i was asked what the foxfire books are from this post where they are imaged in an ideal bookcase. these books have an amazing story, so i thought i'd share them. the books originally were magazines written, researched, and published by high school students in the Appalachia mountains beginning in the 60's . they interviewed the elder folk of the mountains to collect their stories, traditional crafts, recipes, myths and accounts of daily life. they are lessons in simplicity, rural life, and self sufficiency. sometimes it's just the story of someone's life and their day and it's so interesting- the way they talk, the chores done (like spooning out eye balls in a cow's head to make stew) and the 60's photographs and titles are really interesting too.
you can learn about the history of quilting bees, how to build your own cabin, snake mythology and that's just the first book.
they still publish the magazine and even have made a museum. find foxfire here.
jessica, thanks for the great explanation! and for the link.
ReplyDeleteit's so interesting to me because i went to college in southwest virginia and fell in love with the surrounding culture and physical geography of the area. took a course on the history of appalachia too and never had heard of this program.
i'll definately have to keep my eye out for these books.
again, many thanks :)
Lisa