This history is enriched with personal recollections and reminiscences. Its pages are filled with the names of those individuals who settled, or helped in some way to establish the County, as well as those who are remembered for various other reasons. The fifty-four illustrations include Wise County’s commonwealth attorneys, from the first (1856) to the twenty-first (1935).
Presents the history and lore of Wise County. This volume begins with early exploration by Captain Christopher Gist and Dr Thomas Walker, and concludes with a chapter titled Newspapers and Radio Stations. It includes topics that range from Indians and early settlers to teachers, schools, rail roads, jails and more.
Never Seen the Moon carefully yet lucidly recreates a young woman's wild ride through the American legal system. In 1935, free-spirited young teacher Edith Maxwell and her mother were indicted for murdering Edith's conservative and domineering father, Trigg, late one July night in their Wise County, Virginia, home. Edith claimed her father had tried to whip her for staying out late. She said that she had defended herself by striking back with a high-heeled shoe, thus earning herself the sobriquet "slipper slayer." Immediately granted celebrity status by the powerful Hearst press, Maxwell was also championed as a martyr by advocates of women's causes. National news magazines and even detective magazines picked up her story, Warner Brothers created a screen version, and Eleanor Roosevelt helped secure her early release from prison. Sharon Hatfield's brilliant telling of this true-crime story transforms a dusty piece of history into a vibrant thriller. Throughout the narrative, she discusses yellow journalism, the inequities of the jury system, class and gender tensions in a developing region, and a woman's right to defend herself from family violence.
Most of us probably think of America as being settled by British, Protestant colonists who fought the Indians, tamed the wilderness, and brought "democracy"-or at least a representative republic-to North America. To the contrary, Elizabeth Caldwell Hirschman's research indicates the earliest settlers were of Mediterranean extraction, and of a Jewish or Muslim religious persuasion. Sometimes called "Melungeons," these early settlers were among the earliest nonnative "Americans" to live in the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. For fear of discrimination-since Muslims, Jews, "Indians," and other "persons of color" were often disenfranchised and abused-the Melungeons were reticent regarding their heritage. In fact, over time, many of the Melungeons themselves "forgot" where they came from. Hence, today, the Melungeons remain the "last lost tribe in America," even to themselves. Yet, Hirschman, supported by DNA testing, genealogies, and a variety of historical documents, suggests that the Melungeons included such notable early Americans as Daniel Boone, John Sevier, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Andrew Jackson. Once lost, but now, forgotten no more.
In this book, Sandra Barney examines the transformation of medical care in Central Appalachia during the Progressive Era and analyzes the influence of women volunteers in promoting the acceptance of professional medicine in the region. By highlighting the critical role played by nurses, clubwomen, ladies' auxiliaries, and other female constituencies in bringing modern medicine to the mountains, she fills a significant gap in gender and regional history. Barney explores both the differences that divided women in the reform effort and the common ground that connected them to one another and to the male physicians who profited from their voluntary activity. Held together at first by a shared goal of improving the public welfare, the coalition between women volunteers and medical professionals began to fracture when the reform agendas of women's groups challenged physicians' sovereignty over the form of health care delivery. By examining the professionalization of male medical practitioners, the gendered nature of the campaign to promote their authority, and their displacement of community healers, especially female midwives, Barney uncovers some of the tensions that evolved within Appalachian society as the region was fundamentally reshaped during the era of industrial development.
Hauntings lurk and spirits linger in the Old Dominion State Reader, beware! Turn these pages and enter the world of the paranormal, where ghosts and ghouls alike creep just out of sight. Author L. B. Taylor shines a light in the dark corners of Virginia and scares those spirits out of hiding in this thrilling collection. From poltergeists that make trouble at Blue Ridge Pottery, to a phantom light on Holston Mountain, to specters haunting the battlefield of Cedar Creek, there’s no shortage of bone-chilling tales to keep you up at night. Around the campfire or tucked away on a dark and stormy night, this big book of ghost stories is a hauntingly good read.
A “compelling” study of impact of the Civil War in Appalachia that “adeptly juggles the military, social, and political complexities of this border war” (American Historical Review). During the four years of the Civil War, the border between eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia was highly contested territory, alternately occupied by both the Confederacy and the Union. Though sparsely populated, the geography of the region made it a desirable stronghold for future tactical maneuvers. In Contested Borderland , Brian D. McKnight’s unprecedented geographical analysis of military tactics and civilian involvement provides a new and valuable dimension to the story of a region facing the turmoil of war. Winner of the James I. Robertson Literary Prize “A very valuable study.” —Appalachian Journal “Engaging and eminently readable. . . . A compelling account of an isolated world turned upside down by a war fought over issues few of its residents understood or cared much about.” —Civil War Times “A revealing and richly diverse account of the war in this too-neglected pocket of the South.” —Daniel E. Sutherland, editor of Guerrillas, Unionists, and Violence on the Confederate Home Front “Recommend[ed] for all serious Civil War scholars and enthusiasts.” —Journal of American History “McKnight’s work has much to offer in covering the war in the Central Appalachian Divide.” —Journal of East Tennessee History “An enjoyable and informational read.” —Journal of Military History “Essential for all Appalachian regional and Civil War collections.” —Journal of Southern History “The author’s analysis of military tactics, political realities, and genuine hardship, is first rate.” —West Virginia History
