Appalachian Region -- Social life and customs.

Scope and Contents The collection is comprised of audio recorded interviews conducted by Berea College students as part of a January 1973 short term History 190 course taught by Dr. Richard Drake. Listen To Interviews Interview topics include: moonshining in Perry County (KY), early medical practices and services in Clay County...

Abstract Gilbert R. Combs (1886-1966) compiled his collection of songs and ballads in part from those he heard growing up in Eastern Kentucky, and also from his acquaintance with gospel music and spirituals from several southern states. The collection includes some biographical notes covering Combs' early life, and his own recollections of his early childhood and description of traditional songs in mountain settings. The Rev. Gilbert Reynolds Combs, according to his own account, was born in a cabin...

Abstract Focusing on adult education, founders, Olive Dame Campbell and Marguerite Butler (later Bidstrup) modeled the John C. Campbell Folk School's program on the folk schools of Denmark. The school was named in honor of Olive's late husband John C. Campbell, who had envisioned the Danish approach as an effective means of educating young adults to become productive citizens who would stay in the mountains instead of moving away to urban areas. Starting with an old farmhouse and a log barn, the...

Abstract Robert H. Cowley was born in Lorain, Ohio, on October 25, 1871.  After graduating from Lorain High School, Cowley attended Oberlin College, and studied at Western Reserve Medical School in the late 1890s.      In 1904, after three years of practicing medicine, Cowley accepted an invitation from Berea College President, William Goddell Frost, to form a college health service.  During his thirty-five year tenure, Cowley served the Berea students, faculty and peoples of the areas surrounding...