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The Great Pandemic of 1918, part 2
continued… KENTUCKY: On October 6, the Kentucky State Board of Health announced the closing of “all places of amusement, schools, churches and other places of assembly.” Because they were almost...
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You’d have that feeling then of being way far back
From 1935-1943, President Franklin Roosevelt looked to the U.S. Farm Security Administration, under the direction of Roy Stryker, to photograph people in need across the country in order to help sell...
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To make their life in the country better
“The first session of the John C. Campbell Folk School at Brasstown, N.C. is scheduled for this winter,” says the October 1927 brochure. “It will begin December 1st and cover the months of December,...
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The first minigolf tournament in the US
“Garnet Carter was an entrepreneur, and he developed 300 acres here on top of Lookout Mountain as a resort community in 1928,” says Bill Chapin, Carter’s nephew. “With the Fairyland Inn as the...
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Along the wooded slopes and ridges
Claude W. Hibbard was the first naturalist at Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave National Park (June 1, 1934 to August 22, 1935). His job was to evaluate the area and record the types of wildlife he found in this...
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We are anxious to know how far the broadcast is reaching
Certainly if you were in Wheeling, WV or Parkersburg, WV that night you could have received it. Even as far out as Zanesville, OH or Gallipolis, OH, if you had a crystal radio set, you could have...
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Jumping on a bear to fight fist and skull
“Him and his brother-in-law one night back years ago, about forty, went out a-bear huntin’, a-possum huntin’ or other, and treed a bear. He minded up the tree till it come down. I shot it. It rolled...
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Muralist Lola Poston and the Lincoln Theatre
Her paintings were shown at the 1939 World’s Fair, and she helped decorate the White House during the Roosevelt Administration. But the artistic highlight of Lola Poston’s painting career was surely...
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Old Order Amish
When you’re in Oakland or Grantsville, MD, you’re in Old Order Amish territory. If you’re not Amish yourself, you may be wondering just how that group got its name. You’d have to go back to the Zurich,...
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Ed Nelson Given Heavy Sentence
Was Charged With Killing John Stinson on Laurel Creek Sunday, June 30th November 22, 1935 – The jury returned a verdict of guilty late Wednesday afternoon and fixed Ed Nelson’s punishment at twenty...
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"Their bodies were covered with the wreckage of logs"
The 1912 Barranshe Run mishap was one of the more dramatic log train wrecks in West Virginia history. As the Nicholas County story became legendary, Cherry River Boom and Lumber Company‘s runaway train...
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I tried to get her to sing all the song
John Jacob Niles composed the Appalachian influenced Christmas carols The Carol of the Birds, The Flower of Jesse, What Songs were Sung, Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head, and Sweet Little Boy Jesus. I...
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The Animals from the Wild Visit, and Ms. Cat Stays
I think it was the ninth night, I was told, that the wild animals came in from the forest, fields and desert. Some had traveled a long way. They came in late at night when everybody was asleep. They...
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Christmas Eve on Lonesome
It was Christmas Eve on Lonesome. But nobody on Lonesome knew that it was Christmas Eve, although a child of the outer world could have guessed it, even out in those wilds where Lonesome slipped from...
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Chinese firecrackers provided plenty of Christmas joking
Clarence Nixon wrote of his father’s store in his book Possum Trot, “We stocked up with fruit in December, and I still think of Christmas when I smell oranges in the country.” The South was a land of...
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The Story of Freeda Bolt
The Roanoke [VA] Times, Thursday Morning, December 19, 1929– Body of Floyd County Girl Is Found On Bent Mountain; Disappeared Last Thursday Extensive Search Had Been Made for Freeda Bolt, 18, of Near...
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Kentucky’s moonlight schools
Some would consider her the founder of Adult Literacy Education in the United States. Cora Wilson Stewart (1875-1958) was an elementary school teacher and county school superintendent in eastern...
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The Legend of Ruling Days
Please welcome Timothy W. Hooker. The Cleveland, TN based author and teacher has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Memphis. He’s taught composition, creative writing, and literature at...
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The Pack Horse Librarians
Established in 1935, the Pack Horse Library Project was aimed at providing reading materials to rural portions of Eastern Kentucky with no access to public library facilities. Librarians riding horses...
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The things you’ll find in a barn
“One of the most popular pages of the monthly publication of a tool collectors’ club is its Whatsis Column. Antique gadgets that stump the experts are frequently turning up. In the era of hand-made...
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