Appalachian Studies

Life in the Woods: The Influence of Hunting on Frontier Leadership in Revolutionary Kentucky

by Blair Smith

Metes and Bounds: The Forgotten Success of the Frontiersman Surveyor

by Blair Smith

Locals on Local Color: Imagining Identity in Appalachia

by Katie Algeo

The Rise of Tobacco as an Appalachian Staple

by Katie Algeo

The Three Graces: Appalachian Women on the Covers of Local Color Literature

by Stewart Plein

The Three Graces
Appalachian Women on the Covers of Local Color Literature

Appalachian Studies... more The Three Graces
Appalachian Women on the Covers of Local Color Literature

Appalachian Studies Association Conference 2012


Abstract

Local color literature of the nineteenth and early twentieth century relied heavily on the book’s cover to provide the reader with a glimpse of the story within its pages. Many book covers of this time period were manufactured and stamped with the stereotypical images of the mountain man, whose portraits are often supported with images of guns and stills.  Portraits of Appalachian women on the covers of nineteenth and early twentieth century local color literature cannot be categorized as neatly. 

Appalachian women on the covers of local color literature, although more diverse than those of their male counterparts, largely fall into three recognizable categories:  the lovelorn lass, the mother, and the old crone.  Unlike images of the mountain man or those of Appalachian children, the portraits of Appalachian women on the covers of local color literature capture the full range of a woman’s life, from a starry-eyed teenager desperately in love, to the role of parent, and finally, to the traditional corn cob pipe smoking matriarch of the family. 

Yet this triumvirate of images representing the three stages of a woman’s life often venture beyond these three categories.  While pictorial images of Appalachian women were not subject to the same level of detail as the images of the mountain man, they were instead subject to the traditional modes of objectification and stylization.  This paper explores the various ways Appalachian women were portrayed on the covers of nineteenth and early twentieth century local color literature. 

This paper is part of a larger research project aimed at exploring book cover art and the Appalachian region.  Primary source material for this presentation comes from the author’s extensive investigation of original book bindings found in rare book and other library collections in the Appalachian region.

Ecofeminism in Appalachia: One Woman’s Perspective and Call to Action

by Tammy Clemons

Women of Appalachia Conference 2003

This paper is a call to action for Appalachian women and men and feminist scholars to discuss the relevance,... more This paper is a call to action for Appalachian women and men and feminist scholars to discuss the relevance, character, and applications of ecofeminism in Appalachia. I will explore both the theoretical and practical elements of ecofeminism, drawing upon my Appalachian background and my personal attempt to live and model a sustainable lifestyle. By illustrating the interconnection between the precepts of ecofeminism and the natural and cultural gifts of the Appalachian region, I hope to inspire others to think of creative solutions to the sexism and ecological devastation which impede the self-empowerment of Appalachian women and men, and which contribute to the economical, ecological, and cultural impoverishment of our communities.

Ecofeminism in Appalachia: One Woman’s Perspective and Call to Action

by Tammy Clemons

Women of Appalachia Conference 2003

This paper is a call to action for Appalachian women and men and feminist scholars to discuss the relevance,... more This paper is a call to action for Appalachian women and men and feminist scholars to discuss the relevance, character, and applications of ecofeminism in Appalachia. I will explore both the theoretical and practical elements of ecofeminism, drawing upon my Appalachian background and my personal attempt to live and model a sustainable lifestyle. By illustrating the interconnection between the precepts of ecofeminism and the natural and cultural gifts of the Appalachian region, I hope to inspire others to think of creative solutions to the sexism and ecological devastation which impede the self-empowerment of Appalachian women and men, and which contribute to the economical, ecological, and cultural impoverishment of our communities.

Media Constructs of a Serpent-handling Community: Shifts in Symbol, Ritual, and Roles

by Keith Tidball

Honors Thesis for BA Anthropology at University of Kentucky, 1998

Serpents, Sainthood, and Celebrity: Symbolic and Ritual Tensions in Appalachian Pentecostal Serpent Handling

by Keith Tidball

Co-authored with Chris Toumey.

Intense media coverage of Appalachian Pentecostal-Holiness serpent handling sometimes causes a switch in... more Intense media coverage of Appalachian Pentecostal-Holiness serpent handling sometimes causes a switch in signifier/signified relationships. The snakes used symbolically in this practice are grounded less in traditional religious meaning, and more in a certain recent secular meaning: from signifying faith in the Holy Spirit to indicating the value of celebrity status. This phenomenon is analyzed in a framework of theories about symbols and rituals, and is then described in a series of ethnographic observations at a serpent-handling church in Kentucky. This case study raises some troubling issues about how cosmopolitan media represent a distinctive local culture.

