This week, in the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux was an entrepreneur filmmaker in western Virginia. He became a world-renowned director and producer. Also, Kentucky’s poet laureate lives down the road from what has been called the country’s most lethal cryptid. Attempts to spot it have led to deaths. And, we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who’s passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.
Encore: Oscar Micheaux, Kathleen Driskell And Soul Food, Inside Appalachia
Oscar Micheaux (center) with an actor and possibly a crew member.Courtesy of the New York Public Library
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In the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux was an entrepreneur filmmaker in western Virginia. He became a world-renowned director and producer.
Also, Kentucky’s poet laureate lives down the road from what has been called the country’s most lethal cryptid. Attempts to spot it have led to deaths.
And, we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who’s passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.
You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.
How Oscar Micheaux Changed Filmmaking From Appalachia
Oscar Micheaux.
Courtesy of the New York Public Library
One of America’s pioneering filmmakers had nothing to do with Hollywood but nevertheless left his mark on the emerging industry. Oscar Micheaux was a homesteader, who then turned his attention to making movies in the early 1900s. He was a Black man who made movies for Black audiences at a time when they weren’t allowed into mainstream, white-only theaters. And for several pivotal years in the 1920s, he operated out of Roanoke, Virginia.
Host Mason Adams brings us this story.
Playwright August Wilson’s Life And Legacy
In a 1968 photo, playwright August Wilson poses amidst the burnt remains of the Hill District’s Mainway Market, torched in the riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Courtesy of the Frank F. Hightower Photograph Collection/University of Pittsburgh Press
Acclaimed playwright August Wilson was deeply influenced by his hometown of Pittsburgh. Wilson was the author of 10 plays collectively known as The Pittsburgh Cycle. They include the Pulitzer Prize winning plays Fences and The Piano Lesson. Now there’s a new book about him, titled August Wilson’s American Century, by University of Pittsburgh professor Lawrence Glasco, and it explores that deep influence with his hometown.
WESA’s Bill Driscoll spoke with Glasco.
Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage
Sonny (left) and his father Angelo pose in front of the meat case at Angelo’s Market in Powellton Hollow. From father to son to father to son, Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage has been around in the hills of West Virginia for a while.
Courtesy of the Argento Family
In 2023, Folkways Reporter Zack Harold took us to Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage. Angelo’s makes a craft sausage distributed throughout West Virginia, as well in southern Ohio and eastern Kentucky. The recipe comes from the Calabria region of Italy, and it’s made in West Virginia.
Kentucky Poet Laureate Talks Deadly Cryptids
Kentucky’s governor appoints a new poet laureate every two years. Last year, Gov. Andy Beshear named award-winning poet, essayist and teacher Kathleen Driskell to the post. Driskell’s poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Rattle and Appalachian Review, among others. She’s authored six poetry collections. Her most recent is Goat-Footed Gods.
Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Driskell about living next to the dead, and America’s most lethal cryptid.
Baby Barn Owl That Left His Nest Too Soon
The juvenile barn owl was safely kept and transported in a dog crate.
Courtesy of the Wildlife Center of Virginia
The Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro treats hundreds of injured animals every year, from possums, to eagles, to bear cubs. And even a fledgling barn owl that fell from its nest in a grain silo in Augusta County.
WMRA’s Meredith McCool has more.
Sharing Soul Food
Xavier Oglesby cuts onions for a macaroni salad he is cooking inside Manna House Ministries’ kitchen. A pot of boiling water is behind him, cooking the pasta for the dish.
Photo Credit: Vanessa Peña/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Soul food like cornbread, extra-cheesy mac-n-cheese and collard greens plays an important role in Black communities across Appalachia. In 2023, Folkways Fellow Vanessa Peña spoke with Xavier Oglesby, a master artist in soul food cooking from Beckley, West Virginia.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by John Blissard, Bennie Moten Kater, Tim Bing, Paul Loomis, John Inghram and Blue Dot Sessions.
Bill Lynch is our producer. Abby Neff 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 Nicole Musgrave and Chris Julin.
You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.
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This week, Inside Appalachia discusses the influence and contributions of Oscar Micheaux, an African American filmmaker who lived in Virginia in the 1920s. Mason Adams speaks with Roanoke historian Jordan Bell about Micheaux's life and career.
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