By Derek Whisnant and Gene Hyde This article appeared in the Volume 2, Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2020 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. Introduction: NOTE: September 28, 2020 – This updated version includes final formatting. The 2020 survey was administered through a combination of online research and contacting repositories via email. The survey was done in two sections. The first section used the original 1985 survey to ask the following: Is the repository still open ? If so, have their been any administrative changes (name change, merged with another repository, etc.) ? Is there a website or email contact? Once repositories were…
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Community Archiving Profile: Foxfire: Capturing Southern Appalachian Voices for Over Fifty Years
By Kami Ahrens This article appeared in the Volume 1, Issue 2 Fall 2019 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. Since 1966, Foxfire, a non-profit heritage preservation organization in Northeast Georgia, has been recording and sharing oral histories from across Southern Appalachia. Since its inception in a high-school English classroom, the organization has been rooted in the local community. Unlike larger institutions created by collectors, Foxfire’s collections were identified, captured, and curated by the community. Today, the organization has grown into a formal museum and archive maintained by professionals, but retains its relationships and roots within the community. Through experiential learning…
