1 50 1 https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/a9de651cc2dc310eed78d533fb4541cd.pdf 3425a522b8e1f54758666b061dfc7733 PDF Text Text AOHP #35^ < Page 1 This is an interview with Mrs. Ollie Blackburn at Todd by Joy Lamm for the Appalachian Oral History Project on March 9, 1973. Q: I already introduced you, but you might tell us how old you are and how long you've been living here. A: Well I was reared in Watauga County. Q: Were you? A: Right up here. What part of Watauga County? Todd was our post office, but we 'uz back up where that girl's camp is. Do you know where it is up the creek there as you come down here"? I don't guess you do. Q: Interlaken? A: Yeah, we lived right on up the creek there. where I grew up. family. JN That's there was twelve of us in the One died when he was little. Daddy raised eleven of us. Momma 'n Seven girls 'n three boys. Q: When were you born? A: I was born in 1&92. Q: That sounds like a long time to some of us. A: Does sound like a long time to young folks, but it �2. don't seem so long to me. Don't seem like it's been near as long as it has been. Q: So did you always live in this part of the . . .? A: I grew up there 'n then after I got out a school, I left 'n went down to Cherryville, Worth Carolina. I'se engaged to Ed when the war come on. to the war. He volunteered 'n went on. ' /fe went ' 'Tlien I went to Cherryville 'n worked till he came back. Got married, 'n then we"' moved to Virginia. lived in Virginia. We But when we were growing up, we didn't have things like we have now in the mountain. I've helped my Daddy roll logs, 'n if we'd saved our timber till a few years back we'd a been a millionaire. But we just rolled our timber up 'n down in the valley 'n set fire to it when it got dry 'n just burnt it all away up the valley. Q: When you were clearing out the pasture - land? A:,: When we were clearing our land up there, yes. Just had about an acre of clear land when my daddy built the house on the land. a man. He had 57 acres. I worked like Daddy when he'd start to work, he'd say, "Come on, boys. Let's go to work." We didn't have no boys until all the seven girls was grown. we had any boys. Q: And then they had the three boys? Before �3. A: Yes, had three boys. I don't know anything in the world to tell about how I grew up. We just worked for a livin. Q: One of the things I was interested in was whether girls were treated differently than boys when you were growing up. A: Well, not that I know of. Q: Did you go to school just like A: We went to school just like the boys, exactly. 'N we all played together at school. have any colored people. Of course we didn't There's never been any colored people lived right around here. My grand-daddies, on both sides, I guess, had slaves, ya know. stayed with 'em after they was freed. But they They stayed with 'em till they died. Q: They did have slaves. Where did they get their slaves? A: Well, I don't know. I guess they bought 'em. I don't know. Q: Did you ever hear any stories about A: No, I never did hear any stories, but I used to go to my great grand-daddies'. them? I mentioned my �grand-daddy, but they lived with my great grand*-daddy ya know. An old colored man lived there"n an old colored lady was there. We used to love 'em just like we loved the white people. We never thought about pushin 'em around or anything. I mean their children did. But they soon left. There used to be a liauor still just about a half a mile, I guess, from our house. Maybe a mile from our house. People went 'n bought their liouor from the still. It was government still then, ya know. Q: How long did it stay in operation? A: Well it went out 'a operation in a little while after- I must have been about 12 years old when he cult. don't know whether it 'uz outlawed then or not ouit. But he had the still. I why he My daddy used to bring liouor in a peck bucket f n they'd drink it with a dipper. Q: Did your daddy help make it then? A: No, he wouldn't make it at all, but he;d buy it. bought it for a long time. ouit buying it. He got saved though 'n We used to go to parties. People loved each other better then than they do now. they were closer. He Neighbors were closer. I mean �Q: Why do you think that was? A: Well. I don't know why. There's just so much more to be Interested in, I guess, than they was then. But we'd maybe all the whole family'd go to a neighbor's house. We'd play games that night till midnight and come home and go to bed. Sometimes we'd go to one of the homes 'n have a da,nce. daddy played. My granddaddy played the violin 'n my daddy played