I am delighted that my work as an author is included in the 16th volume of Traditions: A Journal of West Virginia Folk Culture and Educational Awareness and published by The Frank & Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center. The article, "Old Fashioned Communism and Cultural Diversity in Appalachia," explores race, class and gender in the textile industry of North Carolina.

This edition of Traditions examines diversity in West Virginia and beyond, prompted by the Center's Diversity in Appalachia Lecture Series in 2018-2019, where I was invited as a guest lecturer to discuss the role of gender and race in the textile industry. The Folklife Center decided to bring a series of speakers on campus to complicate the conversation about that year's choice of Hillbilly Elegy as the "common read" for students.

Since my initial presentation our nation has weathered a deadly pandemic, ongoing protests against police brutality and systemic racism, a highly divisive presidential election, and an insurrection at the U.S. capital. Oh and Hillbilly Elegy was made into a movie. 

In these life changing times, I am thrilled to be a part of the conversation that complicates the role of Appalachian identity and encourages us to question assumptions and stereotypes of the past. 

Published March 26, 2021 at 12:49 PM EDT

​This is the third year of WVPB's special Inside Appalachia project, which is designed to shine a light on the arts and culture of a six-state region of Appalachia, including Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia and Ohio.Four new journalists, folklorists and a chief editor have joined the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Corps to bring the West Virginia Public Broadcasting audience even more fascinating stories that explore the region’s rich cultural heritage.
This is the third year of the special Inside Appalachia project, which is designed to shine a light on the arts and culture of a six-state region of Appalachia, including Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia and Ohio. Thirteen specialized storytellers are focused exclusively on Appalachian art, crafts, music, dance and foodways. Their Folkways stories will air as a part of Inside Appalachia's weekly radio show on WVPB Sundays at 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. It is also available as a podcast on wvpublic.org and can be heard on a number of partner stations.
Joining the Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Corps from across central Appalachia are Laura Harbert Allen of Charleston, West Virginia; Heather Duncan of Knoxville, Tennessee; Lauren Griffin of Morgantown, West Virginia; and David Wooldridge of Lowesville, Virginia.
Returning to the corps from last year are Connie Bailey-Kitts of Bluefield, Virginia; Clara Haizlett of Bethany, West Virginia; Trevor McKenzie of Boone, North Carolina; Rachel Greene Moore of Boston, Massachusetts; Katie Myers of East Kentucky and East Tennessee; Heather Niday of Green Bank, West Virginia; and Rebecca Williams of Swannanoa, North Carolina. Zack Harold of Ashford, West Virginia, and Nicole Musgrave of Whitesburg, Kentucky, are returning as part-time Folkways staff reporters for the project.
Inside Appalachia producer Roxy Todd said she is looking forward to seeing so many talented reporters eager to return this year to deepen their folkways reporting skills. "After nearly three years, folks are getting into the groove of what this project is, and there’s a real hunger among team members to focus on sharing stories that break stereotypes about Appalachia. I expect to hear unique stories that really go beneath the surface."
New corps members include:
Laura Harbert Allen of Charleston, West Virginia. She is an experienced audio storyteller who has contributed to and produced work for podcasts such as Making Contact, Us & Them, Freakonomics Radio and Inside Appalachia. She also has public media leadership experience as a program director and general manager at WEKU-FM near Lexington, Kentucky. She hopes to finish her Ph.D. in media studies at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University this year. She teaches podcasting and audio storytelling at OU and says she loves teaching and learning from the next generation of audio storytellers.
Heather Duncan of Knoxville, Tennessee. She is an award-winning reporter, book editor and oral storyteller who hails originally from the mountains of North Carolina. She has 20 years’ experience reporting and writing local and regional news for daily newspapers, alternative weeklies, radio and online outlets. She spent years focused on covering the environment and sense of place and contributed to the Pulitzer-Prize winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina for The Biloxi Herald. She lets off steam by playing the clarinet and telling historical stories and folktales at local schools.
Lauren Griffin of Morgantown, West Virginia. She grew up in Wheeling and graduated from West Virginia University in 2019. She splits her time fundraising for Preston County Parks and Recreation and serves as an AmeriCorps member with the West Virginia Association of Museums. She enjoys traveling, cross-stitching and exploring the heritage and landscape that makes up her home.
David Wooldridge of Lowesville, Virginia. He began working at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park in 1995 where he now serves as the park’s Museum Technician. At the National Park, he works a stone’s throw away from the Mariah Wright house, the ancestral home of his third great-grandmother, restored and preserved by the National Park Service. Wooldridge, a former middle and high school social studies teacher and administrator, received his bachelor’s degree in history and educa­tion from Radford University and his master’s degree from the Curry School at the University of Virginia. He has played and studied the early banjo for over 25 years. He is passionate about telling untold stories.
