Mountain Metropolis: A Portrait of a Young Girl in War, West Virginia

Creator: Atwell, Travis

: Herndon, Joyce

: Cox, Ricky

In this project, Travis Atwell interviewed his grandmother Joyce Herndon, who was born November 11, 1941 in War, West Virginia and later in life moved to Peterstown, West Virginia, where this interview was conducted. During their talk, topics such as food, home crafts, clothing, toys, animal stories, dance, and death were covered.

This interview is among projects created by students enrolled in English 446 (initially English 452), “Appalachian Folklore,” 1981-2019, and in graduate level counterparts English 548 and 648 “Appalachian Folk Culture(s)” offered 17 fall semesters between 1987 and 2009. Minimally contain collector’s introduction and analysis, transcribed informant interviews, and excerpted and labeled examples of oral, customary, and/or material folklore/folklife collected primarily within the Appalachian region. Most include also tables of contents, informant information, indexes (outlines) of interviews, photographs, miscellaneous paper items, and indexes of informants, genres, and geographic locations. Accompanying audio recordings (several minutes to 2+ hours). Transferred to McConnell Library Archives & Special Collections from Appalachian Regional and Rural Studies Center, Fall 2013.