Cicero Fain is a historian at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, who has documented Appalachia's Black history. His latest undertaking is called the Appalachian Freedom Heritage Initiative. The project identified and documented more than two dozen previously unknown underground railroad sites throughout eastern Kentucky, southern Ohio and West Virginia. Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with Fain about the project.
For many, summer is often associated with camp and quintessential camp activities like swimming, making s’mores and telling ghost stories.
Last week, a group of nine students in Pocahontas County took telling ghost stories a step further, by learning how to make short, animated films at Monster Movie Camp.
On the last day of Monster Movie Camp, the students were standing at their workstations, hurriedly putting the final touches on the illustrations for their film. Molly Cook was drawing the shape of a funny looking monster with a magic marker.
“I just like drawing. I’m only 10. I’m the youngest person in this class,” she said. She made a short, animated film, about a legendary cryptid from Braxton County, known as the Flatwoods Monster.
After drawing the images, or creating a set with sculpture, the students used iPads to film their movies. They spent days working on their small sets and filming their stop-action animation.
Many of the students said they signed up partly because they like to draw. Jesse Kelly said he likes theatre, and performing, and he wanted to learn to make movies as another creative outlet.
One of the students’ sketches from Monster Movie Camp.
“I think I surprised myself on some of the things that I did because I didn’t think I could do it that good,” Kelly said. “Like, once I watched it, it was better than I thought it would be.”
The Pocahontas County Opera House hosted the five-day Monster Movie Camp. Artist Bryan Richards and writer Howard Parsons also helped teach the students how to animate stories.
On the final day of camp, the students showed their parents their films, which were projected on a big screen inside the Pocahontas Opera House.
In the interest of full disclosure, Roxy Todd, who reported this story, is friends with Brooke Shuman, who organized the camp.
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Cicero Fain is a historian at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, who has documented Appalachia's Black history. His latest undertaking is called the Appalachian Freedom Heritage Initiative. The project identified and documented more than two dozen previously unknown underground railroad sites throughout eastern Kentucky, southern Ohio and West Virginia. Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with Fain about the project.
On this West Virginia Week, the state is under a flood watch through Sunday, the fire in Parkersburg is under investigation and a class action against the state’s foster care system will move forward.
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This week, before emancipation, Appalachia provided pathways to freedom for enslaved people trying to escape bondage. A new project identifies more than two dozen previously unknown underground railroad sites. Also, the Fly Around Music & Arts Festival in North Carolina was inspired by the hard work that followed Hurricane Helene. And, a ballad about floods recorded a generation ago still provides solace for people today.
The West Virginia Department of Human Services said the program was on hold due to uncertainty over the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funding.
