Shenandoah National Park Oral History Collection

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  (SNP076) Virginia and Robert Kenney interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Sharon G. Marston

  Virginia Kenney

  Records an interview with Virginia and Robert Kenney, who moved to Dickey Ridge in 1942, within the boundaries of Shenandoah National Park, to work in nearby apple orchards. Describes a way of life very similar to that of the mountain people who had only recently been evicted from the area, in terms of farm and livestock production, food preservation and herbal remedies. Mr. Kenney also discusses his service with the local Civilian Conservation Corps, (CCC), and their work on the park and Skyline Drive.

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  (SNP077) Josie Knight interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Peggy C. Bradley

  Josie Knight

  Records the reminiscences of Josie Knight, who lived near Pine Grove in Page County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy. Also mentioned is Deaconess Mary Hutton, an Episcopal missionary who served the mountain people during the 1930s.

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  (SNP078) Howard Lam interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Henry Heatwole

  Howard Lam

  Records an interview with Howard Lam, who lived near Jollett Hollow, in Page County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy, such as the chestnut harvest and moonshine.

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  (SNP079) Zada Lam interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Sharon G. Marston

  Zada Lam

  Records an interview with Zada Lam, who grew up on the Rockingham County side of Swift Run Gap. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy, such as the chestnut harvest and moonshine.

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  (SNP080) Nettie Breeden Lang interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Sharon G. Marston

  Nettie S. Lang

  Records an interview with Nettie Lang, (née Breeden), who grew up in Dark Hollow, in Madison County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy, such as chestnut and ginseng harvesting, bark peeling and moonshine.

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  (SNP081) Robert Layman interviewed by Diane and Eugene Wilhelm

  Robert Layman

  Records part of an interview with Robert Layman, who lived in the Blue Ridge mountains near Nelson County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, traditional farming methods, local Native American groups and the business of moonshine. The comments of Mr. Layman's niece, Hazel Louise Seaman, of Montebello, Va., are interspersed throughout the interview.

  There is no transcript for this interview; interview consists of audio only.

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  (SNP083) Louise Long interviewed by Darwin and Eileen Lambert, transcribed by Peggy C. Bradley

  Louise V. Long

  Records an interview with Louise Long, (née Varner), whose family owned several tracts of grazing land in Rappahannock County, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, prior to the founding of Shenandoah National Park. Describes the extensive cattle industry existing in the Shenandoah Valley from colonial times until the late 1930s. Mrs. Long and her husband, Arthur Long, Jr., oversaw the annual movement of hundreds of head of cattle from surrounding Valley communities to their fertile summer pastures in the mountains.

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  (SNP084) Mae Atkins Long interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Sharon G. Marston

  Mae Atkins Long

  Records an interview with Mae Long, (née Atkins), who grew up in Page County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, including raising livestock, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy, such as chestnut and ginseng harvesting and moonshine.

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  (SNP085) Owen E. Lucas interviewed by Norman Taylor

  Owen E. Lucas

  Records an interview with Owen Lucas, who went to work at Shenandoah National Park as a truck driver in 1946, and would eventually rise to the position of district supervisor for the park. Describes the kinds of work performed by park maintenance crews through the post-war years into the 1980s. Improved equipment and an extensive network of professional staff has allowed the park to consistently improve its facilities to meet the needs of the ever-increasing numbers of visitors. Much of Lucas' work in the early years centered around the maintenance and improvement of Skyline Drive.

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  (SNP086) Herman Mace interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Peggy C. Bradley

  Herman Mace

  Records an interview with Herman Mace, who lived along Madison Run, near the town of Grottoes, in Rockingham County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy, such as chestnut and ginseng harvesting, bark peeling and moonshine. The Mace family also derived additional income from a mineral spring located on their property. Bottled water from this spring was shipped as far away as Philadelphia and Washington, DC, until the family was removed from the land to make way for the park. A brief chemical analysis of the water follows the end of the interview.

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  (SNP087) Howard L. Maiden interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Peggy C. Bradley

  Howard L. Maiden

  Records an interview with Howard Maiden, who grew up near Swift Run, in Rockingham County, Virginia. Mr. Maiden went to work for Shenandoah National Park in 1935, maintaining trails and roads, and was still employed by the park 42 years later, at the time of the interview. Describes home and family life before the advent of the park and his work throughout the entire park system, including his part in the building of Skyline Drive.

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  (SNP088) Cletus McCoy interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith

  Cletus McCoy

  Records a number of bluegrass and gospel tunes played during an impromptu session of mountain music at the McCoy Store, in Stanley, Virginia. Cletus McCoy's store was renown in Page County for hosting weekly pick-up concerts where local musicians would gather to play for the public and pass the hat for donations. Fifty-six tracks were recorded by Dorothy Noble Smith on a portable cassette tape recorder. Smith and others offer brief comments before some songs, but the titles of many others remain unknown. Includes a photocopy of a newspaper interview with Cletus McCoy written by Smith, however, the date and name of the newspaper are not known.

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  (SNP089) Clarice Meadows interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Jeanette Shapiro

  Clarice Meadows

  Records an interview with Clarice Meadows, who taught in the Verbena, Sandy Bottom and Maple Springs schools during the 1920s and 1930s. Describes the challenges of teaching in one- and two-room schoolhouses in those rural, mountain communities, as well as her impressions of her students and their families.

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  (SNP090) Cleadus Meadows interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Sharon G. Marston

  Cleadus A. Meadows

  Records an interview with Cleadus Meadows, who grew up near Thoroughfare Mountain, in Madison County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, including raising livestock, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy, such as chestnut harvesting, tan bark and moonshine.

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  (SNP091) Hazel Meadows interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Peggy C. Bradley

  Hazel Meadows

  Records an interview with Hazel Meadows, (née Colvin), and her friend Alice Long Brien, who lived near Big Meadows, in Page County, Virginia, prior to the advent of Shenandoah National Park. Describes daily life in the mountains, including local agriculture, livestock and food preservation, as well as important cash crops, such as apples and chestnuts, as well as nearby moonshiners. Recalls the traditional remedies used for common ailments and injuries, and community events, including hog butchering and apple butter boilings. Includes an anecdote describing a visit by First Lady Lou Henry Hoover to Mrs. Meadows' mother, when Mrs. Hoover purchased several hand made rugs for the nearby presidential retreat, Camp Hoover.

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  (SNP092) Lena Meadows interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Peggy C. Bradley

  Lena T. Meadows

  Records an interview with Lena Meadows, (née Taylor), who lived near Jollet Hollow, in Page County, Virginia, prior to the advent of Shenandoah National Park. Describes daily life in the mountains, including local agriculture, livestock and food preservation, as well as important cash crops, such as apples, chestnuts, and moonshine. Recalls popular community activities, including storytelling, quilting parties and apple butter boilings.

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  (SNP093) Franklin Miller interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Sharon G. Marston

  Franklin E. Miller

  Records an interview with Franklin and Margaret Miller, who lived in Rocky Branch, near the town of Luray, in Page County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy. Discusses the country store owned by Mrs. Miller's father, Homer Fox, and the mountain people who traded there.

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  (SNP094) Edward Scott and Russell Barlow interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Sharon G. Marston

  Edward B. Scott

  Records an interview with Edward Scott and Russell Barlow. Both men served in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the mid-1930s and worked together in the creation of Shenandoah National Park. Describes daily life and the kinds of work performed by the CCC men in laying out the boundaries of the park and the construction of Skyline Drive. Both men recall their interactions with the local mountain people, moonshiners and President Franklin Roosevelt's visit to dedicate the park in July, 1936. Also present, but unnamed in the transcript, is Mr. Scott's wife, Ella Mae, who contributed throughout the interview.

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  (SNP095) Magdalene Mooney interviewed by Gloria Updike

  Magdalene Mooney

  Records an interview with Magdalene Mooney, (née Simonpietri), who lived and worked at Skyland resort from 1933 to 1935. Describes life at Skyland, the guests and the resort's flamboyant owner, George Freeman Pollock. Includes several anecdotes regarding Pollock's wife, Addie Nairn Pollock, as well as the grand opening of North district of Skyline Drive.

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  (SNP096) Raymond E. Morris interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Sharon G. Marston

  Raymond E. Morris

  Records an interview with Raymond E. Morris, who lived in Simmons Gap, near the town of Elkton, in Rockingham County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy. Discusses popular herbal remedies, hunting and trapping techniques, bark peeling and the moonshine trade.

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  (SNP097) William R. Morris interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith

  William R. Morris

  Records an interview with William Morris, who lived in Bacon Hollow, near the town of Elkton, in Rockingham County, Virginia. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy. Discusses popular pastimes, herbal remedies, holidays, courtship, bark peeling and the moonshine trade. Mr. Morris' wife, Lillian, (née Shiflett), is also present for the interview and contributes throughout.

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  (SNP098) Sattie Mundy interviewed by Amanda Moody, transcribed by Peggy C. Bradley, updated by Mark S. Purington

  Sattie D. Mundy

  Records an interview with Sattie Mundy, (née Good), who spent several summers as a young girl at the Black Rock Springs Hotel, in Black Rock Gap, Virginia. The Black Rock Springs Hotel was a popular tourist destination in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, both for its scenic views and for the natural mineral springs for which it was named. Mrs. Mundy recounts her memories of the grounds and buildings and the popularity of the site in the years following the hotel's destruction by fire in 1909. Includes references to people associated with the hotel and springs, as well as many of the families and local people who lived near the hotel in its heyday. The site where the hotel stood was incorporated into Shenandoah National Park in the 1930s. Also contributing to the interview were Mrs. Mundy's daughter and son-in-law, Marie and Jay Bowman.

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  (SNP099) Edward S. Nicholson interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith and Robin Minter, transcribed by Sharon G. Marston

  Edward S. Nicholson

  Records an interview with Edward Nicholson, who lived in the mountains of Madison County, Virginia until the establishment of Shenandoah National Park. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy. Discusses popular pastimes, herbal remedies, holidays, courtship, and the moonshine trade. Also discusses his memories of local entrepreneur, George Freeman Pollock, owner of Skyland resort. Mr. Nicholson's wife, Nellie, (née Dodson), is also present for the interview and contributes throughout.

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  (SNP100) LeRoy Nicholson interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Peggy C. Bradley

  LeRoy Nicholson

  Records an interview with LeRoy Nicholson, who lived in Weakely Hollow, near Old Rag Mountain, in Madison County, Virginia, until 1929. Describes daily life in the mountains, the means of growing and preserving food and other aspects of the local economy. Discusses popular pastimes, herbal remedies, holidays, courtship, and the moonshine trade. Also discusses his memories of local entrepreneur, George Freeman Pollock, owner of Skyland resort, and his service with the Civilian Conservation Corps during the construction of Skyline Drive.

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  (SNP101) Nelson and Claudia Nicholson interviewed by Dorothy Noble Smith, transcribed by Peggy C. Bradley

  Nelson M. Nicholson

  Records an interview with Nelson Nicholson and his wife, Claudia, who lived in Nicholson Hollow, within the future boundaries of Shenandoah National Park. Describes daily life in the mountains, touching on the work of growing and preserving food, herbal remedies, hunting and fishing. Discusses the limited economic opportunities available to the mountain people, such as the apple and chestnut harvests, bark peeling and moon-shining. Includes references to local entrepreneur, George Freeman Pollock, owner of nearby Skyland resort.