Scholarship and Creativity
From the beginning, as part of its research and education mission, the Center and its predecessors supported a broad range of scholarly and creative projects related to the Appalachian region.
Print Publications
Encyclopedia of Appalachia
In 2006, the Center's staff saw the culmination of more than ten years of work with the publication of the Encyclopedia of Appalachia (edited by Jean Haskell and Rudy Abramson). Supported by more than $400,000 in grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Appalachian Regional Commission, and others, the Encyclopedia was a comprehensive reference tool, including over 2,000 entries spread across thirty topical sections. The Encyclopedia was used by a range of audiences, including scholars, educators, policy makers, and students, and was well-received due to its accuracy, comprehensiveness, and broad scope.
In 2023, faculty and staff began the process of revising the Encyclopedia and transforming it into an open-access, online resource. Generous funding from the NEH and the ARC has enabled substantial progress on the project and allowed it to stay on track for completion in the late 2020s.
Appalachian Places / Now and Then Magazine
From 1984 until 2016 Center faculty and staff published the award-winning magazine Now and Then: The Appalachian Magazine, which featured articles, essays, poems, photographs, and other features by leading scholars and writers throughout the region. The magazine's editors included Fred Waage (1984-1986), Pat Arnow (1986-1994), Jane H. Woodside (1995-2004), Norma R. Wilson (2005), Fred Sauceman (2006-2015), and Randy Sanders (2016).
In 2021, the magazine relaunched as the online publication Appalachian Places, edited by Rebecca Fletcher, Ron Roach, and Mark Rutledge, increasing the publication’s reach and enabling the incorporation of multimedia content.
Additional Publications
For more than two decades the Center was an active partner in the Appalachian Consortium Press, which published over forty books and recordings about southern and central Appalachia. In addition, the Center has produced an impressive list of books, albums, periodicals, and documentary films under its own imprint. Some of its supported books include Some Ballad Folks, by Thomas Burton; A Southern Appalachian Reader, edited by Nellie McNeil and Joyce Squibb; A Day Before Yesterday: Appalachia, by Kenneth Murray; and The Last Empire Builder: A Life of George L. Carter, by Ray Stahl and Ned Irwin.
Expressive Culture
Audio and Moving Image Recordings
The Center released audio recordings including Here and Now, by David Grindstaff; The Gospel Truth, by the Margaret Venable Family and Friends; A Carrying Stream, by the ETSU Celtic Band; Appalachian Shamisan, by The Last Frontier featuring Takeharu Kunimoto; and East Tennessee State University Bluegrass Band. The Center also supported documentary films such as Ray Hicks and Other Beech Mountain Folks; Appalachia: A Visual Concert, featuring photographs by Edward Schell and music by Kenton Coe, and Ramps and Ruritans: Tales of the Revered and Reeking Leek of Flag Pond, Tennessee by Fred Sauceman, one in a series of films on regional foodways.
Visual Art
Since 1984 the Center has supported the work of Appalachian artists such as Sammie L. Nicely, Margaret Gregg, Bill Capshaw, and Andrew Moore that include media such as ceramics, textiles, paintings, sculpture, and other modes of creating visual art. The Reece Museum and the Center have commissioned original works of art, and many curators have collaborated with museum staff to produce award-winning exhibitions highlighting the creativity of Appalachians.