Returning corps members include:
Connie Bailey-Kitts of Bluefield, Virginia. She grew up with a story-telling veterinarian father who shaped her path in journalism. She graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in journalism and worked there as a science writer before returning home for a life-altering period as a caregiver. Coming home also meant rediscovering a new appreciation for Appalachia. She’s written about its people, places and problems while reporting for a weekly newspaper, has recently fallen in love with radio and continues to freelance writing and editing. She enjoys raising dairy goats, making movies about them, and foraging for greens. As an Airbnb host, she's been fortunate to hear stories from all over the world.
Clara Haizlett of Bethany, West Virginia. She is a multimedia storyteller inspired by folklife, cross-cultural dialogue and the natural world. She stumbled upon the world of storytelling somewhat accidentally. During her final year at West Virginia University, she started a podcast as a fun "side project." But from the very beginning, it was clear that podcasting would not be a "side project." She was hooked, entirely spellbound by the art of storytelling. Since then, she's shifted her career to journalism, producing work for outlets like PBS, Smithsonian Folklife, and Virginia Public Media.
Trevor McKenzie of Boone, North Carolina. He works with manuscripts, field recordings, and other materials detailing Appalachian history and life in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection at Appalachian State University. On nights and weekends, he performs traditional music at square dances and concerts both as a solo artist and with string bands.
Rachel Greene Moore of Boston, Massachusetts. A native of Western North Carolina, she is a freelance journalist who has covered environmental issues and folkways throughout Appalachia and the South. In her spare time, Rachel enjoys collecting oral histories, baking and hiking.
Katie Myers of East Kentucky/East Tennessee. She is a writer, environmental educator and amateur water scientist who splits her time living in both East Kentucky and East Tennessee. In addition to her reporting for the Inside Appalachia Folkways Corps, she’s a reporter with the Ohio Valley ReSource and WMMT Mountain Community Radio out of Whitesburg, Kentucky. She's covered southern politics, social movements and environmental justice issues with Scalawag, Science for the People, Current Affairs, Commune Magazine and others. She is a recipient of the Kristi Havens Fellowship through Sundress Academy for the Arts.
Heather Niday of Green Bank, West Virginia. She began as a volunteer deejay for Allegheny Mountain Radio in 1998 alongside her husband Chuck, who is the chief engineer for AMR. She joined the AMR staff in 2007 as news director and became the program director in 2013, later adding traffic manager to her many roles. She grew up in the Richmond, Virginia, area. She moved to Green Bank when her husband began working at the Green Bank Observatory. She is a long-time musician (flute and vocal), choir director for Arbovale UMC and Steering Committee member of the Mountain Music Trail. She co-hosts Something Different, a weekly jazz show on AMR.
Rebecca Williams of Swannanoa, North Carolina. She is a writer, director, educator and digital media storyteller who has facilitated community-based arts and cultural development projects for the past 25 years in Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Along with her husband, Jerald Pope, she co-founded Serpent Child Productions, a nonprofit dedicated to the collaborative creation of multidisciplinary art that draws on the history and stories of community participants. She is a graduate of Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies.
Returning part-time Folkways Corps members include:
Zack Harold of Ashford, West Virginia. He is a southern West Virginia native, the grandson of two coal miners, the son of a Pentecostal preacher, a former staff writer with The Charleston Daily Mail and former managing editor of WV Living and Wonderful West Virginia magazines. He currently works with the WVU Extension Service Family Nutrition Program. He enjoys playing music with his band, The Sycomores.
Nicole Musgrave of Whitesburg, Kentucky. She is an independent folklorist and media producer. Recently, she’s worked with Appalshop and Partners for Education at Berea College to document eastern Kentuckians’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. She has an M.A. in Folk Studies from Western Kentucky University.
Meet our new chief folkways editor:
Chris Julin, an award-winning reporter, editor and producer, joined the team earlier this year as its chief folkways editor. He is a seasoned production professional who has made audio stories "since the days of typewriters and cassette tapes." He’s been a reporter, producer and editor at Minnesota Public Radio, among other public radio stations. In recent years, he's helped launch and worked behind the scenes of many podcasts, including WVPB’s Us & Them. He also edits and produces radio documentaries and feature stories, and he teaches journalism at the college level. The projects he’s been affiliated with have won a variety of awards, including the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Peabody Award.
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 At last, my first radio story with West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Inside Appalachia. Inside Appalachia is a fascinating show all about the art, community and culture of this often misunderstood part of the world. I have learned so much about Appalachia listening to it over the years and am thrilled to be part of their team.
You can read or listen to my story about the Waldensian winemakers of Valdese, NC  here.