the banjo. nicked the banjo too. Q: My One a my neighbors We had plenty of music. Would all the little children 'n everything join in? A: Yeah, they'd go with us. Well, everybody'd just have a good time. Q: What kind of games did you play? A: Well- we just played dancing games. partner, ya know. a Dartner. Steal your We'd get in .the corners 'n get And we wanted another partner we'd dance over to this one 'n take it away from that one. it 'uz really fun. Oh (laughter) Q: Did the girls steal partners from the . . . .? A: Yeah, the girls would steal the boy 'n the boys the �6. girls, ya see. Q: That could get pretty wild. A: Then we'd go back to our corner, but by the time we got back somebody 'ud be stealin our partner again. That's really a game that's fun. of the time. We had to work. We worked most Not many of the girls in our community had to work like we did in our family 'cause we didn't have no boys. just like boys. We had to work But we got along good. We all loved each other 'n love each other right on. One brother died when he was thirty-some years old. And he's the only one of the family that's died. Q: Do the rest of them still live around here? A: No. I'm the only one that lives in this community. They're scattered. Some of 'em live in Gaston County 'n some in Avery County. Q: When you were going to school or when you were growin up were you taught that women had a certain place in life? A: No. Never heard tell of such a thing.(laughter) Q: Really? Did you have any kind of ambition of what you wanted to do with your life? �7 A: Oh, I wanted to be a nurse. be a nurse. All my life I wanted to But we didn't have money enough, and we's back in the sticks n I couldn't start out here on a wagon or a. buggy to go to Winston or Charlotte or somewhere to get a job. I didn't go. But they got the college at Boone "n a lot of our people went to school and got a good education. I went to a church school over at Valle Crucis. Q: Well that was ouite a trip, wasn't it? Did you live over there? A: No, We went in a steer wagon over there one time. When we got over there, we had a good time. But my sister, (she went with me), she got homesick she ran a.way 'n come home. . years there. I liked it. I stayed three It was an industrial school, ya know. They taught us to do everything. Taught us to make walks around the houses, the school rooms, from one dormitory to the other. They just taught us how to do lots of things that workin people had to do. I learned a lot. didn't learn too much in books. I don't guess. Q: How old were you when you went to school over there? A: I'se 16. �Q: And how long did you stay? A: I stayed 3 years. Q: And so that was really kind of like a college. I mean it was after your regular schools. A: Yes. Q: Where there boys and girls together? A: Yes, no, they just kept girls. school. It 'uz a girls But they had day students that came in. They had boys in the day school. There wasn't no boys that board there. Q: Did they teach you anything about nursing? A: They taught us first aid, 'n things like that. About what they teach in the elementary school now They taught us how to sew, how to embroider, how to keep a clean house. 'N it don't look like I learned much, does it?(laughter) Q: Well did you date fellows when you were in school over there? A: Yeah. Every/time a fellow 'ud come 'n wanna date us we'd date 'em. in a while. We didn't get to date only just onc>e We'd have from seven o'clock till nine �9 of the evening to entertain our boy friends. Our boyfriends could come see us of the day and we'd go take a walk. a. buggy. We didn't have nothing to ride in. but We'd take a buggy ride once in a while. Wadn't no cars then. Just about the year I guess that I left, why cars began to pass. Q: I wanted to ask you your opinion on some things and then I'd like to talk to you some more about your past. Well, maybe I'll ask you this first. How long did you and Reverend Ed court before you were married? A: Eleven years. Q: Eleven? A: That's the reason he's all the time telling us we My Lord. got no business a being in a hurry. Q: Did y'all live in the same community? A: Yes. Just about two and a half miles from here to my house. Q: How old were you when you got married? A: Twenty-five. Q: Was there any special reason why you waited so long? A: Well I didn't wanna get married 'n I don't guess he did. He must not because he went - a.fter we �1Q were engaged we were to be married. Well, we hadn't set any date when he volunteered for the army. 