Across the nation, more than 390,000 children rely on foster care. However, a shortage of licensed foster homes is creating a national crisis. While official foster care cases are carefully tracked, many informal examples of kinship care aren’t part of the data. For this Us & Them episode, we hear the experiences of those who’ve been part of the foster care system.
There’s a town in Kanawha County, West Virginia where some locals say living there is a “blast.”
As part of our occasional series, “What’s in a Name,” we take a look at the history and folklore of the names of Appalachian places. The town in question, Nitro, West Virginia, grew out of the explosives industry and was home to a factory that helped supply the U.S. Army with gun powder during World War I. Ken Thompson volunteers at the World War I museum in the city of Nitro.
According to Thompson, Nitro was established in 1917 by the federal government to manufacture nitrocellulose, a highly flammable compound formed by bringing cellulose from trees or plants into contact with it to nitric acid. It is also known as “guncotton,” because of its explosive characteristics.
“It was to support the war effort for WWI,” he explained. “A lot of people were under the impression it was nitroglycerin. It was not. It was nitrocellulose. That was added to the other components to make the gunpowder smokeless.”
It took the federal government about 11 months to build the town from 1917 to 1918, and approximately 100,000 people representing 41 nations participated.
Nitro’s construction coincided with one of the coldest winters in recorded history, Thompson said.
One of the town’s builders would go on to become famous: Clark Gable.
“His dad told him ‘son go get a job,'” Thompson said. “Well, he was one of those 100,000 came through Nitro. He worked as an electrician helping to build some of the Nitro bungalows.”
You can learn more about the town and the former manufacturing facilities there — as well as see artifacts from WWI on display at the museum.
Across the nation, more than 390,000 children rely on foster care. However, a shortage of licensed foster homes is creating a national crisis. While official foster care cases are carefully tracked, many informal examples of kinship care aren’t part of the data. For this Us & Them episode, we hear the experiences of those who’ve been part of the foster care system.
Stock car racing’s roots run deep in Appalachia. Our twisty roads and dark hollers were home to moonshiners — and moonshine runners, who became known for their driving skills. And they became some of NASCAR’s first stars when it formed in 1948. But NASCAR’s oldest continuous racing team had nothing to do with moonshine.
WVPB's Matt Jackfert speaks with harper, composer and producer Maeve Gilchrist. They discuss her compositions, the Silkroad Ensemble and the group's upcoming performance.
For Sue and Stan Jennings, woodworking isn’t just a way to make a living, it’s a way of life. What started out as a passion for the craft was born out of necessity. Over the last 30 years, the Jennings have developed a thriving business making wood objects called treenware — small wooden kitchen utensils.