Tag: Appalachian

Temperature Blankets Tell A Story And Deviant Hollers, Inside Appalachia

A good blanket will keep you warm — but a handmade temperature blanket can convey a message to a loved one. This week, we talk to crocheters who make and share their art.

Since 2018, there’s been an explosion of LGBT writing about Appalachia. The editor of the new essay collection “Deviant Hollers” tells us about it and more.  

And there’s an alternative to invasive bamboo, and it’s native to the region and found by rivers.

In This Episode

  • Temperature Blankets Record Life
  • New Book Explores Queer Appalachian Life And The Environment
  • A Bamboo To Call Our Own
  • Henderson Guitars For The Next Generation

Temperature Blankets Record Life

Karen Long is making a blanket of 2024’s high temperatures for herself.

Photo Credit: Wendy Welch/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Temperature blankets are a popular project among crocheters. They began as a way for artists to document the daily temperatures of a year, using red yarn for record highs and shades of blue for the cooler days. But the tradition of telling a story through textiles goes back to ancient times.  

Folkways reporter Wendy Welch had the story.

Henderson Guitars For The Next Generation

Jayne Henderson builds her own future as a guitar and ukulele maker.

Photo Credit: Margaret McLeod Leef/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Guitars by Wayne Henderson are prized by players who are willing to wait up to a decade to get their hands on one, but his daughter, Elizabeth Jayne Henderson, grew up wary of following in her father’s footsteps.  

But Jayne decided to carry on the family tradition, but in her own way. Folkways reporter Margaret McLeod Leef had this story.

New Book Explores Queer Appalachian Life And The Environment

Courtesy “Deviant Hollers,” edited by Zane McNeill and Rebecca Scott with foreword by Stephanie Foote.

The number of books and articles about Appalachia’s LGBT communities has grown with recent works like Neema Avashia’s “Another Appalachia” and Willie Carver Jr’s “Gay Poems for Red States.” Now, a new collection of essays explores the intersection of queer Appalachian life and the environment. The book is titled “Deviant Hollers: Queering Appalachian Ecologies for a Sustainable Future.” 

Mason Adams spoke with the book’s editor Zane McNeill.

A Bamboo To Call Our Own

Volunteers in southwestern Virginia are trying to revitalize river cane.

Photo Credit: Roxy Todd/Radio IQ

There are more than 1400 varieties of bamboo in the world. The most common variety in the U.S. is Golden or fishpole bamboo from China, but America has a native species, too. It was once commonly found in Appalachia near rivers and streams.

The species was nearly wiped out, but a group of mostly volunteers is working to restore the plant in southwestern Virginia.

Roxy Todd reported.

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Jeff Ellis, Blue Dot Sessions, John Inghram, Paul Loomis and Frank George.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editors Mallory Noe Payne and Jennifer Goren. You can find us on Instagram and Twitter @InAppalachia.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Encore: What Is Appalachia? We Asked People From Around The Region. Here’s What They Said

This week, we’re revisiting our episode “What Is Appalachia?” from December 2021. Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust belt and even the Northeast. The Appalachian Regional Commission defined the boundaries for Appalachia in 1965 with the creation of the Appalachian Regional Commision, a part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was legislation that sought to expand social welfare, and some localities were eager for the money, while others resisted the designation. The boundaries and definition of Appalachia can now only be changed by an act of Congress.

This week, we’re revisiting our episode “What Is Appalachia?” from December 2021. Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust belt and even the Northeast. The Appalachian Regional Commission defined the boundaries for Appalachia in 1965 with the creation of the Appalachian Regional Commission, a part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was legislation that sought to expand social welfare, and some localities were eager for the money, while others resisted the designation. The boundaries and definition of Appalachia can now only be changed by an act of Congress.

Politically, Appalachia encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — and West Virginia’s the only state entirely inside the region.

That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation, as well as many different views on what Appalachia really is. 

For Inside Appalachia, we turned our entire episode over to the question, “What is Appalachia?” With stories from Mississippi to Pittsburgh, we asked people across our region whether they consider themselves to be Appalachian.

A 1996 map that shows the southern part of Appalachia, as defined by John Alexander Williams.

Mississippi

Bob Owens — locally known as ‘Pop Owens,’ stands in front of his watermelon stand outside New Houlka, Mississippi. Pop says he was aware that Mississippi is part of Appalachia, but that no one in the state would consider themselves Appalachian.

Credit: Caitlin Tan/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Bob Owens is a watermelon farmer outside New Houlka, in the northeastern part of Mississippi. Owens said he was aware that Mississippi is part of Appalachia, but that no one in the state would consider themselves Appalachian. “I consider myself the worst redneck you’ve ever seen,” Owens said. “I live in the area of the Appalachian mountain range — not part of it, but close to it. So I guess you call me a redneck Appalachian.” This is the general consensus among the people in Mississippi we spoke to.

