The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Women - by Kami Ahrens

About the Book

"Pulled from the vast Foxfire archive, ... [some] twenty-one oral histories from southern Appalachian women whose remarkable narratives illuminate a diverse regional culture held together by the threads that are woven between women and place, and through generations. These stories, told sometimes with humor, sometimes with sadness, but always with a gripping rawness and honesty, recount women's lived experiences from 1967 to the present, from Georgia and Alabama into Tennessee and the Carolinas."--

Book Synopsis

In 1966 in Rabun County, Georgia, a group of high school English students created theFoxfire magazine, a literary journal that celebrated Appalachian stories, peoples, and culture. The publication was filled with poetry and prose from local students and authors and featured interviews with community members. These oral histories quickly became the focal point of the magazine and, eventually, the material that generated the multivolume Foxfire book series.

Now, pulled from the vast Foxfire archive comes the first volume in the series focused specifically on the lives of Appalachian women. These remarkable narratives illuminate a diverse regional culture held together by the threads that are woven between women and place, and through generations. Told sometimes with humor, sometimes with sadness, but always with a gripping rawness and honesty, the stories recount women's lived experiences from the 1960s to the present. The interviews cover work, family, and community, illuminating Cherokee, Black, and white women's experiences; changes in Appalachian culture; and the importance of relationships in daily life. Reading each interview in this book is almost like joining these women on their porches and in their homes as they take us on a journey through their lives. Taken together, the stories speak against regional stereotypes and offer instead a sampling of the many expressions of these women's strength.

Review Quotes

"Extensive quotations provide access to life worlds that may no longer exist, but shape the present, and remind us of the strength and endurance required to sustain families and communities in often-remote mountain locales. . . . The commitment to family and fostering community exemplified by the testimony of these women prepare the observer and collaborator not from this culture with the vocabulary of motive and experiential context to better understand and support. The collection provides an invaluable preparation for fieldwork in rural Appalachia."--Contemporary Sociology

"The greatest strength of the book is its demonstration of the diversity of women's identities and experiences, which challenges some of the most persistent stereotypes about Appalachian women. . . . [A]n accessible introduction to many dimensions of Appalachian women's lives over the past century."--Journal of Southern History

"Anyone interested in Appalachia and the people who lived and continue to live there will find this book to be a great starting point."--Georgia Library Quarterly

"Captivating, resisting nostalgia with its authentic, honest, and sometimes contradictory experiences from women all over the region."--Garden and Gun

"Every interview subject is a unique individual, and the stories are informative and nuanced. . . . [T]he women's voices share tales again and again of a tight-knit community that worked organically as a collectivist society rather than the individualist society of contemporary America."--Chapter 16