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Harpers Ferry is a historic West Virginia city and international tourist hub. But four years ago the national park and surrounding town were devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Fierce Women Of Appalachia In Story And Song
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This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia is about fierce women — something we have no shortage of here in Appalachia.
We’ll hear about the folk music collaboration between Wu Fei and Abigail Washburn. Their new album combines the tones of Appalachia with the melodies of China. We’ll also hear a story about the first transgender person elected to political office in West Virginia, and a 90-year-old newspaper publisher who is still hard at work each week.
Appalachia And China
What happens when Appalachian and Chinese folk music come together? Abigail Washburn and Wu Fei spoke with Lizzie Peabody, host of the Smithsonian Institution’s podcast Sidedoor, about how they combined their two instruments — the banjo and the guzheng — to produce a sound that’s both timeless and also reflects thousands of years of history from different parts of the world.
Rosemary
Rosemary Ketchum just became the first transgender person in West Virginia to be elected to office. She’s now a city council member in Wheeling, West Virginia, where she assists in efforts to clean up the city and helps residents who are struggling with food insecurity and homelessness.
West Virginia Public Broadcasting Producers Corey Knollinger and Chuck Kleine followed Ketchum to document her campaign. Check out the half-hour documentary here. The film will also air on PBS stations this month.
Roanoke Tribune
The Roanoke Tribune is a family-owned, African American newspaper, led by Claudia Whitworth. Her newspaper’s mission remains: “Making and Recording Black History since 1939!”
The paper survived Jim Crow laws, the destruction of its building during urban renewal. Now it is surviving the pandemic and the death of print publications.
Guest host Mason Adams spent some time talking with three generations of the paper’s staff. Including the woman who leads the paper, Whitworth, who is now in her 90s. He discovered that her newspaper’s secret for success lies in her devotion to telling real stories from her community. Years back, at a gathering of Black publishers from across the country, Whitworth pushed back when a fellow publisher declared that “good news doesn’t sell.” After more than eight decades, her paper is still going strong.
Adams had this to say about fierce women of Appalachia:
“Growing up in the mountains, I saw fierce women everywhere I looked. From my great aunt Willie Sue, who served as a medic in World War II, to Ms. McGuire at Sharon Elementary School, who drilled a generation of Allegheny County kids in history and politics. They all show us that we don’t have to be mean or ornery to be fiercer. We can be kind, and listen to others, and reflect back what we see and hear. These women are making a stand for what they believe in — a long and rich tradition here, inside Appalachia.”
We had help producing Inside Appalachia this week from the Sidedoor podcast, which is produced by the Smithsonian, with support from PRX.
Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Abigail Washburn and Wu Fei, Dinosaur Burps and Adrian Niles.
Mason Adams guest-hosted our show this week. Roxy Todd is our producer. Eric Douglas is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Andrea Billups. Glynis Board edited our show this week. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce our show this week. You can find us on Twitter @InAppalachia.
On this West Virginia Morning, tourists from around the world visit Harpers Ferry each year to immerse themselves in U.S. history. But the number of visitors fell in 2020, as public health restrictions ramped up nationwide. Jack Walker visited the town to learn how things have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Across the nation, there are more and more local news deserts; communities with no local newspaper, television or radio station to cover what’s going on. When a small town paper like The Welch News in McDowell County, WV, can’t compete and shuts down, losing those local eyes and ears can affect accountability. No one is there to watch over things. Local news also provides a sense of cohesion and identity for a community. What happens when it’s gone? This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center.
On this West Virginia Morning, it has been a year since allegations of illicit recordings of cadets and other women at the West Virginia State Police barracks launched federal and state investigations into the law enforcement department. We speak with the superintendent of state police for an update.
On this West Virginia Morning, political analysts say the two Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate in the upcoming May primary election give voters some particular, and troubling, food for thought. The candidates themselves say voters need to focus on the positives, not the negatives.