Signifying Serpents: Hermeneutic Change in Appalachian Pentecostal Serpent Handling

by Keith Tidball

Co-authored with Chris Toumey.

An Archaeology of Community Life in Appalachia, 1865-1920.

by Jodi Barnes

2011. International Journal of Historical Archaeology 15(4):669-706.

Land Rich and Cash Poor: The Materiality of Poverty in Appalachia.

by Jodi Barnes

2011. Thematic issue, Archaeologies of Poverty, edited by C. Matthews and S. Spencer-Wood, Historical Archaeology 45(3):26-40.

A'Sorrowful Cavalcade': Enslaved Migration through Appalachian Virginia

by Phillip Troutman

Smithfield Review 5 (2001): 23-45.

Ain't No Place Like Home: Appalachia, Anthropology, and Autoethnography

by Tammy Clemons

This essay is a modified version of my original personal statement for application to the Department of Anthropology doctoral program at the University of Kentucky. It includes mult-media components and links to related resources.

Hufford SQ Review Decoration Day in the Mountains 2011

by Mary Hufford

Review of Decoration Day in the Mountains, by Alan Jabbour and Karen Singer Jabbour, published in Southern Quarterly, Spring 2011.

Hufford 2009 Mountaintop Removal in Enc Env Ethics Philosophy

by Mary Hufford

Published in the Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy, eds. J. Baird Callicott and Robert Frodeman. Gale CENGAGE Learning, 2009.

On the Border

by Aaron Barlow

Decolonizing Appalachia: Postcolonial Theology in a U.S. American Region

by Michael Iafrate

Written at the invitation of the Postcolonial Theology Network for the purposes
of internal discussion in an online forum.

This paper offers brief reflections on the possibility of viewing the Appalachian region of the United States through... more This paper offers brief reflections on the possibility of viewing the Appalachian region of the United States through the lens of de/colonization as part of the irruption of new and newer expressions of postcolonial theopolitical work. In particular it discusses a) the usefulness of postcolonial studies for theological reflection on human and ecological oppression, resistance and liberation in Appalachia, and b) the usefulness of Appalachian experience(s) for a more complex understanding of internal and neo-colonialisms in the United States.

Scope of Broadband Education and Deployment in Rural Libraries: Desperately-Seeking Partners in a Grant Proposal

by Kimberly Black

authors: Kimberly Black, Assistant Professor, Bharat Mehra, Associate Professor, Vandana Singh, Assistant Professor, School of Information Sciences, Univeristy of Tennessee, Knoxville
Published in Tennessee Libraries, vol 61, no. 2
link to paper; http://tnla.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=428

The purpose of this workshop presented at the Tennessee Library Association Conference 2011 (more The purpose of this workshop presented at the Tennessee Library Association Conference 2011 (http://www.tnla.org/associations/5700/files/2011Sessions.PDF) is twofold. The first purpose is to gather preliminary data about broadband and information access issues as they relate to workforce and small business development from librarians living and working in Tennessee. The secondary purpose of the workshop is to solicit for partnerships and collaborators in an upcoming grant proposal to the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) about Appalachian rural library broadband access and its impact on the region’s economic development through the examination of the specific issues of workforce development, small business development and entrepreneurship.

Development and Successful Application of a "Community-First" Communication Model for Community-Based Environmental Health Research

by Mary Hufford

Co-authored with Emmett, Edward Anthony MD, MS; Zhang, Hong MD, MPH; Shofer, Frances Susan PhD; Rodway, Nancy MD, MPH; Desai, Chintan BSE; and Freeman, David MS;

Published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine February 2009 - Volume 51 - Issue 2 - pp 146-156

Objectives: Effectively communicate results from a community exposure study to meet predetermined community... more Objectives: Effectively communicate results from a community exposure study to meet predetermined community priorities, maintaining ethical principles of autonomy, empowerment and justice.

Methods: The community established principles for the communications and a plan to inform study participants, community and other stakeholders of results and recommendations in a novel sequence: the Community-First communication model.

Results: The communications resulted in positive actions including company sponsored free bottled water, accepted by 77.6% of eligible households. Over 95% of participants in a follow-up survey had made some change to residential water supplies. Serum perfluorooctanoate levels were reduced. Government agencies acted on the results.

Conclusions: The unique communication approach generated workable solutions to the problem investigated, raised community awareness and modified behaviors. Information generated a free market of community-level solutions. Each major stakeholder voluntarily adopted a precautionary principle.