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A Tribute to Ballad Singer Phyllis Marks (June 5,1927-June 22, 2019)

A tribute to Gilmer County ballad singer Phyllis Marks, who passed away June 22, 2019, at the age of 92.

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Join @wvupress for a book launch & panel discussion featuring author Rosemary Hathaway (WVU English Department) in conversation with Emily Hilliard (state folklorist and founding director of the West Virginia Folklife Program) and Travis Stimeling (WVU School of Music). TODAY at 4PM at the WVU College of Law in Morgantown. Sponsored by WVU Press, the Appalachian Justice Initiative, and the WVU Humanities Center.

West Virginians Clara Haizlett and @rosaliehaizlett created this beautiful video (one of three) as part of their virtual internship with @smithsonianfolklife, for which they spent the last year researching the history, culture, ecology & economy of American ginseng. The research project will become part of the American Ginseng: Local Knowledge, Global Roots program at the 2020 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Informed by archival research and interviews, they produced a creative multimedia storytelling series to demonstrate the cultural and environmental relevance of the root which grows across the Ozarks and the Appalachian region. Watch the full video and find more of their work on the Smithsonian Folklife blog at https://festival.si.edu/blog/ginseng-manroot-shaped-mankind

Our latest Legends & Lore roadside marker, recognizing African American jazz singer Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia “Bricktop” Smith (August 14, 1894-January 31, 1984), was dedicated this weekend in her hometown of Alderson, WV. The Legends & Lore Roadside Marker Program is a partnership with the William G. Pomeroy Foundation and the West Virginia Folklife Program at @wvhumanities. Alderson is also home to a Legends & Lore roadside marker commemorating "French" the Alderson Lion. Read about "Bricktop" in the West Virginia Encyclopedia: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/461 and learn more about our Legends & Lore Roadside Marker Program on our website wvfolklife.org.

"Well, we do nutrition programs in the classrooms and gardening in the classrooms, windowsill gardens, which we take out through our outside community—well, school-based—garden, where the kids plant and grow vegetables. My name is Dural Miller. We’re on the West Side of Charleston. I’m a member of Keep Your Faith Corporation, which is a community outreach group as well as a literacy organization. I’m from here, so a lot of these kids, I know their parents, so it’s funny when I can be like, “Oh, you’re showing off. I know your daddy.” And they laugh, like, “No, you don’t! What’s his name?” And when I say their name, they’ll be like, “Uhhh…” So, that’s fun and dealing with kids and gardening because, you know, when they get home with the vegetables, they have table talk. They have something to talk about, they’ll be so excited and then I’ll see a parent in the store and they’ll be like, “Well, now we’re buying vegetables when we come to store. Thank you.” And it be like a laugh but it’s beautiful because now just introducing fresh fruits and vegetables gives them a topic to talk about at the table instead of them being on them phones, you know? It's been a blessing to be allowed to come in this school and to be able to share my story with kids and them talk to me about some of their issues, and then get with their parents. We’ve got a basic needs program where we help with identification, social security cards, filling out job applications, housing papers, and this year, we just started a work-force development program. For me, being here is… I think it’s where I’m supposed to be right now, you know? Like, my work has really just started." -Dural Miller of Keep Your Faith Corporation at Mary C Snow Westside Elementary As heard in Out of the Blocks Podcast: Charleston West Side, Part 2: We May See a Harvest. Listen via the link 🔝 and join us at our @outoftheblocks1 : Charleston West Side Podcast Listening Party TOMORROW February 12. More info at wvfolklife.org 📷 by Wendel Patrick

"My name is Bob Turizziani and we’re in my living room in Charleston, #WestVirginia on the West Side, and I moved here mostly just because I could live in the same city that I worked, which was nice. I play in the West Virginia Symphony and I like to teach, so I try to do a lot of that. What I really wanted to play as a kid was the saxophone, but I wasn’t big enough to hold it so someone had the bright idea to give me a clarinet and I’ve never managed to get rid of it since. I think it’s wonderful that we have this connection to people who lived 300 years ago and, I mean, I feel like I know Beethoven or Brahms as well as I know people who are alive today. And truthfully, I only know a small part of those people, but I don’t know much more of my friends that I see all the time. Everybody’s a mystery. But these people left behind something that I can explore that is not just words. I mean, I have nothing against words. My house is full of books. Reading will give me facts but music does that immediately." -Robert Turizziani, Clarinetist with the @wvsymphony, at his home on Charleston's West Side As heard in Out of the Blocks Podcast: Charleston West Side, Part 2: We May See a Harvest. Listen via the link 🔝 and join us at our @outoftheblocks1 : Charleston West Side Podcast Listening Party this Wednesday, February 12. More info at wvfolklife.org 📷 by Wendel Patrick