'N he changed his mind when he went - or he tells that. He stayed over in France 'n he got to be an alcoholic. He was a drunkard, he wasn't an alcoholic, but he drank. 'N he liked it so good over there - those girls, ya know, those pretty French girls - he thought he wanted to live there forever. He tells that tale now. When he got dis- charged, he wanted to come home, ya know. knew he wouldn't a gonna be happy. But he That he 'uz goin back over there just as quick as - I don't know, 3 months I guess, leave they got - discharged 'n then if they'd re-enlist before they came out that they could have that long a time to go back. aimed to go back he said. He But I was at Cherryville when he came home 'n he wrote me a card from New York - he knew I was at Cherryville - 'n told me to be at home 'n what time he'd be at home, ya know. I wrote 'n told him that I'd not be at home, I wasn't gonna hunt him up. wanted to come. He could come after me if he So I just stayed down there. So he did, quick as he got home - he spent one night at home 'n here he come on down there. married down there. We got �133. Q: Very shortly after that? A: The very next day after he come home. Q: The next day? A: The next day after he come out a the war. Q: And he never did get back to France? A: No. He didn't go back." He said after he seen me he *uz contented to stay with me. up in the pulpit. He tells that He preaches to these men, ya know, about treatin their wives right, about lovin their wiy.es. 'N he tells 'em if they love'em like they ought to t.hat. , «n then he tells that, ya know, how when he saw me, he didn't wanna go back to France. But that 'uz just a tale he told. So we moved from here then after we got married. We moved to West Virginia, but he was sick with T.B. when they discharged him from the army. I guess we lived in Virginia two years "n he had to quit work there. The doctors told him to go out in the open 'n fish 'n hunt 'n rest. Q: Is that when he went in the Baptist Hospital? A: No. He's sick. in the Veteran's Hospital a year. He stayed A year and four days, I think, that he'uz in the Veteran's Hospital before they discharged him. touch of it since. But he's n^ver had a �12. Q: When you all got married did you kinda divide up the chores? A: Well, I helped him do everything that he had to do 'n he helped me. wash dishes. He helped me do everything except He didn't wanna wash disheis 'n he don't yet hardly. He'll pile the dished up to the top of the sink 'fore he'll wash 'em. (laughter) Q: What are some of the things that he helped ya do? A: .Things he helped me do? Well, he'd make up our bed every mornin when we got up 'n always made the fires n 1 started the stove to cook. He swept the livin room 'n the kitchen 'n the dinin room nearly everytime. He's always helped me. field with him. 'N then I'd go to the When we got our work done here I'd go and help set out cabbage. Q: So he'd help you get everything done and then you all would go together. A: Yes. If we had to make a fence why I'd go with him 'n make a fence. Q: That must have been wonderful to be together like that. A: It was wonderful. We've had a wonderful life, 'n we didn't either one kill ourself with work. �13. Q: Were you raised to believe that you should share all your tasks? A: Sure. My mother always did it. Q: Your mother and father used to work together like that? A: Yes. Well, my daddy, I don't guess he ever washed the dishes even when Mama was in the bed. help her do anything of her work. He never did But I was the oldest child of the twelve 'n I had a lot 'a that to do. They were married in 1$90. Maybe a year later. I was born in 1$92. Q: Was your husband raised in a different kind of family where the husband did help his wife in the home? I mean did his ma and daddy do like you all? A: I don't know. Ed's mother never worked out anywhere, done any 'a his work except milk the cows. had four or five cows to milk. They always She always helped him milk the cows. Q: Well don't you think that helps people stay close together when they work together like that? A: Sure. This here woman a goin this way to work 'n man a goin that way to work, comin in 'n the woman give tee totally out when she comes in. Why, my gosh. see how people take it. (laughter) I don't �14. Q: Well, you're describing me. I don't know how they do either. A: No. I don't see how they - I think they get farther 'n farther apart. We have to counsel with people - just everyday or two we have people comin. The man or the woman one- or the children a comin to us 'n tellin us they just can't make it any longer the way they do. The husband will come 'n the wife's come in before him maybe 'n dressed again'n gone somewhere with the children. 