Thrilled to be selected as part of the new Folkways Reporting Corps at Inside Appalachia, a radio show produced by West Virginia Public Radio. I've always been a huge Public Radio fan and was originally interested in studying audio when I first went to the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke. Being part of the Inside Appalachia folkways reporting team means that I get to combine several loves, storytelling, Appalachia and history! 
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Inside Appalachia Announces Second-Year Folkways Corps
West Virginia Public Broadcasting | By Lalena Price

West Virginia Public Broadcasting has selected 13 storytellers to be a part of the second year of its Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Project.

The project expands the reporting of the Inside Appalachia team to include more stories from West Virginia, as well as expanding coverage in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Ohio. Storytellers will explore Appalachia’s rich folklife, arts and material culture.

There are seven new corps members from across central Appalachia including Brian Koscho, Rebecca Williams, Connie Bailey, Caitlin Myers, Clara Haizlett, Trevor McKenzie and Kelley Libby. Six corps members are returning from last year including Mason Adams, Heather Niday, Lexi Browning, Rachel Greene, Zack Harold and Nicole Musgrave.

Inside Appalachia producer Roxy Todd said competition for the positions was fierce.

“We had more than 50 applicants to choose from so, this was a difficult choice for us to make,” Todd said. “Each of the reporters we selected brings something unique and creative to the project.”

The 2020-2021 Folkways Reporting Corps members are
Mason Adams of Floyd County, Va., was born in Clifton Forge and has covered Blue Ridge and Appalachian communities since 2001. Adams shifted from a career as a biologist to become a reporter in 2001 through an internship at High County News in Paonia, Colo. From 2003-2012, he wrote for The Roanoke Times, in Roanoke, Va., and has pursued freelance opportunities for a variety of outlets, including The New Republic, Politico Magazine, Yes! Magazine, Virginia Mercury, Blue Ridge Outdoors, 100 Days in Appalachia, Vice, Belt Magazine and others.

With a path in journalism shaped by her story-telling veterinarian father, Connie Bailey-Kitts of Bluefield, Va., left her home to study journalism at Iowa State University, then worked as a science journalist before returning to her native southwest Virginia for a life-altering period as a caregiver. Coming home also meant a rediscovery of Appalachia and the chance to write about its people, places and problems while reporting for a weekly newspaper and freelance writing and editing.

Rachel Greene is a freelance journalist based in Durham, N.C. A 2018 graduate of the UNC School of Media and Journalism, Greene’s work focuses on environmental issues and folkways throughout Appalachia and the South.

Clara Haizlett of Bethany, W.Va., is a recent graduate of West Virginia University and producer of Sandstone Podcast. She is a multimedia storyteller inspired by folklife, cross-cultural dialogue and the natural world.

Zack Harold of Ashford, W.Va., is a southern West Virginia native, the grandson of two coal miners, the son of a Pentecostal preacher, a former staff writer with the Charleston Daily Mail, and former managing editor of WV Living and Wonderful West Virginia magazines. He currently works with WVU Extension. He enjoys playing music with his band The Sycomores.

Brian Koscho is from Athens, Ohio. He moved there in 2001 to attend Ohio University after growing up in the Rust Belt city of Lorain, Ohio. He is currently back in school, as a graduate student seeking an MFA in Communication Media Arts from Ohio University focusing on Audio Storytelling, Publication Design and regional history. He spent 12 years as the marketing director for Stuart’s Opera House and the Nelsonville Music Festival in Nelsonville, Ohio.

Kelley Libby is a radio producer based in Charlottesville, Va. Her work has been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, BackStory, With Good Reason, Re:sound and Inside Appalachia. She enjoys traveling, listening to stories and documenting the excellence and diversity of Virginia through its folkways.

