Thoroughly Committed: Floyd County\'s Dedication to Education in the Early Twentieth Century

Creator: Derrick, Ruth

: Brown, Effie King

: Short, Bernice

: Whitenack, Mason L.

In this project Ruth Derrick interviewed Effie King Brown, Bernice Short, and Mason L. Whitenack. The interviews centered on one-room schools and because Ms. Derrick attended a one room school in Wisconsin in the 1950s, she was eager to compare and contrast that to those in Floyd County, Virginia in the 1920s. Ms. Brown was a teacher in a one-room school, Ms. Short and Mr. Whitenack were both students in one-room schools. Topics covered included the naming of schools, where the land came from, school activities, student perspectives and much more. 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.