History | The HillVille

Jan 2

Mother Jones of Marfork Holler: Remembering Judy Bonds

by Beth Newberry

Judy Bonds of Whitesville, W.Va., was an activist and community organizer, who in the latter part of her 58 years, tried to end the Mountaintop Removal (MTR) method of strip mining, particularly in the Coal River valley of southern West Virginia. While her work and life were centered on the mountains surrounding her ancestral home of Marfork Holler, her organizing work had national and international tendrils. She died a year ago of cancer on Jan. 3, 2011.

Jan 2

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A Visit with Judy Bonds: A Photo Essay

by David Flores

“Meeting someone like Judy is a motivating thing in life that makes you refocus your work, and I hoped, after spending the day with her, that my work would become more focused and I feel like it has,” says David Flores, a native of Louisville, Ky., and resident of New York City since 2005, who traveled on assignment as a photographer to profile activist Judy Bonds over Labor Day weekend of 2004 in her hometown of Whitesville, W.Va., and the surrounding region.

Dec 19

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Holiday Cooking the Lard Way

By Tonia Moxley

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – Surely two 40-plus women enjoying a glass of red wine and some Trader Joe’s cocoa truffles late on a Saturday should not giggle so loudly. But the tinkling sound of two dozen canning jars full of hot, honey-yellow lard sealing themselves sent us into paroxysms.
“Oh, there went another one. And another one! He He!”

Dec 15

Creating West Virginia: Through poetry and action Crystal Good builds community

by Beth Newberry

Crystal Good’s poetry readings aren’t for a lazy listener. They are a patchwork of history lessons, current-events coverage and literary word play all sewn-up with an electric and provocative performance. If you’re asleep, she’ll wake you up. If you’re sitting down, she’ll get you on your feet. If you are already standing, she’ll get your hand in the air while you’re yelling, “Amen.”

Dec 12

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Urban Appalachia: Who, Where and What is it?!

By Niki King

Say the word “Appalachian” and many images come to mind. A city skyline may not be among them. And maybe that’s our own fault. Our cities haven’t been a hot topic in the Appalachian Studies community and there are few representations of our regional urbanity in art, media and literature.
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Oct 27

Coming Soon!

Niki King and Beth Newberry are excited to soon launch The HillVille, a weekly online magazine for urban Appalachians.

And just who are urban Appalachians, anyway? Good question. We’re a diverse bunch. We are exapps, folks who grew up in the region, but moved away for school, work or whatever. Some of us are second- or third-generation exapps, born to Appalachians, but raised in cities outside the region. Others live in one of the many cities and towns actually in the mountains, like Knoxville, Tenn., and Charleston, W.Va. or cities on the edges—to the north (holla Pittsburgh), to the South (bring it Birmingham) and the mid-west (isn’t that right, Cincinnati?). Read more