'N the man comes in - Well, I went the other day, they called us to come to a home 'n when we got there the man was sittin there eatin some applesauce 'n bread, I reckon - no cookie, it 'uz a Graham cracker. he had for supper. for supper. Now that's what He told me that 'uz what he had They don't have any home life. think the place for women is in the home. I I know - in a few cases, I think, it'd be all right for the woman to work - where the husband 'uz dead or an invalid or somethin. Maybe he wasn't quite an invalid, but he 'uz able to take care of the children while she worked, 'n they could get along 'n love each c.ther like they ought to. ya, it's destroyin the world. People tell me they can't live without they all work. enough. But, I tell Can't make �.15, (At this point on the tape, Mr. Blackburn comes into the room and makes a comment about working in the mines.) Q: Did you work in the mines? A: I used to. Q: Where did you work? A: Oh, Kentucky 'n Virginia, West Virginia. Q: Did you really? A: I did for years. Q: Where in Kentucky and Virginia? A: At Jenkins. Q: Well I've got to talk to you^.about that .sometime because I've got<friends over in Pippa Passes, which is in Knott County, pretty close to Jenkins. A: Yeah. Jenkins is in Letcher County. Q: When were you workin in the mines? A: Oh, I've forgotten, honey. It's been so long. (Mrs. B.) He went to the mines when we got married That's where we bought our home in Virginia. Coeburn, Virginia. �16, Q: Oh, you worked in Coeburn then? A: Yes, we bought our home there'n lived there till we had 2 children. Q: I'd really like to talk to y'all about this. point, a neighbor arrives. (At this Several minutes of the tape is conversation between the Blackburns and their neighbor. Comment is made about A.S.U.) (Mr.) I used to sell meal to the college at Boone. Q: Did you grind the meal? A: (Mre)' I did grind it. Bought the corn-big trailer loads-'n ground it 'n sold it to 'em. I'd go up 'n sell 'em meal 'n eat dinner with 'em. Q: Where was your mill? A: It was over at Todd. Todd used to be a big place. Railroads 'n banks 'n drug stores. (Mrs.) Washed away. (Mr.) Used to be a railroad in here, darlin. Q: Is that what brought in the drug A: That's what brought it in. here. stores and banks? We had numbers of stores It's what broke us up. Come in 'n hauled everything off we had 'n left us sittin high 'n dry. Q: What did they haul off? �17, A: Lumber, all of our fine lumber. (Mrs.) Tannin bark, stove wood . . . . (Mr.) Yeah, everything we had. Left us sittin dry. (Mrs.) Came in on us like the mining business, Q: Did ya not get fair prices? A: (Mr.) Yeah, I guess. No, not fair. dollar meant something then. But you know a Now we get eighteen, twenty, twenty-two dollars a day for workin. We worked ten hours 'n got a dollar 'n a half. 150 an hour. Q: Did you have the great big old trees? A: (Mrs.) Oh mercy. (Mr.) Four foot through, darlin. around. 'N twelve foot Oh, chestnuts, ya know, in piles. Big, brown chestnuts. Q: Chestnuts would grow that big? A: (Mr.) Oh, yes ma'am. Four foot across 'em. I can take ya up here on our land and show ya chestnut stumps that's four feet across. Couldn't saw 'em. The saw 'uz so big they'd have to saw down this way 'n turn 'em in. Honey, ya can't understand. (Mrs.) Alec, his daddy, 'ud be a millionaire if he had that timber to sell now, that he sold off 'a this place here. �18. Q: Do you know the name of the company or companies? A: (Mr.) It was the J. Walter Wright Lumber Company in Mountain City, Tennessee. In Bristol, really. they was other companies in here. bought a lot of the lumber. an individual. any company. 'N Mr. Charlie Steele He's from Lenoir. He's just So far as I know he didn't go by He just went by his own personal name, but he bought lots 'a timber. Q: Well now, when was this? A: Oh, I don't know. in In '24 (Neighbor) Train come up here 1916. Q: And when did it go out? A: (Neighbor) Did it go out in '36? (Mr.) I don't know. (Neighbor) Wasn't it 20 years it 'uz supposed to run? Q: So it went through part of the Depression then, didn't it? It kept running? A: (Mrs.) Yes. Q: Well what did they use the wood for? A: (Mr.) No. Do you know? They'd extract, make tanning acid. Took it over here to Damascus 'n ground it up 'n made acid out of it. Make moccasins . . . . �19. (Mrs.) Take cowhides 'n all kind 'a hides 'n made shoes. We could 'a been rich in this country if we hadn't loved our dirt so good we wouldn't sell nobody an acre of it. SIDE II Q: Would you have wanted the furniture