On this West Virginia Morning, Elizabeth Elswick couldn't find a lot of merchandise to represent her home state of West Virginia while she was growing up. But today, she represents Appalachian culture and sayings through her sticker shop. Folkways Reporter Maddie Miller brings us this story.
Long before Doug Williams and those who followed blazed their paths as black quarterbacks in the National Football League, another African America play-caller graced Lailey Field in Charleston, West Virginia.
Ron Pennington played for the Charleston Rockets during the 1960s. He spoke with Us & Them podcast producer Trey Kay about his time in the Mountain State.
At 5-foot-nine and 155 lbs, Pennington used his strong arm and scrambling ability to carve out success on the field.
Pennington says he enjoyed his time with the Rockets very much, staying on in Charleston for 15 years after an injury cut his pro football career short.
He eventually moved to Oklahoma and then to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he lives now.
Us & Them has a new podcast available about James “Shack” Harris, who was the first African American quarterback to break the color barrier in the NFL. You can listen to the episode by clicking on this link.
On this West Virginia Morning, Elizabeth Elswick couldn't find a lot of merchandise to represent her home state of West Virginia while she was growing up. But today, she represents Appalachian culture and sayings through her sticker shop. Folkways Reporter Maddie Miller brings us this story.
Appalachia produces less coal than it once did, but that coal is still desired around the world for making steel. The demand is now creating problems for people who live near the terminals where coal is moved from train to ship, to then be carried overseas. Residents of Norfolk and Newport News, Virginia, say airborne coal dust from export terminals is getting on their cars, on their houses, in their lungs. Residents have started to take matters into their own hands.
Gathering wild foods has long been a way to put food on the table in the Appalachian mountains. In recent years, the practice has gone digital, with online communities devoted to foraging in the wild, springing up like wild mushrooms after a spring rain. One woman in eastern Kentucky is sharing what she knows (and some humor) with the TikTok generation through an account called “Appalachian Forager.”