100 Days in Appalachia

Front Porch Politics: An Alabama Democrat’s Roadmap for Defeating Trumpism in Appalachia

You may not have felt it, but last week, Appalachia experienced a political earthquake. The epicenter is Huntsville, Alabama, where Democrat Marilyn Lands won a special election for the seat in Alabama House District 10. The seat was left open after Republican David Cole resigned following his conviction for voter […]

W. Va. Bill Poses Legal Challenges for Faith-based Immigrant Services

Religious leaders say that a bill passed by the West Virginia House of Delegates this week could criminalize faith-based groups that provide assistance to undocumented immigrants. HB 5031 changes the definition of “human smuggling” in state code to transporting or harboring individuals who are known to be in the country […]

Rev. Matthew J. Watts poses for a portrait at Grace Bible Church on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in the West Side community of Charleston, West Virginia. Watts, who is from Mount Hope, West Virginia, earned his education in engineering at the West Virginia Institute of Technology and worked as a civil engineer at Union Carbide before he felt ÒcalledÓ to ministry in 1996. This year marks his 27th at Grace Bible Church. Photo: Lexi Browning/100 Days in Appalachia

The West Side

Federal COVID Money Could Help Solve One Largely Black Community’s Complex Problems. W.Va. Leaders Invested it Elsewhere.

Karen Williams’ father, Charles Price, was the first Black graduate of West Virginia University’s College of Law, one of two land grant institutions in the state. His office once sat on Court Street, in Charleston, West Virginia’s Triangle District. As […]

James is one of the main characters of "O Pioneer!" "He has an ability to listen and really hear your words and then let those words reflect upon his understanding of his relationship with God and religion," filmmaker Clara Lehmann said. Photo: Provided

Culture

Meet the Filmmakers of ‘O, Pioneer!’, A Documentary Exploring Life in Appalachia During the Pandemic

We primeval forests felling,We the rivers stemming, vexing we, and piercing deep the mines within;We the surface broad surveying, we the virgin soil upheaving, Pioneers! O pioneers! – Stanza 7 from Pioneers! O Pioneers by Walt Whitman When we hear […]

The Grandview Overlook in the New River Gorge National Park offers scenic views like this one of the horseshoe bend. Photo: Colleen Kelly/100 Days in Appalachia

Travel Time

Ready for a Road Trip? A Guide to the Sights & Bites of Central, Southern Appalachia

This summer, our Pittsburgh family took a long-awaited bucket list road trip through Appalachia. We had recently spent 18 months driving the Pan American highway, and while it was an epic journey, the need to deeply explore our roots kept […]

A child looks on at a drag event during the Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, 2023 PRIDE in the Park event. Photo: Ava O'Bien/100 Days in Appalachia

Queer Appalachia

This Pride, ‘I Love My Hometown Whether it Loves Me Back or Not’

1993: Our pastor swayed slowly under the cover of a park pavilion — the kind rented out for graduation parties and wedding showers — and the rest of us stood on muddy grass to look at him. It was our […]

Red Terry traces the path of the pipeline on Poor Mountain and beyond in Appalachia, a stretch that includes the water supply for the nearby city of Roanoke. Credit: Elizabeth McGowan

Energy

For Tree-sitter, No Hiding from Heartbreak of Deal to Greenlight Mountain Valley Pipeline

BENT MOUNTAIN, Va. — Theresa “Red” Terry never wanted shades on the windows of her white clapboard farmhouse perched on the side of 2,600-foot Bent Mountain. Such coverings, she insisted, would only mar the 360-degree view of nature’s bounty she […]

Front Porch Politics: An Alabama Democrat’s Roadmap for Defeating Trumpism in Appalachia

W. Va. Bill Poses Legal Challenges for Faith-based Immigrant Services

Federal COVID Money Could Help Solve One Largely Black Community’s Complex Problems. W.Va. Leaders Invested it Elsewhere.

Meet the Filmmakers of ‘O, Pioneer!’, A Documentary Exploring Life in Appalachia During the Pandemic

Ready for a Road Trip? A Guide to the Sights & Bites of Central, Southern Appalachia

This Pride, ‘I Love My Hometown Whether it Loves Me Back or Not’

For Tree-sitter, No Hiding from Heartbreak of Deal to Greenlight Mountain Valley Pipeline

Latest News

What My Appalachian Roots Taught Me About Union Organizing

Front Porch Politics: An Alabama Democrat’s Roadmap for Defeating Trumpism in Appalachia

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100 Days Hiring Reporter to Cover Democracy and Politics

W. Va. Bill Poses Legal Challenges for Faith-based Immigrant Services

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