Geographically, the foothills of the Appalachian mountain range are located in northern Mississippi. The state’s tallest point is Woodall Mountain, 806 feet in elevation. For reference, the highest point in North Carolina, Mount Mitchell, is more than 6,600 feet in elevation, eight times higher than Woodall Mountain.

Co-host Caitlin Tan spoke with Texas State University History professor Justin Randolph, who wrote an essay for “Southern Cultures” called “The Making of Appalachian Mississippi.” Randolph argues in his essay that Mississippi became part of Appalachia for political and racial reasons, as well as economic advantages the designation brought to the 24 counties in Mississippi that were included in the ARC’s boundaries.

Shenandoah Valley 

In the 1960s, while some localities were clamoring to get into Appalachia, on the eastern edge of the region, some lawmakers fought to keep their counties outside the boundaries, including politicians in Roanoke, Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Appalachian Studies associate professor Emily Satterwhite said explaining to her students why some counties in Virginia are included in Appalachia, but others aren’t, is confusing. “

The students in front of me are wondering why they’re not included,” White said.

Pittsburgh 

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania skyline.

Courtesy

Appalachia’s largest city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When we asked people from that city to tell us if they consider it a part of Appalachia, about half said no. “I definitely do not feel that I am Appalachian culturally,” said Mark Jovanovich, who grew up just outside Pittsburgh’s city limits in the Woodland Hills area. “Personally, I would consider the city of Pittsburgh is sort of like a mini New York City. I guess we’d probably be lumped in as like a Rust Belt city, which makes enough sense, but definitely not Appalachian culturally.”

Writer Brian O’Neill disagrees. He wrote a book called The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-First Century. “My original title for the book was ‘I love Pittsburgh like a brother and my brother drives me nuts.’”

An editor advised him to change the title of his book to a phrase that he said is sometimes used to refer to Pittsburgh derisively. “I couldn’t figure out why that should be a putdown, because Paris is nice. And Appalachia is a beautiful part of the world. And if we were called the Paris of the Rockies, we wouldn’t run from that. So why would we run from this? Why don’t we embrace it? So that became the title of my book.”

He said that geographically, Pittsburgh is clearly in the Appalachian Mountains. “I mean, this is one mountain range that stretches from Georgia to Maine. And the idea that it belongs only to the southern part of the mountain range defies logic to me,” O’Neill said.

What Do You Think?

How about you? Do you call yourself an Appalachian? Why or why not? Send us an email to InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by John Wyatt, John R Miller, Alan Cathead Johnston, and Dinosaur Burps. Roxy Todd originally produced this episode. Bill Lynch is our current producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Alex Runyon was our associate producer on this original episode. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Encore: What Is Appalachia? We Asked People From Around The Region. Here’s What They Said.

Politically, Appalachia encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — and West Virginia’s the only state entirely inside the region. That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation, as well as many different views on what Appalachia really is. For Inside Appalachia, we turned our entire episode over to the question, “What is Appalachia?”

This week, we’re revisiting our episode “What Is Appalachia?” from December 2021.

Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust Belt and even the Northeast. The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) defined the boundaries for Appalachia in 1965 with the creation of the Appalachian Regional Commission, a part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was legislation that sought to expand social welfare, and some localities were eager for the money, while others resisted the designation. The boundaries and definition of Appalachia can now only be changed by an act of Congress.

Politically, Appalachia encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — and West Virginia’s the only state entirely inside the region.

That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation, as well as many different views on what Appalachia really is. 

For Inside Appalachia, we turned our entire episode over to the question, “What is Appalachia?” With stories from Mississippi to Pittsburgh, we asked people across our region whether they consider themselves to be Appalachian.

A 1996 map that shows the southern part of Appalachia, as defined by John Alexander Williams.

Mississippi

Bob Owens — locally known as ‘Pop Owens,’ stands in front of his watermelon stand outside New Houlka, Mississippi. Pop says he was aware that Mississippi is part of Appalachia, but that no one in the state would consider themselves Appalachian.

Credit: Caitlin Tan/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Bob Owens is a watermelon farmer outside New Houlka, in the northeastern part of Mississippi. Owens said he was aware that Mississippi is part of Appalachia, but that no one in the state would consider themselves Appalachian. “I consider myself the worst redneck you’ve ever seen,” Owens said. “I live in the area of the Appalachian mountain range — not part of it, but close to it. So I guess you call me a redneck Appalachian.” This is the general consensus among the people in Mississippi who Inside Appalachia spoke to.