factories here? A: (Mr.) Yeah, I guess I would have wanted 'em in them days 'n would 'a still would, I guess. Q: Would you want to give up you land? A: (Mr.) No. I wouldn't give 'em a inch. I guess. the way it is. (Mrs.) That's That's the way everybody felt about it. Q: I get so concerned. I guess particularly since I never had a place, and to be able to see this land and to see it going. A: (Mr.) You love it, honey? Q: Oh, yes. The fact that it's all being built on, and bulldozed down. A: Once its gone, its gone. (Mr.) It's gone forever, little girl. Mama 'n me 'uz trying to keep our little piiot here for our children. We got five children. We just got 27 acres, but we hope we can keep it. �20., (Mrs.) so what? Q: Are all your children still around here? A: (Mrs.) No. One of 'em lives in Ashe County. One lives in Abingdon, Virginia; one in Virginia Beach, Virginia; one in Moorestown, New Jersey; and one in Cherryville. Q: Do they feel about land like you do? A: (Mr.) Feel worse than we do. (Mrs.) Law, they're worse than us about this mountain land. (Mr.) I told my little daughter, I said,"I can sell our land now 'n divide upp the money 'n Ma 'n me go to the rest home." 'N our little daughter 'said, "Not a spoonful 'a mine ' 1 be sold." 1 Didn't wanna sell a spoonful. Q: So they hope to come back here? A: They're plannin on comin back. Our little boy- lives in Virginia Beach- he'll soon be retirin. He's a printer for the United States government. 'N we've got a little boy in Cherryville. for Carolina Freight. He drives He hadn't got many more years 'n he wants to come back. They wanna come back now. 'N our little daughter in New Jtersey -she's a librarian. She's got a model librarian/ I don't know what -" you'd call it' where teahcers come in. She teaches �21, them. 'N our little daughter in Ashe Gounry -she married a sanitarian -she teaches school. Ma 'n me's SO years old, 'n I'm a preacher 'n she's my helper. Q: Well that's what we were talkin about. I thought it was so wonderful the way she said you all did things together here in the house then you would go out 'n work together. A: She asked me what I thought - if back when we were young 'n able to work - what I thought about the people that leave home goin off to work, women out 'a the home again to work. I told her it had ruined the country. It has. (Mr.) If they'd come home 'n stay at home I'd get me a job. (Mrs.) You've got a job. One that keeps ya busy 24 hours a day. That's the truth. (Neighbor leaves) Q: Let me ask you something that you do know a lot about, and that's raising children. you're a good mother? How do you know when What do you think it takes to be a good mother? A: (Mrs) Well, I couldn't tell you that. I've never been one. (laughter) Q: How do you know if you're raising your children right? �22. A: (Mrs.) Well, ya don't. (Mr.) That's easy. 'em. Get the Book 'n read the Bible to Ya don't know if they'll take it, but that's the way we raised ours. Niarly every night, read the Bible 'n prayed with 'em, put 'em to bed. 'N God sent 'em all out to good jobs. fine people. All All have good jobs 'n all Christian people. At home they'll pray with us. (Mrs.) I had to paddle some of 'em pretty much. didn't never do Ben any good. I had to use a good switbh on him. He'd do anything in the world. psychology on that fellow. wife has to. Spanking You had to use 'N you have to now. His I'd give him a whippin, but I can see now if 'a had time to have been reasonable, 'n reasoned with him 'n let him understood what it meant to be a doin that, why I think I could 'a done more with him. But when I'd get through whippin him he'd say, "Now go to the church 'n shout tonight!" Lots of others would 'a thought 'Law, I've plum ruined him now. I know I've ruined him.' 'N I'd say, "Well honey, I'll have to because I know that I've done my duty." 'N that'd settle him down. Q: Well do people raise children differently today? A: (Mrs.) Well, the children raise their parents now, the way I see it. �23, Q: What do you mean by that? A: (Mrs.) Well, they just do what the children say. (Mr*) Ma 'n me 'uz the boss among our babies till they's married. Sweethearts 'ud come here 'n I'd say, "You boys goin to church? church. We're goin to You can go to church or sit here till we get back. My girls is a goin to church this mornin." 'N they'd usually go. big jobs. Now they're nice men with One of 'ems worth a million dollars 'n come 'n hear me preach. a fine job. 