Hsiung gets tantalizingly close to ful collection of folksongs.”—Kentucky
revealing the sources of regional and Living
national identity.”—Journal of Ameri-
2000 | 96 pp.
can History
978-0-8131-0973-2 | $20.00 paperback
1997 | 224 pp., illus
978-0-8131-5618-7 | $35.00 paperback South from Hell-fer-Sartin
Kentucky Mountain Folk Tales
Play of a Fiddle
Leonard W. Roberts
Traditional Music, Dance,
Leonard W. Roberts recorded this rich
and Folklore in West Virginia
collection of white, English-language
Gerald Milnes
folk tales in one of the of the most
“An excellent step toward giving West isolated regions in Kentucky more than
Virginia’s musical heritage its rightful three decades ago.
place in American musical study.”
1988 | 296 pp.
—American Music
978-0-8131-0175-0 | $22.00 paperback
“An enjoyable book fi lled with anec-
dotes, local history, and keen observa-
tions about musical lives.”—Appala-
chian Quarterly
1999 | 264 pp.
978-0-8131-9326-7 | $30.00 paperback
www.kentuckypress.com 3
The Roots of Appalachian Yesterday’s People
Christianity Life in Contemporary Appalachia
The Life and Legacy Jack E. Weller
of Elder Shubal Stearns
“Mr. Weller presents, with compassion
Elder John Sparks
and humor, one of the most incisive
WINNER OF THE CHAFFIN studies that has been made of an
American folk community. It contains
AWARD 2004 FOR CELEBRATION
many quotable passages about social
OF APPALACHIAN WRITINGS
classes in America, and about Appala-
“A dramatic breakthrough in the study chia in particular.”—Publishers Weekly
of Appalachian Christianity.”—Appala-
1965 | 184 pp.
chian Heritage
978-0-8131-0109-5 | $25.00 paperback
“Sparks has established himself as one
of the leading scholars in the study of
Religion and Resistance
Appalachian religion.”—Appalachian
in Appalachia
Journal
Faith and the Fight against Moun-
“Brings the legend of Shubal Stearns, taintop Removal Coal Mining
the man who evangelized the South,
Joseph D. Witt
to life. . . . Sparks has opened the door
for important scholarly debate and “Religion and Resistance in Appalachia
subsequent research.”—Journal of captures and interprets the complexi-
Southern Religion ties of what is going on—religiously,
as well as politically, economically, and
Religion in the South
socially—among protestors fi ghting
2005 | 352 pp., Illus. for their homes in Appalachia. Witt’s
978-0-8131-9128-7 | $32.00 paperback careful study sheds new light on the
role of faith in protest, and anyone in-
The Appalachian Photographs terested in religious environmentalism
should read this book.”—Kevin O’Brien,
of Earl Palmer
associate professor of Christian ethics
Jean Haskell Speer
at Pacifi c Lutheran University
“Palmer has given us the best view we
Place Matters: New Directions
will ever have of life and work in the
in Appalachian Studies
Southern Appalachians. . . . His mag-
nifi cent collection of photographs pre- 2016| 274 pp., Illus.
serves the old way of life for us to study 978-0-8131-6812-8 | $50.00 cloth
and ponder.”—Harry Caudill, author of
Night Comes to the Cumberlands
“Palmer carries pictures of Appalachia
in his head, and he has scoured the
mountains for people and scenes to fi ll
his vision. In her excellent introductory
essay, Jean Speer reveals her close
knowledge of Palmer and of photogra-
phy.”—Loyal Jones
1990 | 176 pp., Illus.
978-0-8131-1695-2 | $40.00 cloth
4 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
HEALTH Appalachia’s Children
The Challenge of Mental Health
David H. Looff
Wide Neighborhoods
Appalachia’s Children demonstrates
A Story of the Frontier
eff ectively and clearly the profound
Nursing Service
need for increased concern about what
Mary Breckinridge
is happening to the rising generation—
“An intensely personal account by the children of Eastern Kentucky, the
an indomitable woman, born to the children of the Southern Appalachian
purple, who dedicated herself to region, and the children of the rural
delivering health care to Eastern Ken- south.
tucky mothers and babies.”—Louisville
1971 | 206 pp., Illus.