Geographically, the foothills of the Appalachian mountain range are located in northern Mississippi. The state’s tallest point is Woodall Mountain, 806 feet in elevation. For reference, the highest point in North Carolina, Mount Mitchell, is more than 6,600 feet in elevation, eight times higher than Woodall Mountain.

Co-host Caitlin Tan spoke with Texas State University history professor Justin Randolph, who wrote an essay for “Southern Cultures” called “The Making of Appalachian Mississippi.” Randolph argues in his essay that Mississippi became part of Appalachia for political and racial reasons, as well as economic advantages the designation brought to the 24 counties in Mississippi that were included in the ARC’s boundaries.

Shenandoah Valley 

In the 1960s, while some localities were clamoring to get into Appalachia, on the eastern edge of the region, some lawmakers fought to keep their counties outside the boundaries, including politicians in Roanoke, Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.

Appalachian Studies associate professor Emily Satterwhite said explaining to her students why some counties in Virginia are included in Appalachia, but others aren’t, is confusing. “The students in front of me are wondering why they’re not included,” White said.

Pittsburgh 

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania skyline.

Courtesy

Appalachia’s largest city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When we asked people from that city to tell us if they consider it a part of Appalachia, about half said no. “I definitely do not feel that I am Appalachian culturally,” said Mark Jovanovich, who grew up just outside Pittsburgh’s city limits in the Woodland Hills area. “Personally, I would consider the city of Pittsburgh is sort of like a mini New York City. I guess we’d probably be lumped in as like a Rust Belt city, which makes enough sense, but definitely not Appalachian culturally.”

Writer Brian O’Neill disagrees. He wrote a book called The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-First Century. “My original title for the book was, ‘I love Pittsburgh like a brother and my brother drives me nuts.’”

An editor advised him to change the title of his book to a phrase that he said is sometimes used to refer to Pittsburgh derisively. “I couldn’t figure out why that should be a putdown, because Paris is nice. And Appalachia is a beautiful part of the world. And if we were called the Paris of the Rockies, we wouldn’t run from that. So why would we run from this? Why don’t we embrace it? So that became the title of my book.”

He said that geographically, Pittsburgh is clearly in the Appalachian Mountains. “I mean, this is one mountain range that stretches from Georgia to Maine. And the idea that it belongs only to the southern part of the mountain range defies logic to me,” O’Neill said.

What Do You Think?

How about you? Do you call yourself an Appalachian? Why or why not? Send an email to InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

——

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by John Wyatt, John R Miller, Alan Cathead Johnston,  and Dinosaur Burps. Roxy Todd originally produced this episode. Bill Lynch is our current producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.


W.Va. Group Begins Monkeypox Education Efforts In Appalachia

A West Virginia nonprofit group has been awarded $100,000 in grants for monkeypox vaccination and education efforts among LGTBQ individuals in 13 Appalachian states.

A West Virginia nonprofit group said Monday it has been awarded $100,000 in grants for monkeypox vaccination and education efforts among LGTBQ individuals in 13 Appalachian states.

The Community Education Group received $50,000 grants each from Gilead Sciences and ViiV Healthcare to develop and distribute materials, offer grants and hold meetings aimed at reducing cultural stigmas and barriers related to the virus, the group said in a statement.

CEG will create and distribute monkeypox digital resource guides to more than 300 Appalachian health departments, along with rural healthcare associations and LGBTQ groups.

CEG also will accept applications for mini-grants from organizations in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, the statement said.

The virus has mainly spread among gay and bisexual men, though health officials continue to stress that anyone can be infected.

“One of the things that we realize with monkeypox is that we were asking people to have a conversation with a population of folks that they may not normally engage with,” CEG President and founder A. Toni Young said in a telephone interview. “And many of them want to have this conversation but just simply didn’t know how to.”

CEG wanted to be able to provide a toolkit “so that folks actually feel safe and free to access the care and services at our county health departments,” she said.

The Community Education Group, founded in 1994, is based in the Hardy County community of Lost City, with offices in Washington. It works to eliminate disparities in health outcomes and improve public health in disadvantaged populations and underserved communities.

Enjoy these Holiday Radio Specials from WVPB

Discover our holiday line-up of radio specials. 

With a combination of local and national programs, pianist Bob Thompson’s “Joy to the World” once again takes center stage. The producers of “Mountain Stage with Larry Groce” celebrate this 23-year tradition with jazz arrangements of holiday favorites new and old, featuring special guest vocalist Lena Seikaly. This year’s episode premieres Monday, December 19th at 9pm, with several repeats scheduled. A Joy to the World mini-marathon is also planned for overnights during the Christmas weekend.

Local productions during the season include specials with The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra and The Appalachian Children’s Chorus, as well as the unveiling of 2016’s Inspiring West Virginians. 

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