Living in Hard Times. Dora Stanley Life & Experiences in WV Coal Camp2002

Creator: Lowe, Heather D.

: Stanley, Dora

: Stanley, Diana K.

In this project, Heather D. Lowe interviewed her mother, Diana Stanley and her grandmother Dora Stanley about the latter’s life. Dora Stanley lived in two coal camps in West Virginia and lived through the Great Depression, so those were the main topics of these interviews, but much was learned about Ms. Lowe’s family in the process. These interviews are interesting because they provide a different perspective from many depression stories we have heard. 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.