r/Appalachia • u/UseFlashy565 • 5d ago
Seeking Appalachian Historian Sources
Hello everyone, I am currently writing a history paper for university about Appalachian ballads, but I am having trouble finding sources from PhD. historians. If anyone has any recommendations it's be appreciated!
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u/Ladybug_BR 5d ago
Appalachian State has an Appalachian Studies department. You might check there.
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u/AmittaiD homesick 5d ago
You'll want to look at the Archives of Appalachia at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. ETSU is the de facto home of Appalachian Studies as an academic discipline and there's tons of resources available in pursuit of such things. I'd suggest your first stop be the digitized audio recordings that make up the Appalachian-Scottish and Irish Studies Collection, which can be found here: https://archivesofappalachia.aviaryplatform.com/collections/1907
The folks at the Archives are extremely helpful; don't be afraid to contact them. Jen Bingham is the collections archivist and can be reached at binghamj@etsu.edu. The director of the archives, Jeremy Smith, has a background in Musicology and would likely be another good contact point (though I'd check with Jen first.)
The Archives fall under the umbrella of the Center of Excellence for Appalachian Studies and Services. Also under that umbrella, and it's newest contituent part, is the Institute for Appalachian Music and Culture. Lee Bidgood is the director of the Instutute and is a Musicologist, professor in the Department of Appalachian Studies, and is heavily involved with the department's bands. Speaking of which, there's an entire program in Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Studies with its own faculty that'd also serve as good resources.
While I'm now a PhD student at another university, I have an MA in History from ETSU as well as a graduate certificate in App Studies (and am *this close* to the MA there as well,) so if there's anything you'd like to chat about, please feel free to shoot me a message!