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 [...]
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, [...]
Before the Civil War, the Underground Railroad was a network of hundreds of safe houses, churches, and farms throughout the North and South that served as way stations on the road to freedom for tens of thousands of runaway slaves. Fugitive slaves risked their [...]
Lots of folks have been sick this winter. If you have a friend or loved one recovering from illness or surgery, Jesse Stuart’s “The Year of My Rebirth” would be a helpful gift. Stuart’s message in this well-known book is that no person can [...]
Loretta Lynn’s death on October 4, 2022, was a painful loss for eastern Kentuckians and country music fans nationwide. Known as “The Coal Miner’s Daughter,” she was born April 14, 1935, at Butcher Holler, Johnson County, Kentucky, to Melvin and Clara Butcher Webb. Named [...]
In 2019, the Jesse Stuart Foundation published “True Christmas Stories From the Heart of Appalachia,” a book that captures the spirit of Christmas in 43 stories by 39 authors. Thirty-five of the stories are from Kentucky and the others are from neighboring states. This [...]
In 1987, Jesse Stuart’s youngest sister, Glennis Stuart Liles, called me at home one Sunday afternoon and announced that she had an idea for a new money-making project for the Jesse Stuart Foundation. “I want to do a cookbook. I’ve wanted to do one [...]
As a Thanksgiving present to our readers, the Jesse Stuart Foundation offers the following short story by Jesse Stuart. “Hold your rifle like this,” Uncle Wash said, changing the position of my rifle. “When I throw this marble into the air, follow it with [...]
The Big Sandy Valley, a geographical corridor approximately 120 miles in length, stretches from Pikeville to Catlettsburg along the Kentucky-West Virginia border. It is almost 5,000 square miles of mountainous land that includes the counties (going from north to south) of Boyd, Lawrence, Johnson, [...]
In his 1956 autobiography, The Year of My Rebirth, Jesse Stuart briefly mentions the murder of “Nick” Nickapopolis, a pack peddler who worked W-Hollow on a monthly basis in the 1850s. Nick became a monthly regular for many years, normally spending about two days [...]
