Stories of Mountain Folk: A New Digital Collection

Hunter Library at Western Carolina University has released Stories of Mountain Folk, a new digital collection. Stories of Mountain Folk is an all-sound oral history collection produced by Catch the Spirit of Appalachia, a western North Carolina not-for-profit. The archived files were created from a series of radio interviews that aired weekly on a local radio station. Over 150 half-hour radio programs capture “local memory” detailing traditions, events, and life stories of mountain people. A wide range of interviewees include down-home gardeners, herbalists, and farmers, as well as musicians, artists, local writers, and more. The collection can be accessed from: www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/StoriesofMountainFolk/

Hunter Library is committed to building regionally oriented, historically significant collections of broad cultural and research interest. Since 2005, the library has uploaded collections on Horace Kephart, Civil War letters, regional crafts, Cherokee traditions, and travel in western North Carolina. These online resources—photographs, documents, objects, and interpretive material—provide a foundation for research, education, and humanities programming through their documentation of significant aspects of the American story. Stories of Mountain Folk is the library’s first sound collection. To access Hunter Library’s Digital Collections, see www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/