Documenting Appalachian Culture: The Transmission of Cultural Heritage Information

The people of Appalachia historically represent an American cultural group strongly influenced by the relative isolation afforded by its geographic location within the Appalachian Mountains. The region and its culture have attracted much attention since the Great Depression era when government workers began constructing roads in the mountains; yet little research documenting Appalachian culture has been conducted. The Crossnore School, founded in the Appalachians of western North Carolina in the early twentieth century, was established with a Weaving Room that still functions today. A group of weavers hand-weaves products to sell and also teaches interested students their craft. While the act of weaving embodies a cultural tradition, the process of teaching and learning the practice epitomizes an aspect of intangible cultural heritage. Through semistructured interviews with a sample of stakeholders of the Crossnore School, this research study will explore and record an undocumented aspect of Appalachian culture