Folklorist: West Virginia’s Important Stories Must Be Documented
Hanna Perry West Virginia's former state folklorist told an audience at the Ohio County Public Library that, in order to hold onto the stories and memories that we share with one another, it is important that we take the time to document them.
The library held its Lunch With Books event Tuesday with guest speaker Emily Hilliard, the West Virginia State Folklorist from 2015-21, the founding director of the West Virginia Folklife Program and author of the book "Making Our Future" that came out on Nov. 22.
During her talk Tuesday, Hilliard said that, without things like photographs, video recordings, voice recordings and other modern technology, there wouldn't be a way to properly document our memories. It is important to hold onto memories tightly. Without them, she said, we would forget the moments in life that we hold onto so dearly.
Like many states, West Virginia in itself has a rich and unique history. Hilliard's book dives deep into some of the state's interesting history. Among the topics in "Making Our Future" were in the chapters of her book are the Scotts Run Museum, different state songwriters she has met, the Swiss community of Helvetia, Breece D'J Pancake of Milton, the teachers’ strike of 2018, the history of how West Virginians eat their hot dogs, pro wrestling in the Mountain State, and the video game "Fallout 76," which features the state as its backdrop.
The book's description notes that Hilliard "draws from her work as a state folklorist, it explores contemporary folklife in the state of West Virginia and challenges the common perception of both folklore and Appalachian culture as static, antiquated forms, offering instead the concept of 'visionary folklore, as a future-focused materialist, and collaborative approach to cultural work."
Hilliard noted during her presentation that she grew up in Indiana but when she was living in Washington D.C., she had applied for the job to be the West Virginia Folklorist. Even before that, she said, she had visited West Virginia and had an interest in it.
Now she's heading West Virginia's Folklife Program, which is dedicated to the documentation, preservation, presentation, and support of West Virginia's cultural heritage and living traditions.
"I think of of the things that I wanted to start at the West Virginia State Folklife Program," she said. "I think Jenny Williams, the new West Virginia state folklorist, is going to start a community documenters program that will offer classes so people can learn how to do interviews and take good recordings so that they can interview members of their own community like practitioners and artists."
She also encourages people to interview their elders so that they can learn what it was like for them while they were growing up. She added that, with the use of smartphones, it is quite easy to record the conversations that people have with someone. She also noted that there is a StoryCorp app that you can use that allows you to upload interviews that you do to the Library of Congress so that they can be preserved.