'N the other un's got 'N the other 'uns a aeronautical engineer for the United Stated government. Q: Really? One of your boys? A: No. One of my son-in-laws. Honey, we raised 'em — we's just Christians 'n we just worked with'em 'n told 'em what they ought to do 'n we prayed with 'em three times a day. They got along good. trouble with the law. No Married lovely girls. Look's like God's made 'em rich. Q: Did you take them with you? A: I took 'em to.church. I didn't send 'em. Thank God, I'd gather 'em up 'n take 'em. Q: I mean, did you take them with you when you were working? �24. A: (Mr.) Go on preaching tours? Kept 'em 'n bedded era down, honey, on the church bench. (Mrs.) Gene says he's raised under a church bench. (Laughter) (Mr.) We took 'em, darlin. Just - (Mrs.) It 'uz a good place to raise 'em. (Mr.) We took our babies to church, 'n they honor us for it now. Q: Well were there certain things that you felt like were your duty, and certain things that you felt like were yours in raising the children? A: (Mr.) Yeah. I felt like it was our duty to raise 'em so they could (Mrs.) Well, I never criticized Daddy if he corrected 'em and he never criticized me, either. 'N I never did threaten 'em with their daddy, like a lot 'a people did. A lot 'a people did in my time, when they's rearin their children, they'd threaten 'em to tell their daddy when he come home what they'd been a doin or how they'd done. I never did do that. I never would. Children have to have a boss, 'cause when you get out in the world you're gonna have a boss or you're gonna have your own business 'n ya have to control yourself with that. 'N if you never learn to ."abide by rules, it's hard to teach people when they get grown to abide by certain regulations. My daddy taught me that. thought he's awful rough on us, but he 'uz a pretty We �25, good daddy. He didn't abuse us a tall or in any way, but he laid the law down. He meant what he said 'n we just learned that he meant what he said. I've often said that that's how I learned to trust the Lord 'n obey the Lord. 'Cause the Lord's supposed to talk to you, ya know, lead you, and I had learned obedience at home. If you learn to obey when you're young, it's not hard to do when you get old, when you're grown. Q: That's right. A: (Mrs.) A lot 'a children now never learned obedience. (Mr.) Ollie's brother-a little boy about 9 years old - his daddy told him to do something fn upset 'n he went out 'n slammed the door. said,"Jim, come back in. door." it kindly 'N his father Now go out 'n shut the Jim went out again 'n slammed the door again. 'N he made come back 'n open the door 'n close it 7 times, till he learned to close it nice 'n mild. Seven times, closed it so nice 'n sensible. God. Thank Made him come back 'n close it 7 times before he ever got it settled down, (laughter) (Mrs.) He hadn't forgotten it yet. (Mr.) No. He'll all the time close the door nice. (laughter) I .heard somebody preachin that. Didn't you Ollie, the other night? (Mrs.) Yeah, just somewhere. (Mr.) Yeah, learnin how to close the door. thought about that. 'N I �26. (Mrs.) Said it's your personality, ya know, by the way you closed the door. (Mr.) 'N that lady said- she visited homes, ya know, that she wasn't wanted by the way they shut the door. Q: A lot of these questions that I wanted to ask you I almost know the answers to from talking to ya'll. One that I was kind of interested in was what was the most important thing that you remember your mother teaching you? Is there anything that she taught you that really helped you, you know, in your life? A: (Mrs.) Yes, it wouldn't mean nothin to anybody else, but Mama believed in bein born again, of the Spirit. 'N she believed with all her heart that ya had to be born again, 'n so when I started off to school- well, when I was gettin ready to go - I hadn't never been born again. 'N she says, "Children, I don't want 'cha to go over there till ya get saved. saved 'n know the Lord before ya go." I want cha to be 'N she said, "I'm afraid, if you's to go over there, they'd get ya in that church that don't believe in bein born again." That 'uz the Episcopal church. remembered that. And, so I always She never taught us much about religion, but she was interested. �27. Q: What did she mean by being born again? A: (Mrs.) That's committing yourself to the Saviour, accepting his salvation , 'n knowing that you have accepted it, because that's what we have to do. Jesus come to redeem, so we have to accept that salvation 'n I hadn't never accepted it, 'n didn't know for myself that Jesus died for me, ya see. 'N when I realized that I'se lost because I hadn't never accepted the salvation he made for us. 