Trevor McKenzie lives in Deep Gap, N.C., where he works with manuscripts, field recordings, and other materials detailing Appalachian history and life in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection at Appalachian State University. On nights and weekends, he performs traditional music at square dances and concerts both as a solo artist and with various string bands.

Nicole Musgrave of Whitesburg, Ky., has a Master of Arts degree in Folk Studies from Western Kentucky University and works as a public folklorist and media producer in southeast Kentucky. She currently serves as the Folklife Specialist at Hindman Settlement School, developing and implementing arts- and folklife-based programming in public schools.

Caitlin Myers is a writer, environmental educator, and amateur water scientist. She splits her time living in both Knoxville, Tenn., and Whitesburg, Ky., She's covered southern politics, social movements, and environmental justice issues with Scalawag, Science for the People, Current Affairs, Commune Magazine and others.  She is a recipient of the Kristi Havens Fellowship through Sundress Academy for the Arts.

Heather Niday of Green Bank, W.Va., is the program director for Allegheny Mountain Radio. She began as a volunteer deejay in 1998 and joined the AMR staff in 2007 as news director and became program director in 2013. Heather is a long-time musician (flute and vocal), choir director for Arbovale United Methodist Church. She and her husband co-host "Something Different," a weekly show on AMR.

​Rebecca Williams of Swannanoa, N.C., is a writer, director, educator and digital media storyteller who has facilitated community­-based arts and cultural development projects for the past 25 years in Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Along with her husband, Jerald Pope, she co-­founded Serpent Child Productions, a non­profit dedicated to the collaborative creation of multi­disciplinary art that draws on the history and stories of community participants. Rebecca is a graduate of Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies. 

Well it feels odd to try to write about anything other than the world pandemic that is upon us at this time. Not so much in Western North Carolina (yet) as other parts of the U.S. and the world. I've discovered NPR's Tiny desk concerts in my "shelter at home" time. Am listening to the soulful and soothing work of Max Richter as I write.

Funny the things that come into focus at a time like this. How I've been talking to people I haven't connected with in awhile- both family and friends. How much the bird song and spring wildflowers mean to me. How the sound of that cello and violin reaches into my body and offers me something that I didn't even know I needed.

I've been thinking a lot about our stories. Who is collecting the stories from this pandemic? Where is a vessel wide enough, deep enough to hold them all? The stories of loss, of grief, of rage, and fear. The stories of resilience and courage and community. 

I suspect that we are the vessels my friends. That one of our jobs now is to open our hearts wide enough to let the stories in. Through our phone calls, our instagram posts, our long discussions on Facebook, our socially distanced greetings to the neighbors across the street.  May we draw strength from the art and the stories that deeply connect us to each other and ourselves.

​
We aren't far past the first week of the year but already it feels like some of the shine is off of 2020. I’ve decided it’s not too late to look back at 2019 and reflect on what happened and where I want to go with Mountain Girl Media in this relatively new year.

My initial response to this question was a panicked - wait a minute, what did I do? I tried making a list of projects but that felt tired and uninspired. So I turned to one of my favorite creative tools- colored markers and brainstorming . And voila.  A web of some of my favorite projects from 2019.

​In fact it was a year filled with stories and art. Although traditional video production took a back seat to other ways of working with  images and stories, I realize that it’s all fueled by my unshakeable belief in the power of storytelling.

​Here are some highlights.

​Video Design and Artist Residency with Asheville Creative Arts. I got the chance to work once again  with Abby Felder of Asheville Creative Arts  creating the video design for The Warp and The Weft. Blending puppetry,
video, archival photographs, music, and storytelling, this original production explores the history of child labor, the evolving concept of childhood and the power that comes from controlling one’s own narrative.
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In addition to video design I worked with middle and high school youth from the community groups VAMOS and MANOS, to co- facilitate a storytelling workshop with Edwin Salas Acosta where youth told their own stories  These stories about self identity were incorporated into the the show.​ ​

As has been true for many years now, much of my free time has been spent working on Blanket Town, the  documentary film I am making about Swannanoa and the Beacon Blanket Mill. In 2019 I was invited to present excerpts of the film at the Frank and Jane Garboe folklife center and collaborate with the Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center on it’s exhibit about the Beacon blanket mill and its impact on the Swannanoa Valley. A sequence from the film depicting the devastating fire and residents responses to it, was featured in the exhibit.    ​ ​

 ​I also gave a presentation bout the migration of the textile industry to the south.  to a standing room only crowd at the museum's inaugural History Cafe in April.  ​