Berea College

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If asked to think of products from Appalachia, people are inclined to imagine objects that are rustic, quaint, homespun or simple, but many things made in the region break this stereotype. This virtual exhibit highlights many examples.

Made in Appalachia: Beyond Cabins, Crafts and Coal

Before people bought online, they used mail order. Shoppers browsed printed catalogues and selected products.  They sent money and order forms through postal mail.  Several weeks later, exciting packages arrived.

Before Amazon: Mail Order in Appalachia

One aspect of Appalachian Studies is exploration of the Appalachian stereotype.  Most of the published research has focused on such stereotypes in movies, literature, and cartoons.  However, the stereotype also is found in "the material world." Each of the artifacts in this exhibit leverages different aspects of the stereotype.

Hillbilly Stereotypes in Material Objects

This guide is based on the summer 2012 dulcimer exhibit project. The exhibit showed in the main gallery of the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center from August 2012 through July 2013.

Mountain Dulcimers

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The development of Bally's Dolly Parton themed pinball machine during 1978-79 presents an interesting case study in Appalachian and rural identity.

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Dolly Parton Pinball Machine 

This guide is an exploration into the hillbilly stereotype as found on YouTube.

Hillbilly Stereotypes in Media and Performance

The Edna Lynn Simms Collection consists of artifacts from an area around present-day Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Edna Lynn Simms/East Tennessee Sub-Collection

For the last 40 years, <em>Appalachian Heritage</em> has been studying over a storm, or maybe it has been calling one up.

40 Years of Appalachian Heritage Literary Quarterly

Student Curatorial Associate Matt Heil researched and described these firearms. Student Curatorial Associate Travis Rigg edited this guide. Necessary technical adjustments were done by Shadia Prater in 2015.

Firearms

The quilt includes of the names of many abolitionist families from that region of Ohio.  The quilt is a prized artifact of Berea College history and a wonderful example of a pre-Civil War friendship quilt.

Fee Friendship Quilt

his guide is based on the Digital Library of Appalachia quilt documentation project of 2005. Student Curatorial Associate Brittney Westbrook selected the quilts, compiled the information, and photographed the quilts.

Quilts

An overshot coverlet is type of bed covering or bedspread.  It is a woven fabric with a colored yarn making a pattern over a neutral yarn.

Coverlets

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Selected pieces from this online exhibit were featured in the 2014 Senior Art Exhibition in Berea College’s Upper and Lower Traylor Art Galleries as part of recent Berea College graduate Danielle Owens’ senior art project.

Virtual Exhibits

Virtual Exhibits