News & Events
Oral Histories: Then and Now
Sunday June 21, 2 PM
Belk Library and Information Commons
Room 421
2-2:45 pm Lecture
3-4 pm Workshop
Between 2 PM and 2:45, Dr. Neva Specht of the ASU History Department will discuss the Life Histories & the Slave Narratives collected during the FWP (1930s Federal Writers Project) at the Library of Congress website.
At 3 PM Dr. Specht will conduct a workshop on how citizens can collect and preserve their own oral histories and give highlights of the rich array of local resources for oral histories.
From 1936-1940 life histories were compiled and transcribed by the staff of the Folklore Project of the FWP as part of the WPA (Work Projects Administration). Typically 2,000-15,000 words in length, the histories describe the informant's family education, income, occupation, political views, religion and mores, medical needs, diet and miscellaneous observations.
Below is an excerpt from a FWP interview that was collected September 8th, 1939 in West Jefferson, NC with Betty Lowe:
"I finished school at Jefferson. Our family being large, I didn't have a chance to go to college. Father didn't approve of us girls going even if we could afford it. He argued that girls don't need so such education. All they need to do was to get married and raise a family. I don't agree. I think everybody should have a good education. A woman may marry and not have to work. Suppose her husband dies and leaves her a widow, with a crowd of children to support. What's she going to do? Course you can go to the cotton mill or hosiery mill and get a job without education, but you may not want to do that.”
These life histories and the slave narratives were collected as part of a program to get people back to work, and they capture a glimpse of a disappearing world. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, when as many as one out of four Americans could not find jobs, the federal government stepped in to become the employer of last resort. The WPA put 8,500,000 jobless to work, mostly on projects that required manual labor.
More information at http://www.library.appstate.edu/blog/news/499
Saturday August 8th and Sunday August 9th
1 pm to 5 pm each day
Join local farmers and Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture for a fun-filled summer weekend! Enjoy the bounty of food and flowers in the beautiful North Carolina mountains while supporting local sustainable farms in Allegheny, Ashe, Watauga and Wilkes Counties.
Wrist bands are $20 in advance or $25 if purchased at a farm, and are good for one carload of people for the entire weekend—or pay $10 per farm. Wrist band sales are coming soon and will be available online and at local retail establishments.
Please stay tuned to www.brwia.org for more information!
Volunteers
Two volunteers are needed at each farm on each day of the tour. Volunteer shifts are approximately 4 hours; volunteers will collect money and greet visitors; volunteers can attend the tour for free on the day they are not volunteering. To register as a volunteer please send an email with your name, phone number, day you’re available, and farm preference (if any) to brwia@yahoo.com
Application
Deadline has been extended to FRIDAY JUNE 12 for farms that want to be featured as a stop on the tour! CLICK HERE to apply online.
Saturday August 15th
Blair Farm, Deerfield Road, Boone
2 pm to 6 pm
The annual Farm-City Banquet is new and improved for 2009!
Schedule of Events
2 pm to 4 pm FREE fun-on-the-farm activities for all ages
4 pm Awards Ceremony
5 pm BBQ dinner featuring local pork
Please join us for an afternoon of family fun at Blair Farm. Blair Farm is located on Deerfield Road, just north of the Watauga Medical Center in Boone. CLICK HERE for a map. Tickets will be required for the dinner. Award nominations are being accepted now through July 10.
For more information please visit http://watauga.ces.ncsu.edu or call Watauga County Cooperative Extension at 828-264-3061.
