Almost everybody in Appalachia has a home canning story. Whether it’s that jar of pickles that just didn’t keep its crunch, or the homemade apple butter with that heavenly taste, or the month canning went awry when several jars burst, and so forth. And I’d go even further to sayContinue Reading
I have a little wonderland in my backyard. Among this happy place, dragonflies hover, rabbits abound, squirrels cavort, and a few dozen bird species flutter about. I love birds, but I do have my favorites. I love chickadees and owls. I think blue jays have gorgeous markings. The plain littleContinue Reading
For a half century Wendell Berry has been on record defending small communities and local economies, dating back to his 1977 treatise The Unsettling of America, which, as Appalachian author Wilma Dykeman once observed, deserved to unsettle America more than it did. In his roles as poet, essayist, novelist, and,Continue Reading
Earlier this year, Appalachia Bare took a trip to the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. If any of our readers are true crime aficionados, this visit would be worth your while. The museum’s architectural structure is built similar to one of the buildings on Alcatraz Island, andContinue Reading
Rebecca Harding Davis Rebecca Harding Davis was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, on June 24, 1831, and spent her first five years in Big Springs, Alabama. In 1836, her family moved to Wheeling in what would become West Virginia. When she was fourteen, she was sent to the Washington Female SeminaryContinue Reading
The Fool Killer is an enduring figure in Appalachian folklore and oral narratives. Defined as an imaginary or legendary person, the Fool Killer is an archetypal character whose business is destroying fools. One particular Appalachian ethnicity, known as Melungeon, enjoys a rich history of variations on the origin and roleContinue Reading
We’ve all reached the midpoint of 2023, seen moons and days and times pass like a blur or a telling breeze. Together, our readers, subscribers, and contributors, along with all of us at Appalachia Bare, have lived each moment, weathered every hardship, and basked in many joys. Please forgive thisContinue Reading
In 1935, East Tennessee mountain man William Henry Hawkins grabbed his shotgun and marched with purpose out of his humble, box-frame home, where he lived with his wife and young daughter. He then drove to Norris Dam as a one man show of force to stop the Tennessee Valley AuthorityContinue Reading
Cantor, Gauss, Riemann, Euler. Hilbert. Poincaré. Noether. Hypatia. Klein, Minkowski, Turing, von Neumann. Cauchy, Lie, Dedekind, Brouwer. Boole. Peano. Hamilton, Laplace, Lagrange. If you’re unfamiliar with the names and contributions of the theoretical mathematicians in the modern era, then you may find Cormac McCarthy’s latest novel Stella Maris a challengingContinue Reading
Thinking back on my Amma, West Virginia, days has been bittersweet. I miss my dad, Ross Carper, and all that he was. He was such a good father and a sweet, kind, and humble man. He was a hard worker for Columbia Gas, as well as at home. Dad providedContinue Reading