Sights & SoundsSpencer Moore and Ben Moore Jr.
When the late folklorist Alan Lomax set out on one of his legendary “Southern Journeys” in 1959, he stopped in Chilhowie, Virginia, to record a tobacco farmer named Spencer Moore …
Sights & SoundsLarry Counts and Dee Puckett and Thomas Vail
Broom making has enjoyed a long history in Appalachia and throughout Virginia. Initially, brooms were made primarily as a home craft, and then later became a vibrant cottage industry. Broom …
Sights & SoundsGanell Marshall and Sarah Mullins
A version of corn shuck doll making was likely first introduced to settlers in Southwest Virginia by Native Americans, though it was also a staple craft of early Mission Schools …
Sights & SoundsJoe Ayers and Patrick Hester
Joe Ayers has literally written the history books regarding the development of the banjo in America. Joe, who lives in an eighteenth-century house in the gently rolling hills of rural …
Sights & SoundsPenny Stilwell and D. Gail Lawrence
Born out of necessity long before refrigeration, “canning”—the process of preserving traditional jams, jellies, relishes, and pickles by hand—has been elevated by master canners such as Penny Stilwell into an …