"My name is Sali Janem. We’re at Sali’s Market & Deli, 829 Central Avenue. It’s like a convenience store. We sell cigarettes, candy, Philly cheesesteaks, burgers, hot dogs, gyros. I’m originally from Palestine. I’m from a little city called Tulkarem and now we live here. I’m very grateful. I had the opportunity to open my own little business with my dad’s help because a lot of people don’t have that. My dad actually used to own a restaurant, too, so ever since then I’ve been helping him work around convenience stores and restaurants. I wanna finish school, go into law school, and become a lawyer. Hopefully, an immigration lawyer or a criminal defense lawyer. But I need time to do that. I have a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. There’s a lot of people that have drug offenses and stuff like that and they talk to me about it. I feel like I’m some of these people’s therapists here. I swear, I feel like a therapist. I just feel like a lot of people feel comfortable telling me their problems because I’m willing to listen, I’m willing to give them my advice, and I’m very blunt." -Sali Janem, owner of Sali's Market & Deli on Charleston's West Side As heard in Out of the Blocks Podcast: Charleston West Side, Part 2: We May See a Harvest. Listen via the link 🔝 and join us at our @outoftheblocks1 : Charleston West Side Podcast Listening Party on February 12. More info at wvfolklife.org 📷 by Wendel Patrick

"My name is Tammy Fowler and we are at Trophy Antiques & Hair. We do estate sales for our customers and we’ve acquired things from people that want to sell one item or a whole estate...The reason I can stay in business is because I have my hair business on top of this, so we’re always doing something for someone. I think you should see what the customer wants you to look like, so that’s what I do. People nowadays wear real straight hair. My ladies are in their 70s, up to 90. Now, would an older lady look good with straight, longer hair? No, they would not! Hair looks good pulled up, pulled back a little bit, and have a flair to it. So, as long as you’re here, that’s what you’re gonna see from me. We lived on a farm in Mason County and on Saturday mornings, we’d take our cream to Ripley to sell it and every Saturday, my mom had to stop along the highway and look at old, big plant stands, and they were made out of oak. And I think I have every one she ever bought, and I just began to think, “Oh, that does look pretty good,” and so, the shop grew and grew and I had my mother with me until she was 95, and she would always say, “You don’t need that, but that sure is pretty piece.” And you know, I’d end up with it. So, my mom, the way she raised us was to be honest and sell things and not tell someone a big story about them that wasn’t true and so far, I mean, it’s been successful for me, as you can tell by the shop." -Tammy Fowler, owner of Trophy Antiques and Hair, Charleston's West Side As heard in Out of the Blocks Podcast: Charleston West Side, Part 2: We May See a Harvest. Listen via the link 🔝 and attend our @outoftheblocks1 : Charleston West Side Podcast Listening Party on February 12. More info at wvfolklife.org 📷 by Wendel Patrick

“My name is Thomas Toliver. I’ve been going in through prisons about 30 years. Other people may go to preach; I go to mentor. And the very 1st case I had…This lady that I ran into, she says, “My husband’s in federal prison.” This young lady ended up with 4 children. So, I began to work with this one family. One day, my wife and I had them over to dinner, the kids of prisoners… About 4 of them. And casually, she asks one of the children, “Do you know where these green beans came from?” They said, “Kroger’s” and everybody laughed but us. I thought that was very pitiful to know that we have kids that didn’t know how food was produced that they ate. So, the very next day, I went out and began to look for land so that I could start a garden. So, Charleston Urban Renewal let me have this property here...Right now, what’s going in here is winter greens. What grew in here was tomatoes, corn, green beans, squash, and turnips. We’ve already harvested this. It was a progression from men and children of prisoners to an urban farm. I also have an orchard there. It’s a peach and apple orchard. As a boy, about 13 or 14, I plowed with a horse. I grew up gardening so we would have adequate food to eat. So, that is really the beginning of my knowledge of growing food. I’m so thankful the way I turned out...What I’ve done with my family, can I do this with the neighbors, the homeless and street people? Can I do that with them? This is inclusive. Anybody that wants to come in and join with me, they can. And like I said, it’s farming. It can be fun to watch things grow and then to eat it. It amazes a lot of children, you know, too. Even adults." -Thomas Toliver, community gardener, Charleston's West Side As heard in Out of the Blocks Podcast: Charleston West Side, Part 2: We May See a Harvest. Listen via the link 🔝 and attend our @outoftheblocks1: Charleston West Side Podcast Listening Party on February 12. More info at wvfolklife.org 📷 by @wendelpatrickofficialmusic

Last week, our executive director and state folklorist took a field trip to the @flatwoodsmonstermuseum in Braxton County, to meet the museum director Andrew Smith, learn about their work, and see vernacular representations of the monster by local and international artists. The legend of the Braxton County or #FlatwoodsMonster arose near dusk on September 12, 1952, when a group of 6 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. When they approached the top of the hill where the fireball had landed, 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 four 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. Learn more via e-WV. #wvfolklife #wvcryptids

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