Search Constraints

You searched for: Contributor Hilliard, Emily Remove constraint Contributor: Hilliard, Emily

Search Results


Listen to Audio

Listen to Audio
["Joanna Gusta (November 13, 1931-March 9, 2020) was a Wheeling, WV native and elder in Wheelings Greek community. She was an alumni of Bethany College a member of St. John, The Divine Greek Orthodox Church. In this interview, she speaks about her memories of the Greek community in Wheeling, and the Wheeling immigrant community in general. Her obituary is pasted below. Joanna Gusta, 88, resident of Wheeling, WV, passed away Monday, March 9, 2020 at Good Shepherd Nursing Home.She was born in Wheeling on November 13, 1931, daughter of the late Gero and Helen Papazoglou Gusta George. After her fathers passing, Joanna and her mother resided with the John Anast family in Wheeling until Mrs. Gustas marriage to Mike George.Joanna was a graduate of Bethany College and a member of Zeta Tau Alpha, Theta Chapter. She retired in 1988 with 30 years of service with the WV Department of Occupation working in the Employment Security and Unemployment Compensation Department. Prior to her employment with the State of WV, Joanna was employed at Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company in the Export Department. She was a member of St. John, The Divine Greek Orthodox Church where she was a longtime member and former director of the church choir and was a volunteer for church activities. She was a member of the Wheeling Civic Garden Center and a volunteer for the tax preparation group at the Ohio County Library. Most of all, Joanna was a beloved neighbor and friend.In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her stepfather, Mike George. Surviving are two cousins, Rev. and Mrs. Stephan Knight of Santee, CA and Desi Gallmeister of Los Gatos, CA."]

Listen to Audio

Listen to Audio

Listen to Audio
["W.I. Bill Hairston, 71, is a storyteller, old-time musician, and pastor (Westminster Presbyterian Church) living in Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in Phenix City, Alabama, and his family moved to Saint Albans, West Virginia in 1960 when he was 11. Through his storytelling, Hairston, as he says in the interview, combines the Appalachian culture that he was exposed to on the Coal River, to the African-American culture that he is a part of. For 35 years, he served as music coordinator at the Stonewall Jackson Jubilee, and is currently the coordinator of the Vandalia Gatherings West Virginia Liars Contest. Hairston is an active member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild, the Kentucky Storytelling Association, and the Ohio Storytelling Network, the National Association of Black Storytellers, and serves as the West Virginia liaison to the National Storytelling Network. He has performed in concerts, festivals, libraries, corporate meetings, conventions and schools throughout the region and the country.  This interview is a follow-up to Emily Hilliards September 10, 2019 interview with Hairston. In this interview, Hairston discusses his participation in the last segregated Black 4-H Camp at Camp Washington-Carver, and the first integrated 4-H Camp at Jacksons Mill. He also speaks about his summer job with the Department of Natural Resources and his involvement in the United Methodist Youth Fellowship when he was young."]
["W.I. Bill Hairston, 71, is a storyteller, old-time musician, and pastor (Westminster Presbyterian Church) living in Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in Phenix City, Alabama, and his family moved to Saint Albans, West Virginia in 1960 when he was 11. Through his storytelling, Hairston, as he says in the interview, combines the Appalachian culture that he was exposed to on the Coal River, to the African-American culture that he is a part of. For 35 years, he served as music coordinator at the Stonewall Jackson Jubilee, and is currently the coordinator of the Vandalia Gatherings West Virginia Liars Contest. Hairston is an active member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild, the Kentucky Storytelling Association, and the Ohio Storytelling Network, the National Association of Black Storytellers, and serves as the West Virginia liaison to the National Storytelling Network. He has performed in concerts, festivals, libraries, corporate meetings, conventions and schools throughout the region and the country.  In this interview, Hairston speaks about growing up in one of three Black families in the Lick Skillet area of Saint Albans along the Coal River, his interest in and work with rural West Virginia old-time musicians and 4-H camps, his friendship with Frank and Jane George, experiences with racism in West Virginia, and his work and mission as an Appalachian storyteller."]

Listen to Audio
["Cora Lee (Phillips) Hairston (b. 1942, Sarah Anne, WV) is a musician and writer from Logan County, West Virginia. She and her husband Fred, also a musician, currently live in Omar, West Virginia. Cora Hairston is the author of two novels, Faces Behind the Dust and Hello World Here Comes Claraby Rose, both fictionalized accounts based on her childhood growing up in a Black coal camp. She spoke about her childhood, her music, and her writing practice."]

Listen to Audio
["Diana Hamilton (b. October 1955), is a native of Cool Ridge, West Virginia. She has worked at King Tut Drive-In restaurant in Beckley for 40 years and has been the manager for 20 years."]