Courier-Journal
978-0-8131-0144-6 | $30.00 paperback
“No Kentuckian should fail to read
this story of unequaled dedication, Appalachian Health
unyielding determination, selfl ess and Well-Being
devotion, resolute courage, and ex-
edited by Robert L. Ludke
ceptional adventure.”—Ashland Daily
and Phillip J. Obermiller
Independent
foreword by Richard A. Couto
1952 | 400 pp.
“This compilation is a pioneering work
978-0-8131-0149-1 | $30.00 paperback
that will inform and guide readers and
serve as a model for future Appala-
Appalachian Mental Health
chian health research.”—Journal of
edited by Susan E. Keefe
Appalachian Studies
This volume is the fi rst to explore “A truly exemplary book. . . . Surveys
broadly many important theoretical nine areas of health in the region and
and applied issues concerning the concludes with policy recommenda-
mental health of Appalachians. tions.”—Appalachian Heritage
The authors—anthropologists,
“This medical text, the fi rst of its kind,
psychologists, social workers and
focuses on health of the region’s
others—overturn many assumptions
inhabitants as well as those who have
held by earlier writers, who have
moved away.”—Library Journal
tended to see Appalachia and its
people as being dominated by a 2012 | 400 pp., Illus.
culture of poverty. 978-0-8131-3586-1 | $50.00 cloth
1988 | 264 pp.
978-0-8131-1614-3 | $35.00 cloth Gettin’ Some Age on Me
Social Organization of Older People
in a Rural American Community
John van Willigen
“One of the standards in the study of
social-network analysis.”—American
Journal of Sociology
“Well written and rich in empirical mate-
rial.”—American Anthropologist
1989 | 208 pp., Illus.
978-0-8131-1648-8 | $35.00 cloth
www.kentuckypress.com 5
HISTORY Uneven Ground
Appalachia since 1945
Ronald D Eller
Willis Duke Weatherford
WINNER OF THE WEATHERFORD
Race, Religion, and Reform
AWARD GIVEN BY THE
in the American South
APPALACHIAN STUDIES
Andrew McNeill Canady
ASSOCIATION.
“Canady has prepared a proper biog-
raphy, giving us Weatherford’s own WINNER OF THE 2009 V.O.
thinking and his refl ections across his KEY AWARD GIVEN BY THE
remarkable life of service.” SOUTHERN POLITICAL SCIENCE
—John T. Kneebone, author of South- ASSOCIATION.
ern Liberal Journalists and the Issue of
““This book has become one of the
Race, 1920–1944
most eagerly anticipated in the history
“Giving special attention to Weather- of Appalachian Studies.”—Appalachian
ford’s belief in Personalism, Canady’s Heritage
manuscript brings to light the impor-
“Uneven Ground covers a staggering
tant eff orts and signifi cant achieve-
amount of historical terrain and fi lls
ments in Weatherford’s work with
along-overdue gap in the region’s
white southern college students at
historiography. . . .[The book] is a must
Blue Ridge and through the YMCA, as
read for scholars, students, activ-
well as black southern college students
ists, and policymakers who hope to
at Fisk University.”—Charles J. Holden,
make sense of Appalachia’s modern
author of The New Southern University
landscape.”—H-Net
New Directions in Southern History
“Eller does a superb job of showing the
348 pp., 24 b/w photos struggles to change Appalachia. His
978-0-8131-6815-9 | $50.00 cloth work is also an excellent study of why
the Great Society practically succeed-
A History of Appalachia ed and also failed”—Choice
Richard B. Drake 2008 | 376 pp., Illus.
CHOICE OUTSTANDING 978-0-8131-4246-3 | $22.95 paperback
ACADEMIC TITLE FOR 2002
Highlander
Touching upon folk traditions, health
care, the environment, higher No Ordinary School 1932–1962
education, the role of blacks and John M. Glen
women, and much more, Drake off ers
WINNER OF THE 1986
a compelling social history of a unique
APPALACHIAN AWARD
American region and looks at the
process of urbanization as it belies During its thirty-year history
commonly held notions about the Highlander served as a community
region’s rural character. folk school, as a training center for
southern labor and Farmers’ Union
2003 | 304 pp., Illus.
members, and as a meeting place for
978-0-8131-9060-0 | $25.00 paperback
black and white civil rights activists.
1988 | 328 pp., Illus.
