Weatherford Award

Berea College and the Appalachian Studies Association annually present the Weatherford Award to the authors of one nonfiction work, one fiction work, and a new award for poetry, presented in honor of Dr. Grace Toney Edwards, which in its year best illuminates the challenges, personalities, and unique qualities of the Appalachian South. The conferring of this annual $500 award in each of the three categories has come to be recognized as a major Appalachian event.

Established and supported for 19 years by the late Alfred Perrin, retired publications director of Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati, the awards commemorate the life and achievements of W.D. Weatherford, Sr., a pioneer and leading figure for many years in Appalachian development, youth work and race relations, and of his son, Willis D. Weatherford, Jr., late Berea College President.  The new poetry Weatherford honors the life and work of Dr. Grace Toney Edwards, former Director of the Appalachian Regional Studies Center at Radford University.