Vermont Folklife Center Summer Institute

This August, Emily will be teaching a one-day workshop at the Vermont Folklife Center’s Discovering Community Summer Institute at The Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

From the VFC:

Our Discovering Community Summer Institute introduces educators to the methods of ethnographic field research and the techniques of documentary media-making and digital storytelling as a means to facilitate meaningful student involvement with the communities in which they live. Working with community resources and digital media tools offers rich opportunities for personalized, student-led learning experiences. This student-directed research model facilitates the development of transferable skills such as clear and effective communication, responsible and involved citizenship, creative and practical problem solving, and informed and integrative thinking

Thank you to Trish Denton and Mary Wesley of the Vermont Folklife Center for the invitation.

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.

Non-Professional Women Songwriters Workshop at the Lexington Gathering

Join West Virginia state folklorist Emily Hilliard at The Lexington Gathering on Saturday, February 9 for a guided exploration of recordings and ephemera of non-professional women songwriters in Appalachia, including Nora E. Carpenter of Magoffin Co. Kentucky, Shirley Campbell of Kanawha Co. West Virginia, Cora Hairston of Logan Co. West Virginia, Elaine Purkey of Lincoln Co. West Virginia, and Ella Hanshaw of Clay Co. West Virginia. We will celebrate and explore the work of these talented women, including their songwriting scrapbooks and self-documentation, daily creative expression and inspiration, and the importance of their songwriting and musicianship within their own communities.

West Virginia Folklife Progam Receives Gerald E. And Corinne L. Parsons Fund Award

The Gerald E. and Corinne L. Parsons fund was founded by American Folklife Center reference librarian Gerry Parsons (1940-1995) in honor of his parents. Parsons Fund Awards provide support to bring people to the Library of Congress to make use of primary ethnographic materials housed at AFC and elsewhere at the Library.

Emily Hilliard, West Virginia’s State Folklorist, was awarded a Parsons Fund Award for a one-week research trip to research AFC’s collection of sound recordings, photographs, field notes, and ephemera related to West Virginia, focusing particularly on archival content related to African Americans and other cultural communities whose “presence and contributions are often marginalized in historical and vernacular culture narratives of the Mountain State.” Her research will inform ongoing and future work of the West Virginia Folklife Program and culminate in a series of multimedia blog posts.

Brown University's Public Work Podcast- Episode 06: Emily Hilliard on Folklore, West Virginia, and Documenting Contemporary Labor Movements

"What role does folklore play in modern life? What is folklore, anyway? In this episode, Amelia Golcheski interviews West Virginia state folklorist Emily Hilliard to learn why folklore is more than just myths and legends. It can also be about labor movements, local histories, and even the “right” way to eat a hot dog. Amelia and Emily also discuss the recent teachers’ strike in West Virginia, misconceptions about life in so-called “Trump Country,” and approaches to public humanities that are invested in showing the importance of regional history."

Listen via Public Work