Today has been National Korean War Armistice Day, where the nation remembers and honors Korean War veterans. The Koreas are situated smack dab in the middle between China, Russia, and Japan, and have been “caught up in their conflicts” for centuries. Japan controlled the country from around 1910 to 1945,Continue Reading
Before global warming and ominous signs that Earth will eventually combust in an end-time fireball, the American South satisfied all the requirements of heat demanded by hell. The way weather affects the region’s inhabitants has been a subject of discussion for centuries. In the 1800s, visitors from the North andContinue Reading
Tennessee Williams was one of the foremost playwrights in the 20th century. He wrote close to 40 plays, 70 one-act plays, and several screenplays, achieving great success with The Glass Menagerie (1944), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947; Pulitzer Prize winner), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955; Pulitzer Prize winner),Continue Reading
Welcome to the second and final posting of Appalachian slave narratives capturing individual responses regarding freedom. You’ll find part one here. Visit the following sources for more extensive and wide ranging interviews: Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936 to 1938 – Library of Congress Slave narratives – Project GutenbergContinue Reading
How many of us in Appalachia have heard: “Appalachia didn’t have any slaves.” “Slavery wasn’t popular here in the mountains.” “They couldn’t have any slaves here because the land wasn’t conducive for farming.” “If we had slaves, there weren’t very many.” But Appalachia did indeed have slaves. Jacqueline Clark’s articleContinue Reading
In the year 2000, my sons Erik and Gabriel and I set out to create a video documentary of the people living in Free Hills, one of America’s last remaining Black settlements established before the Civil War. Located in hardscrabble Clay County, Tennessee, near the community of Celina, the FreeContinue Reading
I am from the muddy brown waters of the Muskingum River. It is a place I cannot hide from the truth of myself – where lies burn away like sins on an altar. I am both pulled to and pushed away from its borders. The small Appalachian town raised meContinue Reading
Sometimes things happen that just beggar belief – not the muddled-up head-scratching kind, but the holy-crap-get-me-outta-here kind. A person starts to think in terms of that old cliché: “This could only happen to me.” The following events occurred over eleven years ago and are as truthful as I can recollect,Continue Reading
When I was a little girl living in the holler, I took special note of plants my parents loved. They often pointed out wildflowers, trees, vines, shrubs, and grasses, etc. The wisdom they imparted was such a treat, because, in addition to a little botanical information, my brother and IContinue Reading
Appalachia Bare would like to thank all our military and service members. This Memorial Day, we remember and honor all those who served and fought for our country. Our warriors in valor, strength, and excellence . . . The following is the fourth excerpt of Benny F. Shown Sr.’s memoirsContinue Reading
