The Melungeon people of east Tennessee were isolated and discriminated against throughout much of their history. They began to be “othered” in the 1800s for being mixed-race Appalachians. Melungeons are considered a tri-racial isolate, meaning they are a combination of traits from multiple ethnic backgrounds, thus, creating their own unique […]
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Stories about Appalachia tend to fall into two camps– quaint stories about cultural oddities, or reports about grim health and economic statics that our region struggles with. And while those stories have merit, they aren’t the only stories that matter. In West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s latest episode of Inside Appalachia, […]
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Deep within the mountains of central West Virginia, is a tiny village called Helvetia. It was originally founded by Swiss settlers in the mid-1800s, as they felt the steep mountains, thick forests, winding river, all resembled their homeland. Today the town of about 50 people is a melting pot of […]
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A research project released last week has created a new way to measure the depth of economic and social poverty. The study contradicts stereotypes about where poverty exists in America. New research about the geography of disadvantaged communities challenges common misconceptions about poverty being predominantly an urban problem. “So much […]
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Mass incarceration is commonly thought of as a big-city problem. But as small-town economies have declined, county jails have expanded — and rural incarceration rates have jumped dramatically. When the coal industry dried up in Kentucky, the state’s criminal justice policies helped subsidize impoverished counties by trucking money (and prisoners) […]
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Every summer Wednesday since 1969, members of the Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church Men’s Club have gathered at the Serbian Picnic Grounds along King’s Creek outside of Weirton, West Virginia. In a long, cement block building, they mill about in the dawn light, eating donuts, drinking coffee, and reading the morning […]
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