100 Days in Appalachia

‘You don’t have to look far to feel connected to her.’ At Knoxville’s Rhinestone Fest, Dolly Parton is a reason to celebrate.

Abi says this is her first time at Rhinestone Fest, and she’s there with her cousins who are also big fans of Dolly. Abi ...
100 Days in Appalachia

100 Days in Appalachia

“Music kind of creates a community, and it’s an exalted position to be up on a stage and to be part of the thing that brings people together,” O’Brien said.
100 Days in Appalachia

‘We Know What It’s Like To Be Exploited’: Tucker County, W.Va., Grapples With Future-Defining AI-Infrastructure Proposal

To fully appreciate the beauty of Tucker County, you must visit. Nestled at 3,500 feet in the gorgeous Allegheny Mountains along the Blackwater River, the town of Davis is at the highest elevation of ...
100 Days in Appalachia

What is the New Apostolic Reformation? How a Religio-Political Movement is Affecting U.S. and Appalachian Politics

Apostles and prophets. Spiritual warfare. Dominionism and the New Apostolic Reformation. You might come across these terms if you follow politics these days. Here’s some context and clarity about the ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Five Years After It Became a National Park, There’s a Growing Divide In West Virginia’s New River Gorge

The New River Gorge is a jagged area in the middle of Southern West Virginia’s coalfields. Shaped by one of the oldest rivers in the world, whitewater rapids roll under its high petrified sandstone ...
100 Days in Appalachia

As COVID-19 Damages Black Appalachian Communities, This Mother, Daughter Team Are Working to Save an Unexpected Casualty: Black History

Dr. Norma Thomas carries a microphone as she walks the streets of Uniontown, Pennsylvania’s East End. This is the “before times,” before COVID-19, and as Thomas recounts the local history of the East ...
100 Days in Appalachia

The first time I went to Muskingum Island was in 2024, before the work began.

Listen to the sounds of the island. On an unusually cool and dry morning in late July, I met Victor Elam, the Refuge Manager of the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, at a boat launch just ...
100 Days in Appalachia

In West Virginia’s Southern Coalfields, a Grassroots ‘Jubilee’

On a late spring day in 2022, Rev. Brad Davis was riding along the twisting roads of McDowell County, West Virginia. Davis was soon to start his current job pastoring five United Methodist churches ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Gentrification or Revitalization? Investment on the West Side a ‘Litmus Test’ for Inclusive Economic Development

Depending on who you ask, the development of the Elk City district on the West Side of Charleston, West Virginia, is either “gentrification” or “revitalization” – though some will say both. Karen ...
100 Days in Appalachia

W.Va. Opioid Settlement Funds are Supposed to Reverse Years of Crisis. In Several Counties, They’re Being Used to Pay Regional Jail Bills.

In rural Wyoming County, West Virginia, Ann Reed is the sheriff’s department’s only social worker. Funded through a temporary grant from a local mental health center, Reed provides resources and care ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Meet a Doctor Inside a W.Va. Crisis Support Center Who Relies on Hope in Recovery

Recovery from addiction is possible. For help, please call the free and confidential treatment referral hotline (1-800-662-HELP) or visit findtreatment.gov. At the West Virginia University Crisis ...