Unpacking and Unpacking ASA

It’s been a while since my last post but not without reasons For starters, another wrestling season in the the books. The team had a pretty good run this year and I couldn’t be prouder. In other news, I finally closed on a house. Signed the papers on March 3rd (Friday), moved in over the

40th Annual Appalachian Studies Association Conference

The count down has begun. In almost two months I will be presenting at the 40th Annual Appalachian Studies Association Conference. This is one of my favorite academic conferences so needless to say, I am excited to be able to attend and present. This year’s conference will be held at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA.

Tonight: The Mine Wars

Go inside the coal miners’ bitter battle for dignity at the dawn of the 20th century with The Mine Wars. The struggle over the material that fueled America led to the largest armed insurrection since the Civil War and turned parts of West Virginia into a bloody war zone.  Tonight, on PBS (check your local

39th Annual Appalachian Studies Association Conference

I recently learned that my proposal to the 2016 Appalachian Studies Association Conference has been accepted. I have presented at this conference a few times over the past couple of years and it is a thrill every time. I have had the opportunity to read papers in front of academics in the field and to have prominent historians, such as Dr.

Slavery and Interstate Commerce in Appalachia

As mentioned before, I am undertaking a new project that involves the study of slavery in Catoosa County. In order to do so, I am building a sturdy base by examining historiography related to slavery in the ‘Deep South’ in comparison to slavery in Appalachia. Today I came across Wilma A. Dunaway’s Women, Work, and Family

710: A New Project

Seven hundred and ten. That is the number of slaves counted in the 1860 Federal Census for Catoosa County (GA). As one can imagine, there have not been too many histories published about this single northwest Georgia county. What little histories there are, make little to no mention about the seven hundred and ten slaves counted

“Genuine Negro Jig”

I’m putting the final touches on Total War Before Sherman (pt. 2). In the meantime, let me introduce you to the Grammy Award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops. They’ve got a lot to say, a lot to reinvent, and a lot energy…..and that’s before they pick up their instruments. (Note: Don Flemons is no longer with the group,

Connecting Communities through Seeds

AppalachianHistory.net recently featured a post from a good friend of mine, Jonathan Winskie. For those of you unaware, Joanthan is the red headed menace on the About Me page. His post focuses on heirloom seeds and their ability to forge “metaphoric ‘bridges’” by serving as “vessels to facilitate deep and powerful connections between community members,

Thank You Silas House: ASA Keynote Speech, 2014

One of the highlights of the Appalachian Studies Association Conference was the keynote speech given by Silas House. Silas is a national best selling writer, activist and professor at Berea College. His speech entitled, Our Secret Places in the Waiting World: Becoming a New Appalachia, was a truly uplifting and motivating speech.

Falling Behind

I have yet to come up with a catchy title for a bullet list of mini-posts as good as Andy Hall’s Canister or Brooks Simpson’s News and Notes. I am also still wrapped up in my incredible experience at the 37th annual Appalachian Studies Association conference at Marshall University. My next several posts will likely be about that experience, but