One of eastern Kentucky’s greatest heroines, Eula Riley Hall, died May 8 at her home in Craynor (Floyd County), Kentucky. She was 93. Eula Hall was born into Appalachian poverty on the floor of her family’s four-room cabin in Pike County on October 29, [...]
“A Jesse Stuart Reader” is a collection of 18 short stories, excerpts from “God’s Oddling,” “The Thread That Runs So True,” and “The Year of My Rebirth,” and 26 poems. The book was designed for junior high and high school readers, so it includes [...]
Jesse Stuart was a man of wide-ranging accomplishments. He was a world-famous author, a respected educator, a farsighted conservationist, and an authentic spokesman for his Appalachian homeland. And, like many men and women of his generation, he served in the armed forces during World [...]
The recently completed Kentucky Derby is the most famous horse race in history. Run at Churchill Downs in Louisville since 1875, the derby has attracted huge crowds for the last three decades.The Kentucky Derby is a significant part of the cycle of Kentucky life. Well-known [...]
“Tell about the South. What’s it like there. What do they do there. Why do they live there?” These haunting questions posed by William Faulkner in “Absalom, Absalom!” could just as easily be applied to Appalachia. Where is Appalachia? On its surface, that seems [...]
Wendell Berry is one of Kentucky’s best-known citizens. He has distinguished himself as a poet, essayist, and philosopher, and, like Jesse Stuart, he is a great conservationist who loves his Kentucky homeland. Berry was born in Louisville on August 5, 1934. He grew up [...]
Although Allan Eckert’s books in the Winning of America Series continue to be our best sellers, we have other excellent books on our pioneer heritage. One of my favorites is “The Hunters of Kentucky: A Narrative History of America’s First Far West, 1750-1797” by [...]
Before the Civil War, the Underground Railroad was a network of hundreds of safe houses throughout the North and South that served as hiding places on the road to freedom for tens of thousands of runaway slaves who risked their lives in a long, [...]
February is Heart Month. If you have a friend or loved one recovering from illness or surgery, Jesse Stuart’s “The Year of My Rebirth” would be an excellent heart-month gift. Stuart’s message in this well-known book is that no person can really begin living [...]
Americans are fascinated with unsolved historical mysteries. Today, for example, many thousands are trying to find out more about the Melungeons. Daughter of the Legend book cover. The Melungeons are both a regional and a national mystery. Historically, they were mountain people, [...]
