Appalachian Studies Commons^™

Poverty, Flooding & Grassroots Organizing: An Analysis Of The War On Poverty & The 1977 Flood In Central Appalachia, Brooklyn Lile

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

There is a long history of environmental exploitation and disastrous flooding in Central Appalachia. The region has long been plagued by exploitative practices such as strip mining and mountaintop removal which have stripped vegetation from land, leading to more disastrous floods and more frequent floods. With repeated floods comes a vicious cycle of substantial damage and destruction, as well as inadequate time and resources for full recovery before the next flood strikes. Consequently, floods and poverty have been cyclical, interlinked, and inseparable. Thus, this paper explores the relationship between poverty, flooding, and relief by analyzing the connections between the War …

Bibliography, Anthony Harkins

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Bibliography of publications by Anthony Harkins.

Progress In The Bluegrass: An Analysis Of Grassroots Organizing In Kentucky Post 1970, Brooklyn Lile

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

While historians and other scholars have explored grassroots organizing in Kentucky, most historiography on this topic is limited to the 1930s through 1970s and focused on coal, labor, and the Civil Rights Movement. This paper fills a gap within the historiography by extending the discussion of grassroots organizing in Kentucky past the 1970s. Through the examination of organizational documents, membership newsletters, and oral histories, this paper explores the transformation of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KFTC) from 1981 to 2020. KFTC began as a small Eastern Kentucky organization focused predominantly on fair taxing practices in coal companies. Through efforts to diversify …

John C. Campbell Folk School - Brasstown, North Carolina (Fa 1377), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Collection 1377. Research materials for a history of the John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, North Carolina, compiled by Dr. James M. Gifford.

The Barren Springs Songbook, Caroline Grace Sutphin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Barren Springs Songbook is a poetry collection exploring Appalachian themes through the lens of three representative characters and my own experience. The poems presented are in blank verse and lean heavily on musicality, as each poem features an epigraph from my own Great Uncle Henry’s song lyrics. The poetry explores themes of poverty, folklore, feminism, and Christianity within the context of Barren Springs, an insular Appalachian community. The characters of Henry, India, and Myrtle provide a glimpse into how things have been in my family history, and the more modern poems representing myself show the cultural shifts that are …

Wolf, Carol E. (Fa 1374), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1374. Student folk studies project titled: “Hazel Daniel’s Songbook,” which includes an alphabetical list of the songs in the collection including “found” and “unfound” songs, along with a bibliography and the lyrics to the “found” songs. Survey sheets may include the title of the song, lyrics and source. Daniel of Hartford, Kentucky and her nephew Larry Daniel collected songs from 1938 until 1948. The songs in this collection are a compilation of songs from student projects: FA 1262 BRADLEY, Peggy Louise, FA 1263 WILSON, Debbe Jean, and FA 1264 WELKER, Susan.

Western Kentucky University Archives Of Folklore And Folklife Manual (Fa 1373), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1373. Manual titled “Folk Speech Section of WKUAFF,” created to provide organization and conventions for the collection of student folk projects created by folk studies students for the WKU Archives of Folklore and Folklife or the Folklife Archives. The manual includes survey sheets with responses from a brief questionnaire about vocabulary, dialect, and linguistics across Kentucky. This collection also includes questionnaires from other student projects used to gather vocabulary about a particular subject, i.e. mules, quilting, folk songs, remedies, etc.

Mccartt-Jackson, Sarah, B. 1982 (Fa 1290), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1290. Student collection titled “’Clogging’s Just Clogging’: The Richard McHargue Cloggers and Approaches to Vernacular Percussive Dance Study” in which Sarah McCartt-Jackson conducts an interview with Richard McHargue, a clogging instructor from Richmond, Kentucky. The interview contains McHargue’s early dancing memories, clogging terms, and opinions about the contemporary state of clogging. The collection also contains a partial transcript, fieldnotes, interview questions, content index, photographs, and the recorded audio interview on CD.

Brown, Chloe Jo, B. 1991 (Fa 1289), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1289. Student collection titled “Dale Cross: The Art of Flintknapping” in which Chloe Brown examines the commercial, historical, and cultural factors that have influenced the production of arrowheads. Brown interviews Dale Cross, a flintknapper from Burkesville, Kentucky who is renowned for his artistic skills. The paper addresses Cross’ personal aesthetics, flintknapping processes, and his business-related endeavors. The collection includes an academic paper, a transcription, CDs containing the recorded audio interview and photographs, and one of Cross’ arrowheads.

