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Folklife Apprenticeship Program

Month: January 2019

West Virginia Folklife 2018 Activities Report

What has the West Virginia Folklife Program done lately? Learn about our 2018 fieldwork, programs, and activities.

2018 Master Artist & Apprentice Feature: Doug Van Gundy & Annie Stroud, Old-Time Fiddling of the Greenbrier Valley

Doug Van Gundy, of Elkins led an appenticeship in old-time fiddle of the Greenbrier Valley with Annie Stroud, of Charleston.

Recent Posts

A Tribute to Ballad Singer Phyllis Marks (June 5,1927-June 22, 2019) July 2, 2019
The State Folklorist’s Notebook: “If You want to be a part of Huntington, you need to eat at Jim’s!” June 20, 2019
Announcing the West Virginia Folklife Legends & Lore Roadside Marker Program March 25, 2019
The State Folklorist’s Notebook: “People need to know about plants”: Herbarist Marion Harless March 22, 2019
West Virginia Folklife 2018 Activities Report January 29, 2019
2018 Master Artist & Apprentice Feature: Doug Van Gundy & Annie Stroud, Old-Time Fiddling of the Greenbrier Valley January 23, 2019
2018 Master Artist & Apprentice Feature: Marion Harless & Kara Vaneck, Green Traditions December 20, 2018
West Virginia Folklife Presents Apprenticeship Showcase: Fiddle, Blues & Gospel December 17, 2018

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Another new food book of interest to West Virginians & #WestVirginia hot dog fans: "Road Sides: An Illustrated Companion to Dining and Driving in the American South" by folklorist Emily Wallace. Wallace features Beckley's King Tut drive-in, and the classic #wvhotdogs of chili, slaw, mustard, and onions. Find a copy via @utexaspress or your local bookstore. 🌭🌭🌭 #wvfolklife

The newest marker in our Legends & Lore Roadside Marker Program, a partnership with The William G. Pomeroy Foundation, has been installed at the John Henry Historical Park in Summers County, commemorating the legend of John Henry, “The Steel Driving Man.” • From the Summers County Commission: "The purpose of the John Henry Historical Park is to provide interpretation for future generations of American folk hero John Henry’s legendary defeat of a newly invented steam drill during construction of the Great Bend Tunnel in Talcott. John Henry was a former slave hired as a steel driver by the contractors charged with building the tunnel for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1870. Using a large hammer, his job was to drive long steel chisels held by his assistant into the hard-red shale of the Big Bend Mountain to create holes that were filled with explosives to blast the tunnel. According to the legend, John Henry drove steel 14 feet compared to the steam drill’s 9. His victory was credited for saving his job and those of hundreds of other men and boys working on the tunnel. This led to his becoming a legend and folk hero as the story of the contest spread and inspired workers everywhere." • A ribbon-cutting ceremony to formally unveil both the Keaton Exhibit and the Legends & Lore marker will be held on Thursday, November 14th at 1:00 p.m. at the John Henry Historical Park entrance off State Route 3/12 in Talcott.

Yesterday we enjoyed excellent papusas at Moorefield’s Papuseria Emerita, which offers a variety of Honduran and Salvadorian dishes, made from scratch with fresh ingredients. Emerita grows many of the herbs and vegetables she serves at the restaurant, including the ingredients for her curtido, a pickled cabbage slaw. They also have a very sweet (outdoor) restaurant cat.

The new anthology, The Food We Eat, The Stories We Tell: Contemporary Appalachian Tables, edited by Elizabeth Engelhardt with Lora Smith, explores the foodways of Appalachia today, from Blue Ridge tacos to kimchi with soup beans and cornbread, African American mountain gardens to family stories hiding in cookbook marginalia. #WestVirginia natives Suronda Gonzalez & Courtney Balestier write, respectively, about the Spanish Asturian traditions of Harrison County, and the migration of Appalachian people and traditions to Detroit, a story that unfolds through a Cool-Whip container full of soup beans. State folklorist Emily Hilliard writes about the rosettes of Helvetia, WV—the dialogic nature of an interview, recipe, and the simple celebratory fried pastry with analogues in foodways and material culture traditions around the world, and how the design of a rosette iron can be a symbol for it all. Hilliard will be reading from her essay at @shepherdu’s Byrd Center tomorrow at 7pm. Then on Dec. 5th, Engelhardt, Smith, Balestier & Hilliard will give a reading at @taylorbookswv in Charleston. Both events are free and open to the public.

Photos of a young Breece D'J Pancake and his mother Helen visiting the supposedly haunted May Moore Mansion, just south of Point Pleasant in Mason County, c. 1965. The visit is thought to have inspired one of Breece's early unpublished stories. 📸: via @wvulibraries #wvfolklife #halloween #hauntedhouse

Two new Legends & Lore roadside markers have been installed in #WestVirginia to date, as part of our partnership with The William G. Pomeroy Foundation: “The Pavilion” marker in Blue Sulphur Springs, commemorates the springs as the site of a resort, settler campground, and buffalo lick. The other marker, placed along the river in Alderson, commemorates French, the lion who was born and raised in the town from 1890-1894. Other markers are in the works. Nonprofit organizations, municipalities, and nonprofit educational institutions are eligible to apply for a marker commemorating cultural heritage, folklore, or legends shared in their communities. The next round of applications are due May 1, 2020. Find more information on our blog (link in profile). #wvfolklife

👻 Seen a ghost? Share your spooky story with @wvfolklife & @wvpublic for an upcoming Halloween issue of #InsideAppalachia! Call our toll-free Folklife Haunt-line at ☎️ 1(844)618-3747 ☎️and your tale may be featured. 👻 #wvfolklife

The West Virginia Humanities Council grieves with the family and friends of Mark Payne, Program Officer for @wvhumanities for 18 years. Mark’s curation of Council direct programming through the years brought the humanities to cities and small towns everywhere in the Mountain State, in the form of speakers series, traveling exhibits, book festivals, and the annual McCreight Lecture in the Humanities, among many others. He was a man whose life, spirit, and good humor touched many communities, from academia to old-time music. We will remember him as a dear colleague and fellow-traveler, and as a committed ambassador for the humanities in all its forms.

The legend of the Braxton County or Flatwoods Monster arose near dusk on September 12, 1952, when a group of local youths were startled from a game of football by a fireball streaking across the sky. The fireball fell to earth just beyond a hillside at Flatwoods. Joined by Kathleen May, a local beautician, the boys went to investigate. ☄️ The group of 7 approached the top of the hill where the fireball had landed. Beyond the hill, they reported seeing a pulsating light. Then suddenly, to their left, two powerful light beams pierced the darkness. Turning their own flashlight in that direction, they saw a large man-like creature nearly 12 feet tall and about 4 feet wide. Making no sound, it floated toward them. The creature had a red face and bright green clothing, which hung in folds below the waist. Its head was shaped like the ace of spades and there was an almost sickening metallic odor emanating from its body. The witnesses quickly fled the scene. A later investigation found only a lingering odor, two large skid marks, and trampled grass. Although the Monster has never reappeared, Flatwoods celebrated its 50th anniversary with a community festival in 2002. Over the years the #FlatwoodsMonster has developed a sizable following, taking its place alongside Mothman, Batboy, and other #WestVirginia legends of the bizarre. Read more at e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, a project of @wvhumanities https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2192 📷: by Gray Barker depicting the legendary Flatwoods Monster. Courtesy Of Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, Gray Barker Collection

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