The following is an excerpt from “Ginseng Diggers: A History of Root and Herb Gathering in Appalachia,” published in March 2022 by University Press of Kentucky. Author Luke Manget is an assistant professor of History at Dalton State College, located in Dalton, Georgia. Henry Webb scanned the ground for plants […]
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Ivy Brashear is the March 2022 host of 100 Days’ Creators and Innovators newsletter series. Sign up for the weekly email here. She backed her Cadillac long-ways across the one-lane road in front of her house, lit the Virginia Slim in her mouth, pulled her .38 pistol from her purse, […]
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Frederick Douglass is well known in history as a formerly enslaved person who became a prominent writer, activist and abolitionist. But his travels in Central Appalachia and the speeches he gave specifically around West Virginia are much less known. Community historian John Muller has been documenting Douglass’ life for more […]
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Plenty of people in East Tennessee are livid over a school board’s decision to remove “Maus” from the language arts curriculum. But indiscriminate outrage on TV and social media isn’t helping the local dissenters who are trying to build a better way forward. A few minutes before I gave an […]
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In March of 2020, after years with a therapist, I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. While I was at a loss for words and confused by the diagnosis, everyone I asked could see it. Ever since I was young, I would become absolutely consumed by subjects that seemed odd […]
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In school growing up, it wasn’t uncommon to learn about what made each of our 50 states unique, and I was no exception: Florida is known for its beaches. Wisconsin is known for cheese. Kentucky is known for fried chicken. What is West Virginia known for? Anyone who lives here […]
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