Jameson, Jennifer Michelle, B. 1987 (Fa 1288), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1288. Student paper titled “Finding the Folkways of a Forensic Anthropomorphologist: The Kentucky Yard Art Of Cecil and Bet Ison” in which Jennifer Jameson explores the creative endeavors and identities of two folk artists in Rowan County, Kentucky. Jameson, who conducted her fieldwork over a period of two weeks, examines flower sculptures, upholstered trees, bottle cap murals, beadwork, and other vernacular expressions pieced together by the Isons in their built environment. The paper also discusses the relationships between the Isons and their community, personal aesthetics, educational backgrounds, and connections to broader cultural issues. …

Brennan, Mary Kate (Fa 1284), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1284. Student interview conducted by Mary Kate Brennan with renowned Appalachian poet Jim Wayne Miller. Brennan’s focus throughout the interview is on “the cultural sensitivity and awareness that permeates Miller’s poetry.” Miller also touches on what he considers to be the central themes of his work, the struggles and triumphs of communities within the Appalachian region, and pride in cultural heritage. The collection contains a detailed index, interview summary, transcription, index cards with questions, and a reel-to-reel audio tape of the interview.

Thompson, Elois (Fa 1258), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1258. Student paper titled “Uncle Henry and the Kentucky Mountaineers” in which Elois Thompson details the life and career of “farmer, soldier, boxer, dairy-farm employee, comedian, aircraft factory employee, and hillbilly musician” Henry Green Warren. Thompson describes Warren’s childhood in Green County, his beginnings as a host on a popular radio program, and his time as a musician in several country music bands. Collection contains a draft of the original paper with the editor’s notes and the final copy of Thompson’s paper.

Foodways (Fa 1202), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1202. Collection of papers written by students in Professor Barry Kaufkins’ Foodways class (FLK/ANTH 388) at Western Kentucky University. While a majority of the papers focus on Easter traditions, other topics of note include immigrant foodways traditions, fundraising efforts, community organizations, tailgating, and sorority life. Papers also include photographs taken by students.

Colonels, Hillbillies And Fightin’: Twentieth-Century Kentucky In The National Imagination, Anthony Harkins

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hillbillies, Rednecks, Crackers And White Trash, Anthony Harkins

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

From ‘Sweet Mamas’ To ‘Bodacious’ Hillbillies: Billy Debeck’S Impact On American Culture, Anthony Harkins

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hillbilly: A Cultural History Of An American Icon, Anthony Harkins

History Faculty Book Gallery

In this pioneering work of cultural history, historian Anthony Harkins argues that the hillbilly-in his various guises of "briar hopper," "brush ape," "ridge runner," and "white trash"-has been viewed by mainstream Americans simultaneously as a violent degenerate who threatens the modern order and as a keeper of traditional values of family, home, and physical production, and thus symbolic of a nostalgic past free of the problems of contemporary life. "Hillbilly" signifies both rugged individualism and stubborn backwardness, strong family and kin networks but also inbreeding and bloody feuds. Spanning film, literature, and the entire expanse of American popular culture, from …

The Hillbilly In The American Imagination, Anthony Harkins

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Hillbilly In The Living Room: Television Representations Of Southern Mountaineers In Situation Comedies, 1952-1971, Anthony Harkins

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Significance Of ‘Hillbilly’ In Early Country Music, 1924-1945, Anthony Harkins

History Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Ua77/1 Western Alumnus, Vol. 51, No. 5, Wku Alumni Association

WKU Archives Records

Alumni magazine published by WKU. This issue has the following articles:

• Zacharias, Donald. You Can Tell Our Story, A Message to Alumni from the President
• Anderson, Sherry. Our Junior Scholars, They're Our Pre-Westerners
• Highland, Jim. Students Study Life in Appalachia Through the Camera's Eye
• Just, Paul. Chuck DeLacey, Wandering Linebacker
• Ashcraft, Betsy. Mildred Eckerle Has Pride in the Red as Toppers Football Fan
• Tim Rutherford - Documenting Life
• Hilltopics
• About Faculty About Students
• Ransdell, Gary. Alumni Newsgrams
• Trigg County Alumni Club
• East Tennessee Alumni Club
• Georgia Alumni Club
• Memphis Alumni Club
• North Alabama Alumni Club
• Middle Tennessee Alumni Club
• Cincinnati …

Ua35/11 Student Honors Research Bulletin, Wku Honors Program

WKU Archives Records

Papers representative of the variety of scholarly research conducted at WKU.

• Adams, Kathy. The Appalachian Language
• Barnett, Philip. A Study of Deviant Behavior of XYY Individuals in Regard to Environment and Genotype
• Bell, Brooks. Loving, Loyal Linda Loman: An Interpretive Note
• Danhauer, Janice. Motivating Workers Through Job Design
• Davis, Barbara. The Transformation of a Man into a Man of Understanding in Murinbata Society
• Davis, Diane. The Argot of the Homosexual
• Jewell, Teresa. The Life Story of the Hero of World War I - Sergeant Alvin C. York
• Lanham, Wayne. Das Knarrenschiff and a Ship of Fools: A Study in Influence …