When Ollie “Widow” Combs laid down in front of a bulldozer that was preparing to strip-mine her Kentucky farm in 1965, it’s doubtful that she realized her actions to protect her land would grow into a movement. Today, women’s voices…
Jillian Randel
An avid reader, hiker and dog lover, Jillian served as Associate Editor of The Appalachian Voice and Americorps Communications Outreach member from 2010-11.
Blog Archives
The Appalachian Voice
Following the Foothills Trail
By Jennifer Pharr Davis For this issue, we asked Jennifer Pharr Davis— long-distance hiking queen from Asheville, N.C.— to profile her favorite hike in Appalachia. Davis has hiked more than 9,000 miles, including the Appalachian Trail (twice!), the Pacific Crest…
Two Women Working on Sustaina-Builda-bility
Chris McCurry of Highland Craftsmen, Inc. By Alli Marshall It was the old chestnut-bark siding that provided the inspiration. Though the chestnut blight has destroyed mature American chestnut trees, Chris McCurry wondered why the once-popular shingles couldn’t be duplicated in…
Prodigious Writers
Amazing Appalachian Authors The authors below represent a mix of both regionally and nationally renowned authors, but all grew up in Appalachia and were inspired to take from what they learned and saw. Stories about the people, places and lifestyles…
Cultural Legacy
Joy Lynn Getting the “Coal” Experience at Whipple Store By Jillian Randel Traveling down County Route 612 somewhere between Oak Hill and Scarbro, W.Va., you will find one of the oldest wooden coal camp company stores still in business- the…
Mountain Media
Ada Smith and the Stay Project Seeing Appalachia Not Just as Birthplace, but Home By Anna Oakes As a young adult, Ada Smith realized that few groups were focused on organizing youth in Appalachia—much fewer than in other regions. Smith,…
The Women of Appalachia: One of our most powerful natural resources
The Formidable, Fearless and Fantastic Women of Appalachia Story by Bill Kovarik Fearless women settled Appalachia – and are still fighting for it. Alongside men, they plowed fields, put up food, kept the family and faced conflict. Women like Mary…
Health and Community
Minnie Vance Sixty Years of Open-Door Healthcare By Katherine Vance When I was asked to write a 500 word feature about my grandmother, Dr. Minnie Vance, I admit that I almost turned the assignment down. I was incredibly intimated. How…
Magnificent Cherokee
Marilou Awiakta | Writing Culture, Gender…Atoms By Jared Schultz “I am a Cherokee-Appalachian woman who grew up with the atom,” writer Marilou Awiakta stated as we discussed her work and mission as a poet, storyteller and essayist. The seventh generation…
