Search

Records an interview with Allen Patterson, who owned extensive cattle grazing pastures on Dean Mountain in Rockingham County, Virginia. Describes his impressions of the mountain families who tended his cattle, daily life in the mountains, touching on the work of growing and preserving food, herbal remedies, courtship and holidays. Mr. Patterson's granddaughter, who is not identified in the recording, joins the discussion near the end of the interview.

Records the reminiscences of Arlene Carr Abell who grew up in Sugar Hollow, Virginia, prior to the establishment of Shenandoah National Park in 1934. Describes her home and family life, schooling, holidays and community events. Among the topics discussed are the growing, harvesting and preserving of food, corn shucking and apple butter boiling parties, wild game hunting, home remedies and folk medicine. Includes references to holiday celebrations, mountain music, her father's occupation as a tanner and tales of local moonshiner.

Records the reminiscences of Bennie Cupp, his grandmother, Lula Roach, and his aunt, Hazel Marshall Roach, who lived near Rocky Bar, Virginia, an area that became part of Shenandoah National Park. Much of the interview centers around the reminiscences of Lula Roach, who was 95 years old at the time and who recalled many details of everyday life in the Blue Ridge Mountains around the turn of the 20th century. Describes home and family life, school days, farm chores, livestock, wild game and folk remedies. Discusses family gatherings, such as holidays, apple butter boilings, hog butchering and funerals. Other topics include the various means of earning a living available to the local residents, such as bark peeling, cutting poles and ties for the railroads, the apple, chestnut and ginseng harvests and the production of moonshine.

Records the reminiscences of Beulah Atkins, who grew up in Beech Spring, Virginia prior to the establishment of Shenandoah National Park in 1934. Describes her home and family life, schooling, holidays and community events. Among the topics discussed are the growing, harvesting and preserving of food, soap making, collecting ginseng and wild game hunting. Includes references to the local Civilian Conservation Corps camp, wakes and funerals, and her work with her father and husband in the barrel making business.

Records an interview with Clarice Meadows, who taught in the Verbena, Sandy Bottom and Maple Springs schools during the 1920s and 1930s. Describes the challenges of teaching in one- and two-room schoolhouses in those rural, mountain communities, as well as her impressions of her students and their families.

Records an interview with Clark Jones and his wife, Flora Coonie Jones, (née Keyser), who lived in Flint Hill, Virginia, just beyond the boundaries of Shenandoah National Park. They describe home and family life in the mountains, holidays, food production and preservation, and the various cash crops and other sources of income available to the mountain people.

Records an interview with Cleadus Meadows, who grew up near Thoroughfare Mountain, in Madison County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, including raising livestock, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy, such as chestnut harvesting, tan bark and moonshine.

Records an interview with Darrell Yarrow and John Lillard, who were residents of Etlan, Virginia in the early 1930s. Both men give their recollections of the mountain people, their lifestyles and their characters.

Records an interview with Edith Samuels, (née Alger), who lived in Joliet Hollow, within the future boundaries of Shenandoah National Park. Describes daily life in the mountains, touching on the work of growing and preserving food, herbal remedies, courtship, birthing and funeral rituals, as well as holiday celebrations.

Records an interview with E.L. Huffman, who grew up near Big Foltz Run, outside of Shenandoah, Virginia, prior to the establishment of Shenandoah National Park. Describes his impressions of the mountain people who lived nearby, their habits, customs and beliefs. Discusses the various economic opportunities available to the mountain people, such as the tan bark industry, ginseng harvest and moonshine. Of particular interest to Mr. Huffman is the Chestnut Blight that destroyed nearly all of the American Chestnut trees in the 1920s and his efforts to rebuild the chestnut population.