In my folklore work, I’ve been exploring ways to reignite public folklore’s engagement with labor, so I was particularly excited when a rep from the National Rural Letter Carrier’s Association (the rural letter carriers union) reached out to me a few months ago after reading my Jacobin piece on the potential impact of US Postal Service privatization on rural communities.
As a result of that conversation, I’ll be participating in two NRLCA events next week in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the USPS, in Jefferson County, West Virginia, where Rural Free Delivery delivery was born 129 years ago.
On Thursday 7/24, colleagues at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, Iowa Historical Society, and I will be presenting on the history and contemporary iteration of rural mail at the Shepherdstown Opera House. On Friday 7/25, I’ll be moderating a panel on the vital role of rural mail carriers in their communities with two West Virginia rural mail carriers, policy experts, and the president of the NRLCA Don Maston at Shepherd University’s Byrd Center.
You can find more info and register to attend in-person or online here: https://www.protectpostalworkers.com/usps-250th-anniversary-event-registration
Long live the USPS!
Rural Free Delivery Collection Now Available via the Library of Congress
I'm pleased to share that my 2021 Archie Green Fellowship Occupational Folklife project Rural Free Delivery: Mail Carriers in Central Appalachia is now accessible via the Library of Congress.
The project documents the value of rural carriers to their communities and includes interviews with 25 rural mail carriers and clerks in Appalachian regions of Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia, and Ohio, as well as photos of rural post offices.
There are also some choice videos of retired rural mail carrier, guitar maker, and National Heritage Fellow Wayne Henderson jamming with current rural carrier Brian Grim, and Merle Haggard's guitarist Redd Volkaert (I found that many rural mail carriers are also musicians).
Read more about the project in this interview on the American Folklife Center blog.
West Virginia Mine Wars Museum's Blair 100 Kickoff Event
I’m really looking forward to the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum's Battle of Blair Mountain Centennial Kickoff Event, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain, and focusing specifically on the importance of music and poetry as expressions of solidarity during the Mine Wars.
Featured musicians include blues harmonica player and National Heritage Fellow Phil Wiggins & West Virginia folklorist and musician Gerry Milnes, both of whom are featured in the film and soundtrack of John Sayles' 1987 film Matewan. Honored to be saying a few words alongside Crystal Good, Doris A. Fields, and more.
The Lexington Gathering: To Live Here, You Have To Fight, Jessica Wilkerson in Conversation
Honored to be in conversation with Jessica Wilkerson about her essential new book, To Live Here, You Have To Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice, at the 2020 Lexington Gathering in Lexington, KY, February 8, 2020.
Learn more at The Lexington Gathering
55 Strong: Inside the West Virginia Teachers' Strike at Malaprops Bookstore, March 15
“Jessica Salfia and Emily Hilliard present 55 Strong: Inside the West Virginia Teachers' Strike at Malaprops Bookstore in Asheville, March 15, 2019 at 7pm.
What compelled West Virginia's teachers to strike? How did they organize? What were teachers and allies doing during the strike? And how is the West Virginia labor movement celebrating its victory? 55 Strong: Inside the West Virginia Teachers' Strike answers these questions and offers unique, on-the-ground insight into this historic strike. The book includes essays by teachers from around the state, organizing documents, images from the picket lines, and material on the history of the labor movement in West Virginia.
Jessica Salfia is an activist, writer, and teacher in the West Virginia public school system.
Emily Hilliard is a West-Virginia based folklorist and writer.”
Find more information about the reading here.