Paul Fink’s Bits of Mountain Speech is a dictionary of “folk speech.” In this work Fink has provided a glossary of terms that are often considered the language of the less educated people of the mountains of Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. They are sometimes archaic, sometimes quaint, and almost always idiomatic. The language Fink examines is a holdover of earlier times when the Scots, Irish, and Welsh settled the region, therefore many of the pronunciations are reminiscent of Celtic languages. Not only does he list unusual words that he has come across, but he also uses them in sentences in order to interpret the word or phrase and clarify its meaning.

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A fictional account of an actual family whose Scotch-Irish ancestors immigrated to western North Carolina in the early nineteenth century, Only When They're Little is an authentic tale of Kate Pickens Day’s family life near Asheville, North Carolina. Published in 1985, this book combats the stereotype of the impoverished mountain people by presenting a new narrative. A middle class family living in a fictional town near Asheville named “Tarpley,” the book centers on an energetic and well educated woman named Cora Barker. Devoted to helping each of her family members excel in their chosen activity, this book is filled with drama, hardship, and the importance of being a good person.

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Concerned with the 50% dropout rate for public high school students in the Southern Highlands, Jim Wayne Miller published this book in 1989 to ensure that young people had access to published works and other text that examine the themes of familiy, community, and work. Miller intended to provide public school teachers with the tools to engage students and stimulate meaningful conversations. Miller produced a work that guides students to reflect on their heritage, see the bigger picture, and develop a broader perspective of human existence.

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This monograph represents a massive effort to assemble printed works of regional materials held by Appalachian Consortium members at various institutions in the Appalachia region during the mid-1970s. The five libraries contributing to the effort formed a committee to formalize and catalogue their research which resulted in the 13,000 entry bibliographic compendium which had grown from a small, local record of several hundred entries. The material was selectively annotated by Charlotte T. Ross, as well as cross referenced with other sources by members of the library committee. At the time of its publication, this work represented the largest bibliography on the Southern Appalachian Region.

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Colonialism in Modern America is a series of essays exploring the economic and social problems of the region within the context of colonialism. It is a relatively simple task to document the social ills and the environmental ravage that beset the people and land of Appalachia. However, it is far more difficult and problematic to uncover the causes of these tragic conditions.

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Published in 1988, this children’s scrapbook is based on an oral history project conducted by Pauline Cheek. Cheek based her fictional characters, Mrs. Gwen Carter, Eugene, Emma, and Ellie, on her own adventures and those of her three children, Edith, Edwin, and Elizabeth. The scrapbook narrates the culture and heritage of the Southern Highlands and has been a great addition to classrooms since its publication.

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Originally published in 1978 and reprinted in this 1979 edition, this checklist and purchase guide for school and community libraries in Appalachia was developed for teachers and librarians interested in building or improving an Appalachian collection. The guide was considered the nucleus of a good Appalachian collection for its time, rather than an exhaustive list.

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This is the second edition, published in 1996, of a workbook designed as a supplementary text for courses on regional studies, geography, history, and social sciences. The text teaches students how to explore issues people face in Appalachia. Data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Appalachian Regional Commission, and other agencies that were originally collected for the first edition, were updated. A section was added on how to use the internet to research and obtain information from the national, regional, and county levels. Dr. Susan E. Keefe contributed an overview of the Appalachian region as the first chapter, titled: "Appalachia and Its People".

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This is the story of the Hallowell family's years in Western North Carolina as related by Barbara Hallowell. She and her family were northeasterners from New Jersey and Pennsylvania and experienced life as an "outsider" when they moved to Hendersonville, North Carolina in the Southern Appalachian region in the early 1970s. Illustrations are by Aline Hansens.

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Published in 1984 in conjunction with the Southern Highlands Institutes for Educators (SHIE), this report was intended to acquaint elementary and secondary teachers with the history and culture of the Appalachian region, and to provide ideas for incorporating these studies into their regular school curriculum. Funded in-part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Miller’s guide synthesized materials and resources on the Appalachian region for teachers. This report updated Miller’s Laurel Leaves report first published back in 1978.

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This is the documentation of an Appalachian Consortium traveling exhibition of Appalachian Art produced in the 1970s. The project was supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C.

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