978-0-8131-5280-6 | $35.00 paperback
6 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
Bloody Breathitt Reformers to Radicals
Politics and Violence The Appalachian Volunteers
in the Appalachian South and the War on Poverty
T. R. C. Hutton Thomas Kiff meyer
WINNER OF THE WEATHERFORD WINNER OF THE 2001
AWARD FOR NON-FICTION KENTUCKY ARCHIVES MONTH
CERTIFICATE OF MERIT.
WINNER OF THE APPALACHIAN
WRITERS ASSOCIATION “This work will do much to fi ll, what I
BOOK OF THE YEAR believe, is a real vacuum in twentieth-
century Appalachian historiography.
“Addresses a quintessentially Appala-
Tom Kiff meyer tells a gripping, human
chian topic—feuds—in a fresh and
story.”—Appalachian Heritage
enlightening manner.”—Appalachian
Journal “Kiff meyer blames [the failure of the Ap-
palachian Volunteers] on its paternalis-
"Hutton’s local history is insightful,
tic outsider mentality, which alienated
and his compelling arguments will
every group the AV worked with, and
certainly intrigue scholars."—Register
the power of local elites. Recommend-
of the Kentucky Historical Society
ed.”—Choice
2013 | 444 pp., Illus.
“An impressive accomplishment docu-
978-0-8131-6124-2 | $28.00 paperback
menting the history of the Appalachian
Volunteers.”—Appalachian Journal
Appalachians and Race
2008 | 320 pp., Illus.
The Mountain South
978-0-8131-2509-1 | $40.00 cloth
from Slavery to Segregation
edited by John C. Inscoe
Days of Darkness
"Relatively little work has been done The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky
on racial matters in Appalachia. . . . An
John Ed Pearce
important anthology."—Choice
“Provides an overview to the major
" Serves as ample demonstration that
confl icts while laying to rest various
historians should be wary of over-
mistaken notions about the feuds.”
simplifi cation and stereotypes when
—Journal of Appalachian Studies
characterizing the complex relation-
ship between Appalachians and “If you are pursuing interesting stories
race."—Journal of Southern History of Kentucky’s past; if you are seeking
an entertaining mythology; if you fi nd
2005 | 338 pages, Illus.
the evolution of oral history fascinat-
978-0-8131-9127-0 | $25.00 paperback
ing or are just curious about feuds in
Eastern Kentucky, then read John Ed
Pearce’s Days of Darkness.”—Lexington
Herald-Leader
1994 | 240 pp., Illus.
978-0-8131-1874-1 | $50.00 cloth
978-0-8131-2657-9 | $19.95 paperback
www.kentuckypress.com 7
The Invisible Minority Appalachia’s Path
Urban Appalachians to Dependency
edited by William W. Philliber Rethinking a Region’s Economic
and Clyde B. McCoy History, 1730-1940
with Harry C. Dillingham Paul Salstrom
The fi rst book to explore Appalachian “A strong contribution to the economic
migration and its impact on the cities, history of Appalachia and the study
on the region, and on the migrants of Appalachian culture.”—Journal of
themselves, from the perspectives of Appalachian Studies
sociology, economics, geography, and
“An imaginative and provocative piece
social planning.
that will inform further work for many
1981 | 208 pp., Illus. years, for it preserves a point of view
978-0-8131-5395-7 | $35.00 paperback that deserves such an impressive
presentation.”—American Studies
The Hatfi elds and the McCoys 1997 | 240 pp., Illus.
Otis K. Rice 978-0-8131-0868-1 | $30.00 paperback
“A captivating account of two families
whose stubbornness and loyalty were A College For Appalachia
exceeded only by their capacity for Alice Lloyd on Caney Creek
a terrible revenge. Without a doubt, P. David Searles
the Hatfi eld-McCoy feud will reign
Alice Lloyd College, settled in 1916 by
supreme as the most fascinating ven-
a New England woman determined
detta on the American scene.”
to bring higher education to a remote
—Southern Living
corner of Appalachia, continues to
“Using court records, public documents, serve the area and its people and to
offi cial correspondence and other stand as a tribute to Lloyd’s remarkable
documentary evidence, Rice presents energy, determination, and vision.
an account that frees, as much as
1995 | 240 pp., Illus.
possible, fact from fi ction, event from
978-0-8131-1883-3 | $50.00 cloth
legend.”—McCormick (SC) Messenger
“An engrossing account of the Appala-
chian feud that has become a part of
the folk history of America.”—Ashland
Daily Independent
1982 | 160 pp., Illus.
978-0-8131-1459-0 | $22.00 cloth
8 THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY