Transcript of vox pop interviews with West Virginia teachers, students, state employees, and union members at the West Virginia Teachers' Strike rally at the state capitol
Date:
2018-02-26
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Strikes and lockouts--Teachers, Labor union members, Teachers' unions--United States, Labor disputes--West Virginia, United Mine Workers of America, and West Virginia Capitol Complex (Charleston, W. Va.)
Transcript of vox pop interviews with West Virginia teachers, students, state employees, and union members at the West Virginia Teachers' Strike rally at the state capitol
Date:
2018-02-27
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily, Kunkel, Cathy, and O'Neal, Jay
Subject:
Strikes and lockouts--Teachers, Teachers' unions--United States, Labor union members, Labor disputes--West Virginia, and West Virginia Capitol Complex (Charleston, W. Va.)
Transcript of speeches of and interviews with students participating in the rally at the West Virginia State Capitol in support of striking teachers
Date:
2018-03-02
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Labor union members, Labor disputes--West Virginia, Strikes and lockouts--Teachers, Teachers' unions--United States, Public schools--Employees, West Virginia Capitol Complex (Charleston, W. Va.), and Teaching
Racism, Old-time music, School integration, Hairston, Bill, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music, Folk music--West Virginia, 4-H clubs, Storytelling, Folklore, African Americans--Appalachian Region, and Walker, John Homer
![["On February 22, 2018, thousands of West Virginia public school teachers and school service employees walked out of their classrooms in what would become a nine-day statewide strike. Teachers demands included a 5% raise and affordable healthcare coverage through the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency or PEIA. These photos are part of a series of photos, videos, and interviews documenting the labor lore and expressive culture of the 2018 and 2019 West Virginia Teachers Strike.For more information on the 2018 and 2019 West Virginia Teachers Strike visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2454"]](/thumb/4224WVTeachersStrikeIntTranscript22618 "Transcript of vox pop interviews with West Virginia teachers, students, state employees, and union members at the West Virginia Teachers' Strike rally at the state capitol")
![["On February 22, 2018, thousands of West Virginia public school teachers and school service employees walked out of their classrooms in what would become a nine-day statewide strike. Teachers demands included a 5% raise and affordable healthcare coverage through the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency or PEIA. These photos are part of a series of photos, videos, and interviews documenting the labor lore and expressive culture of the 2018 and 2019 West Virginia Teachers Strike.For more information on the 2018 and 2019 West Virginia Teachers Strike visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2454"]](/thumb/4224WVTeachersStrikeIntTranscript22718 "Transcript of vox pop interviews with West Virginia teachers, students, state employees, and union members at the West Virginia Teachers' Strike rally at the state capitol")
![["On February 22, 2018, thousands of West Virginia public school teachers and school service employees walked out of their classrooms in what would become a nine-day statewide strike. Teachers demands included a 5% raise and affordable healthcare coverage through the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency or PEIA. These interviews are part of a series of photos, videos, and interviews documenting the labor lore and expressive culture of the 2018 and 2019 West Virginia Teachers Strike.For more information on the 2018 and 2019 West Virginia Teachers Strike visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2454"]](/thumb/4224WVTeachersStrikeIntTranscript3218 "Transcript of speeches of and interviews with students participating in the rally at the West Virginia State Capitol in support of striking teachers")
![["Yvonne Tuchalski was born in Steubenville, OH in 1958 and moved to Weirton, West Virginia in 1965. She is a member of the Weirton Polish and Slavic communities and is a palm weaver and Polish dancer."]](/thumb/4224TuchalskiYvonneIntTranscript6202016 "Transcript of oral history of Yvonne Tuchalski")
![["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."]](/thumb/4224HairstonBillIntTranscript91019 "Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston")
![["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."]](/thumb/4224HairstonBillAudioInt121520 "Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston")
![["Vernon John Burky was born to a Swiss family in Helvetia, West Virginia in 1925. He grew up speaking Swiss on his family farm, where his parents raised animals and managed a sawmill, and his grandparents operated a cheese house. They made Helvetia cheese, a type of Swiss cheese, similar to Emental, that was made throughout the Helvetia community and a staple in the diet of residents. As a child, Burky raised chickens and tapped maple trees on his family farm. As an adult, he was an active winemaker, a common pursuit in the Helvetia community. During his working years, Burky worked as a truck driver for a saw mill and a coal company. He learned to play fiddle as a child and started playing in the Helvetia Star Band, the local dance band for generations and the namesake of one of the villages two dance halls. He still plays in the group, which performs regularly for Helvetia square dances and events. Yeah; just kept that smokehouse full of smoke all day and night. Theyd put a big hunk of wood on it; it wouldnt burn but it--they had fire under it and it would sit there and smoke that little room half as big as this. They just smoked up tight. They had the sausage on rods; nothing could come in or get up on there. There it would sit; it was just dried up real solid and my uncle was--I stayed with my uncle when I was in high school. And he said, hey Vernon; come over here. (Laughs) He had rheumatism and he couldnt move around. He was in bed all winter. Go up there to the smokehouse and get me a link of that sausage. (Laughs) And Id go up and clip one of them off and bring it down. Hed get a hold of one piece and put the rest under the pillow and hed start eating that. He wasnt supposed to have red meat because of rheumatism.This interview is part of a series of interviews conducted with foodways practitioners in Helvetia, West Virginia, as part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/"]](/thumb/4224BurkyVernonIntTranscript111416 "Transcript of oral history of Vernon Burky")
![["Trevor Hammons is a 17-year old banjo player and fiddler from Pocahontas County, and a member of the legendary musical Hammons Family. He is the only member of the Hammons Family who still actively plays music in the familys old-time tradition."]](/thumb/4224HammonsTrevorIntTranscript41918 "Transcript of oral history of Trevor Hammons")
![["Thomas W. Zielinsky is a member of Weirton, West Virginias Polish community. He is a member of Sacred Heart of Mary Church in Weirton, WV, where he plays at their annual Polish Festival and biannual Polka Mass. Interview conducted at the Mary H. Weir public library in Weirton. Transcripts proofed by Tom Zielinsky."]](/thumb/4224ZielinskyTomIntTranscript82316 "Transcript of oral history of Thomas W. Zielinsky")
![["Thomas Toliver, 87, at the time of the interview, is an urban gardener of the West Side of Charleston. He works in prisons as a mentor, and has taken in children of incarcerated people through his organization Family Youth in Development Service, Men and Children of Prisoners. In his urban garden, he is particularly interested in working with unhoused people. Toliver grew up working on a plantation-like estate in the Charleston neighborhood of South Hills, where his father was a gardener and chauffeur and his mother was a maid. Toliver was interviewed by producer Aaron Henkin with Emily Hilliard as part of the Out of the Blocks podcasts two episodes on Charlestons West Side. Learn more: https://wvfolklife.org/2020/01/17/out-of-the-blocks-podcast-highlights-charlestons-west-side-west-virginia-folklife-hosts-listening-party-february-12/"]](/thumb/4224ToliverThomasIntTranscript112219 "Transcript of oral history of Thomas Toliver")
![["Thomas Fred Hogan (b. September 3, 1957, Danville, KY) has been a Kroger worker for over 45 years and is a shop steward for his local chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union. He currently works as a clerk at Kroger store 778, on Delaware Ave. on the West Side of Charleston. In this interview, Hogan speaks about the recent contract negotiations with Kroger, and his experience as a grocery store essential worker during the COVID-19 pandemic. This interview is part of a collection of interviews with UFCW member Kroger workers conducted remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic."]](/thumb/4224HoganThomasFredIntTranscript12420 "Transcript of oral history of Thomas Fred Hogan")
![["Tammy Fowler and her husband Bob are the owners of Trophy Antiques and Hair at Five Corners on the West Side of Charleston. They manage estate sales, sell antiques, and cut hair out of their shop. Fowler grew up on a farm in Mason County, where her mother taught her the antiques business. In this interview, Fowler talks about her two trades, gives a tour of her shop, shares her hairstyling philosophy, and reflects on her relationships with her customers. Fowler was interviewed by WYPR producer Aaron Henkin with state folklorist Emily Hilliard as part of the Out of the Blocks podcasts two episodes on Charlestons West Side. Learn more: https://wvfolklife.org/2020/01/17/out-of-the-blocks-podcast-highlights-charlestons-west-side-west-virginia-folklife-hosts-listening-party-february-12/"]](/thumb/4224FowlerTammyIntTranscript112219 "Transcript of oral history of Tammy Fowler")