Too much of Appalachian history is still told through stereotypes, while the people who actually shaped this region are pushed to the margins of the story.

Kentucky students should learn more about the Appalachian women, Indigenous people, Black and Affrilachian communities, workers, artists, organizers, caregivers and families whose lives helped shape not only Appalachia, but Kentucky and the United States as a whole. Their contributions to labor, culture, music, literature, community life, activism, traditional knowledge and American history deserve more than a passing mention.

Appalachian children should be able to see their communities represented as places of knowledge, creativity and history, not simply as stories of poverty, coal mines or “hillbillies.”

That is the purpose behind Her Appalachia.

Her Appalachia will be an oral-history project and podcast dedicated to recording and preserving the firsthand stories of Appalachian women and historically overlooked communities. Through interviews, family histories and community storytelling, the project will create a record of experiences that might otherwise disappear with the generations carrying them.

My hope is that these stories can eventually become educational resources too, giving teachers and students access to real Appalachian voices as primary sources.

I want to encourage Kentucky schools to incorporate more Appalachian history into what students already learn, with greater attention to the women and minority communities whose stories have too often been left out.

Because Appalachian history is American history.

And the people who lived it deserve to have their stories recorded, preserved and taught.