'N that's what she was afraid of. She was afraid that I'd go on all my life, ya know, like a lot 'a people do, 'n think because they join the church they're saved. 'N that's what I mean by bein born again. Daddy might could explain it better. (Mr.) No, I couldn't. Lord, honey. know. Becoming a new creature in the That's it. Dangerous drunkard. mines. I used to be a drunkard! ya Carried liquor in the It's a miracle of God I didn't blow 'em square Q: Did you really? A: (Mr.) Sure, in the place 'a takin water I'd take in liquor. The night boss didn't know it, ya know. We all took water, ya know, in the bottom of our buckets. it. Had to. It 'uz the only place we could get 'N I'd take liquor in the place of water. in there all day, three miles underground. Worked �ad. I crimped 10 thousand dynamite caps. Stick 'em on the end 'n fuse em. 'N if I'd a missed a thousandeth part of an inch I'd a blown my head off. (Mrs.) Ya ought 'a known better than that. (Mr.) I'se careless. Q: I want to come back and talk to you about your experiences in the mines. I've got a whole lot 'a questions I've been wanting to ask somebody. A: (Mr.) Bless ya, honey. I'se young, ya know, 'n God wouldn't bother me to preach I'd go back.I love to work in the mines. interesting things in there. Oh, there's so many Find anything on earth you's looking for. Picture of anything you'd want. Oh trees 'n all kinds of plants, 'n just anything. Animals, 'n bears, find a lot of bears. 'N all kinds of little trees 'n beautiful ferns in the top, ya know. And oh just anything, (Mrs.) 'N that coal. (Mrs.) You come back anytime ya wanna come back little darlin, but let me tell ya somethin. You can find so many nice people that can tell ya so many more things than Uncle Ed can, 'n you'd better go'n see them. I can just tell ya about how mean I used to be, 'n how I game to the Lor$. And instantly �29. he took all this drinkin 'n all this cursin away from me, 'n I became a new creature. 'N from that day till this its never come back on me. a soldier of God ever since. 'n used to be a curser. Used to be a drunkard That's all I done. do somethin nice for ya. made me a new creature. I been Thank God. The bfoange Old things passed away, 'n behold, all things became newt what little Ma means about bein born again. (Mrs.) That's what Mama meant. That's I guess. (Mr.) What we done now, little darlin - anybody will do for a Christian 'n anybody can be a Christian if they will be. But we got to get started to be a Christian. Tore God ' 1 ever take us to heaven. 1 You've got to meet the Lord for yourself, 'n when you meet him you'll always be a different creature. Bless ya. You've done met him as far I know. Q: Yeah. A: (Mr.)'Bless ya. Come back any time you want to. (Prayer) Father in heaven, we're shocked to find this\Little girl, Mrs. Lamm, a little darlin. Itttle enough to be in high school. Just And little Alec, our little boy, was here. And they said they's interested in comin back 'n talkin to us. Oh Father, if they ever come back to our house again �30. may they feel just like coming home. come to Uncle Ed fn When they Aunt Ollie*s house, may it seem so good and so restful that they just felt like God had taken 'em in, 'n they had a home away from home. Bless us all, 'n help us to be good 'n nice 'n quiet 'n sensible. Always minding our own business. Always looking for some place to help somebody who needs help. Always kind, always gentle, always willin to go the second mile, always willin to turn the other cheek when men don't like us, not pick it up 'n turn it over again, just leave 'em alone, 'n love 'em so good we'll kill 'em on pure love. Bless little Alec 'n his darlin daddy 'n mamma, this little girl's husband 'n what she does in life. Make her great, God. In Jesus' name help her to see that her 'n God can do anything they want, God. Thank God. Help 'em to see how big God is 'n what He'll do for us if we'll just trust Him, in all of our paths. We send 'em away today with the blessings of the Lord on 'em. Amen 'n amen. