Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, Americans were afflicted with a case of what John Steinbeck called “westering and westering.” During the early 1840s, two specific accounts focused the attention of restless Americans on the far West. John C. Fremont led a U.S. Army Survey [...]
From colonial beginnings until early in the twentieth century, one-room schools played an important role in Eastern Kentucky education. These tiny schools that dotted the hills and valleys were, collectively, a salvation to a region recovering from the Civil War and, later, the Great [...]
Greenup County, located in northeast Kentucky, lies approximately halfway between Ashland, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio. It is a land of wooded hills and clear, fast-moving streams that empty into the Ohio River, which forms the county’s northern border. The land surface ranges from rich [...]
In “The Taking of Jemima Boone: Colonial Settlers, Tribal Nations, And The Kidnap That Shaped America,” Matthew Pearl explores the little-known true story of the kidnapping of the daughter of the legendary pioneer Daniel Boone and the dramatic aftermath that rippled across the nation. On [...]
The wisest man I ever knew—we called him Zayde, born 1903, Minsk, Belarus—once told me a story of a man on a train going from coast to coast. The train had no dining car. One stop was planned at a half-way point. There at [...]
Fewer words in the English language are more glibly uttered and more misunderstood than the word “history.” American history rests squarely upon a local base. Thomas Jefferson theorized that what happens at the local level of society is more important to the individual than [...]
Jesse Stuart Weekend 2023 is scheduled for Friday & Saturday, September 29 & 30 at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park. We’re eager to reunite with our JSF friends at this event, which is returning after a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The [...]
In some parts of America, the “intellectual leaders” fancy themselves much too deep to be understood by everyday folks like you and me. Not so in Appalachia! Our intellectual leaders have been kind, loving, accessible men and women who represent, with their own lives, [...]
The Regional Readers book discussion group will meet on Tuesday, March 28 in the former JSF Conference Room (now Right Eye Graphics). Coffee and conversation at 2 p.m.; book discussion at 2:30 p.m. The March selection is Me & Patsy Kickin’ Up Dust: My [...]
The Appalachian Trail is America’s most beloved trek, with millions of hikers setting foot on it every year. Yet few are aware of the fascinating backstory of the dreamers and builders who explored it, defined it, and captured national attention by hiking it. This [...]
