Appalachian Wisdom: A Look at the Women & Their Roles in Appalachia

Creator: Hypes, Lori

: Carter, Hilda

: Hypes, Ola

In this project, Lori Hypes interviewed her two grandmothers, Hilda Carter of Baltimore Maryland, and Ola Hypes from the coal mining town of Jenkin Jones, West Virginia. Though the two women lived in vastly different areas, their experiences during the depression and the choices that their families made during those years were a main topic of conversation in these interviews. 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.