It Still Lives

While we work on bringing you more great content in season 4, we are taking a look back at this fun episode from season 2 that's all about movies filmed in Rabun County, Georgia!

We are pulling more excerpts from A Foxfire Christmas, and taking a look at handmade decorations, holiday foods, and other special traditions here in the mountains. Take a listen to Huell & Margaret Bramlett, L.B. & Ruth Gibbs, Janie P. Taylor, Clyde English, and Icie Rickman. 

As we approach the end of fall, we're looking at ways to preserve the year's harvest for the winter. We sit down with stories from Andy & Bashey Webb, Granny Gibson*, Mrs. Algie Norton, Jean Eller*, Bessie Underwood, Harriet Echols, and John Freemon. (*Omitted by accident from list on podcast)

Back in April, host Kami Ahrens was joined by Blue Ridge Public Radio reporter Lilly Knoepp on an interview with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian's first published author, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle. Born and raised on the Qualla Boundary, Annette shares stories from her childhood at the foot of the Smokies. In fall 2020, Annette released her debut novel, Even As We Breathe, which explores the American culture during World War II from an indigenous perspective.

September in the North Georgia mountains means it is finally apple season! Listen along as we explore an old method of preserving apples: bleaching apples. This unique process preserve fruit by drying it over coals with sulfur. We hear from Lucy York, Edith Parker, and Ada Kelly.

Join us on this episode as we follow Sarah and Rowan’s journey through learning about herbalism, foraging, and natural medicine.

In this episode, we explore Celton and Jayton’s SEED Project regarding the traditional methods of boat construction and the modern methods through which they have updated the historic craft. 

Join guest host Madi as she talks to two students who are going back to the roots of Foxfire - way back in 1966! From a class of uninterested high school students to a community organization that Rabun County families have passed down from generation to generation, Foxfire is in its fifty-fifth year of preserving Appalachian culture and history. 

Join guest host and Foxfire student Madi as we explore the inspiration, goals, and plans for the first SEED project and find out why they’ve got us all Hooked On Fishin’.

For the next few weeks, we'll be introducing a mini series documenting our high school leadership students' summer SEED projects. The SEED projects — Students Experiencing Education Differently — allow the Fellows to choose topics in which they are interested as their focuses as they create additions to the museum, interview experts, and summarize their experiences for future generations of Foxfire students to learn. 

Back in March, we received an email from poet Louise Morgan Runyon that sent us down a rabbit hole of Western North Carolina history. Listen as we explore the founding of Macon County and listen to oral histories from Rufus Morgan and Louise.

In preparation for our Native Plant Week this summer, we sit down (virtually) with Appalachian poet and Western North Carolina native Rose McLarney. Rose shares her journey to becoming a poet and some sources of inspiration for her writing.

We're taking a break from the archives this month to sit down with our friends over at the Mainspring Conservation Trust, a nonprofit based in Western North Carolina that works to conserve the water, forests, farms and heritage of the Little Tennessee and Hiwassee river basins. Learn more at https://www.mainspringconserves.org/

Ever wanted to have your fortune told? Would you believe it if you heard it? Foxfire contacts Lawton Brooks and Leila Gibson sure did! They recall a group of nomadic traders in Appalachia commonly called gypsies, although we bet they aren't like the gypsies you're thinking of!

For part 2 of our celebration of Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a unique woman in our archive: Angelina del' Arciprete Davis, an Italian-born woman who immigrated to Southern Appalachia shortly after World War II. 

In honor of women's history month, we are listening to three interviews conducted in 1975, the "International Women's Year." Foxfire students sat down with women from three generations, all raised in the mountains. Join us as we learn Addie Norton, Lassie Bradshaw, and Emma Chastain's ideas of what it means to be an Appalachian woman!

Celebrate February with a few love stories from our archive! Learn about courtship (dating) practices and marriage customs from the early 20th century. We'll sit down with Granny Mary Cabe, Bessie Underwood, Lawton & Florence Brooks, Margaret Norton, Selma Mosley, L.M. & Mary Olive Keef, and O.S. & Olene Garland.

Join us for some holiday cheer as we travel back in time with Christmas memories from John & Margaret Bulgin, Lessie Conner, Louise Coldren, and Louise & Hubert Hooper. Stories from A Foxfire Christmas.

November often marks the beginning of hunting season for many in rural areas. This month, we're exploring folk tales, tips, and tricks for hunting in the mountains. Featuring interviews with Taylor Crockett, Minyard Conner, and Jake Waldroop.

In the 1980s, Foxfire students conducted a project to document the many varieties of wine here in the mountains, and just how those wines were made. Join us as we hear from Jake Waldroop, John Bulgin, Albert Greenwood, and Lawton Brooks on their secret recipes for success, along with a few stories about mishaps they made!