The Appalachian Retelling Project

07/09/2024

Follow along with Kentucky to the World for a series about Appalachian representation written by this project’s creator!

From heartfelt family stories in coal camps to the damaging portrayals in mainstream media, Elon Justice has witnessed how narratives can uplift or distort. Inspired by this, she founded The Appalachian Retelling Project to reclaim Appalachian voices and break down harmful stereotypes.

Discover more in our latest post: https://www.kentuckytotheworld.org/blog/breaking-down-appalachian-stereotypes-how-a-charity-episode-of-american-idol-turned-me-into-a-media-scholar

Shoutout to our partners at Accelerate KY! We are excited to bring you many stories highlighting the work of the creators in the Civic Imagination Incubator.

25/06/2024

NEW POST! Last July, we hosted our first in-person storytelling workshop at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, KY, where attendees shared stories of their experience with Appalachian culture. Read participants’ conversations and listen to some of the stories shared at the link in bio.

25/06/2024

NEW POST! Last July, we hosted our first in-person storytelling workshop at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, KY, where attendees shared stories of their experience with Appalachian culture. Read participants' conversations and listen to some of the stories shared at the link below.

Photographs courtesy of Roger Strunk.On July 8, 2023, a small group of people from around Eastern Kentucky gathered at the Mountain Arts Center in Prestonsburg, KY for The Appalachian Retelling Project’s first-ever storytelling workshop. The theme of the event, broadly, was Appalachian culture. Pa...

01/04/2024

In January 2022, I traveled to Fleming County High School to see how they were rethinking what a successful high school education could look like. For a thousand reasons I won't get into here, I'm just finishing editing this video over 2 years later. A huge thank you to principal Austin Hart for showing me around and for his tremendous patience since then!

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A high school in Fleming County, KY is taking an unconventional approach to education. At Fleming County High School, students have the option to focus on both college and career-ready education pathways, acquiring hands-on experience in welding, automotive repair, nursing, farming, and more. Combining career-readiness with traditional education in math, English, and science, test scores are higher than ever and students say they feel prepared for the life they want after graduation.

Watch the video at the link below!

12/12/2023

We're back with a new Guest Post. Returning contributor P.K. Compton shares his recollections of the 1958 bus crash in Floyd County, KY, that resulted in the deaths of dozens of students and forever changed the community.

It’s been said that no matter how painful something is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster. Those words pale in comparison to the experience that the people of Floyd County, Kentucky went through on the cold and rainy Friday morning of February 28, 1958. The small community of Prestonsb...

17/08/2023

Check out our creator Elon Justice’s interview with Will and Neil Warren of Appalachia Meets World! Together, they discuss the impact of Appalachian media representation, what inspired the creation of Appalachian Retelling, and the importance of local stories.

"Challenging the Appalachian narrative, one story at a time!" In this episode, Neil and Will sit down with the Appalachian, the Filmmaker, the Writer and Storyteller - Elon Justice. Upon working on her graduate school thesis, she came to the realization that "stories - Appalachian stories - have pow...

17/05/2023

Check out our creator Elon Justice’s interview with the Story Made podcast! She talks Appalachian stereotypes, the inspiration behind this project, and her own experience navigating perceptions of Appalachia in and out of the region.

New Episode ‼️🎧 Our conversation this week is with Elon Justice - filmmaker, writer, creator of the and child of Pikeville, Kentucky.

"Challenging the narrative of Appalachia - one story at a time." Raised in Eastern Kentucky, Elon heard stories from her family that taught her who she is and where she comes from - and to be proud of it. But she also saw firsthand how negative, steretypical images of her home had the power to cause harm to the people and places she loved. So she decided to do something to change that.

Rooted in co-creation, the Appalachian Retelling Project shares stories that lift unheard voices and give an honest glance into what it means to be from the mountains. The people of Appalachia are tired of others talking about who they are, so this is a space for them to talk back. "Mountains stories, on our own terms" - as they should be told.

In this episode, Elon talks about growing up in Pikeville, the influence of her family, her first recollections of Appalachian stereotypes, moving away for college, her wild and powerful journey to the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT), why she started the retelling project, co-creation and community-based storytelling, and much more. I hope you listen!

Location: BitSource on Hambley Ave. in Pikeville, KY.

Links in bio to listen. Please share and subscribe to our podcast! 🙏🏼

12/04/2023

On Saturday, February 4, 2023, the historic gym in Wayland, Kentucky saw its first high school basketball game in over 50 years as the Mountain Sports Hall of Fame hosted its first ever Throwback Game. The game, a face-off between Floyd County Central and Knott County Central high schools, paid homage to two Eastern Kentucky high schools lost to consolidation in the 1970s.

During the game, Floyd Central’s team wore Wayland Wasp jerseys, while Knott Central players represented the Hindman Yellowjackets. Displays of memorabilia from schools throughout Eastern Kentucky – most no longer in existence – lined the walls of the gym’s second floor. Cheerleaders wore retro uniforms and performed cheers popular during the schools’ heydays. And the gym, looking much as it did when it was built in 1937, was packed with young and old basketball fans alike.

Read more about the event and what it meant to the community of Wayland on the blog: https://www.theappalachianretellingproject.com/post/honoring-eastern-kentucky-s-consolidated-schools

04/04/2023

NEW ESSAY! In our final student submission, Letcher Central senior Callie Creech sums up this series perfectly: Stories bring us together. Check out her essay (and her awesome original artwork!) on the importance of storytelling in her own life as an Appalachian at the link below!

That’s a wrap on this series - a huge thank you to all the students who shared their stories! If you are a high school or college educator who’s interested in working together on a series like this, our DMs are open 🤓

"Stories Bring Us Together" by Callie Creech. Growing up in Appalachia means growing up being told hundreds of folk tales and stories in hundreds of different forms. As a child the things I remember most are creative plays, stories in the form of music, and competitions where Appalachians would put....

28/03/2023

“This is but a mere glimpse at the way of life for many hardworking Appalachians. Hundreds of thousands of people live within the hills and hollers that surround our home, each and every one with a different personality and a different trait. We all stick together, we all work to survive, we all have a role to play in the community.”

In our second to last student submission, Letcher Central senior Micah Turner shares a glimpse into the many facets of life that exist around him in Appalachia. Check out his photo essay “The Appalachian Way” at the link below!

When you hear the word “Appalachian,” the words “redneck” or “hillbilly”, often follow or are considered synonymous. In most portrayals, we Appalachians are depicted as helpless, mindless individuals who need someone who is “better” than us to survive. This inaccurate depiction has s...

21/03/2023

New video! In this week’s student submission, Letcher Central junior Rebekah McAuley and senior Abigail McDougal explore the ways that Appalachian people have historically and continue to make use of the natural resources around them.

Watch their video “Within the Mountains” at the link below!

Produced by Rebekah McAuley and Abigail McDougal. “Within the Mountains" highlights ways that Appalachian people have historically and continue to make use of the natural resources around them. Rebekah McAuley is a junior at Letcher County Central High School in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Rebekah spent...

14/03/2023

New post! In this week’s Student Submission, three Letcher Central seniors share their personal experiences in the aftermath of the July 2022 flooding that devastated Eastern Kentucky. In this podcast segment, Halle, Hanna, and Skyler discuss how they and their community came together during an incredibly difficult time.

Check out their podcast segment “From the Other Side of the Water” at the link below!

Produced by Hanna Maggard, Halle Kincer, and Skyler Holbrook. This podcast gives insight into the personal experiences of three students during the July 2022 floods in Eastern Kentucky and how they saw their community come together in this trying time. Halle Kincer is a senior at Letcher County Cent...