Old Time Vesuvius. Memories From the Humphries Family
Creator
Humphries, Jenna
Humphries, Robert
Humphries, Katherine
Painter, Betsy
In this project, Jenna Humphries interviewed her father, Robert Humphries; her aunt, Betsy Painter; and her grandmother, Katherine Humphries about the town of Vesuvius, Virginia. The town was home to a foundry that made plows, farm implements, and other items and was started in 1843. The foundry created so much smoke that the town became known as Vesuvius. Topics covered in these interviews include attending a one-room schoolhouse, the foundry and its workers, the train that runs through the town, the Osceola Mill where people bought flour and corn meal, and other topics. 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.