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews Description An account of the resource In 1973, representatives from Appalachian State University (ASU) began the process of collecting interviews from Watauga, Avery, Ashe, and Caldwell county citizens to learn about their respective lives and gather stories. From the outset of the project, the interviewers knew that they were reaching out to the “last generation of Appalachian residents to reach maturity before the advent of radio, the last generation to maintain an oral tradition.” The goal was to create a wealth of data for historians, folklorists, musicians, sociologists, and anthropologists interested in the Appalachian Region. The project was known as the “Appalachian Oral History Project” (AOHP), and developed in a consortium with Alice Lloyd College and Lees Junior College (now Hazard County Community College) both in Kentucky, Emory and Henry College in Virginia, and ASU. Predominately funded through the National Endowment for the Humanities, the four schools by 1977 had amassed approximately 3,000 interviews. Each institution had its own director and staff. Most of the interviewers were students. Outgrowths of the project included the Mountain Memories newsletter that shared the stories collected, an advisory council, a Union Catalog, photographs collected, transcripts on microfilm, and the book Our Appalachia. Out of the 3,000 interviews between the three schools, only 663 transcripts were selected to be microfilmed. In 1978, two reels of microfilm were made available with 96 transcripts contributed by ASU. An annotated index referred to as The Appalachian Oral History Project Union Catalog was created to accompany the microfilm. The catalog is broken down into five sections starting with a subject topic index such as Civilian Conservation Corps, Coal Camps, Churches, etc. The next four sections introduced the interviewees by respective school. There was an attempt to include basic biographic information such as date of birth, location, interviewer name, length of interview, and subjects discussed. However, this information was not always consistent per school. This online project features clips from the interviews, complete transcripts, and photographs. The quality and consistency of the interviews vary due to the fact that they were done largely by students. Most of the photos are missing dates and identifying information. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records, 1965-1989 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1965-1989 Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Scanned by Wetmore, Dana Equipment Hp Scanjet 8200 Scan date 2014-02-19 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Interview with Ollie Blackburn, March 9, 1973 Description An account of the resource Ollie Blackburn was born in Watauga County, North Carolina in 1892. She attended an all girls church school in Valle Crucis when she was 16, after she had a general education. She then lived in Cherryville, North Carolina and Coeburn, Virginia at one point. Mrs. Blackburn explains doing chores around the house and the different activities her family would participate in as a child. She then describes her education and how she met her husband through courting. Mrs. Blackburn's husband is also in the interview, and they about how they got married and moved to different places. While talking about marriage, they explain their theories on raising a family. Mr. Blackburn ends the interview talking discussing his personal experience working in the mines in Kentucky and Virginia. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Lamm, Joy Blackburn, Ollie Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a title="Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989" href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/195" target="_blank">Appalachian Oral History Project Interviews, 1965-1989</a> Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 3/9/1973 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Copyright for the interviews on the Appalachian State University Oral History Collection site is held by Appalachian State University. The interviews are available for free personal, non-commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used (e.g. Appalachian State Collection 111. Appalachian Oral History Project Records, 1965-1989, W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC). Any commercial use of the materials, without the written permission of the Appalachian State University, is strictly prohibited. Extent The size or duration of the resource. 30 pages Language A language of the resource English English Type The nature or genre of the resource document Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 111_tape35_OllieBlackburn_1973_03_09M001 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Todd, NC Subject The topic of the resource Watauga County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century Watauga County (N.C.)--Social life and customs--20th century Virginia--Social life and customs--20th century Kentucky--Social life and customs--20th century Cherryville Kentucky mining Virginia