Physician. Historian.
West Virginia has a wealth of ghost stories. The Telltale Lilac Bush is a well-known collection of them. West Virginia schoolchildren read it yearly as they learn about West Virginia history and culture. However, my absolute favorite ghost story growing up was one from my family. My Grandpa Jim told it to my dad who…
“Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise” was something I heard a lot growing up. It’s one of my favorite Appalachian sayings. It acknowledges that we can hope for the best but that even our best plans may be washed away. It embodies that particular Appalachian mindset that accepts the way things are, is deeply…
What is Polio? The oldest documentation of polio dates back to the time of the ancient Egyptians. Carvings and paintings from that time period show adults and children walking with canes and visibly deformed legs. However, it wasn’t until the 19th century, as medicine was embracing scientific principles of diagnosis and description, that a standardized…
This year has been an exhausting year for all of us, and we have all faced our own struggles in our own lives. In healthcare, we have been forced to deal with the emergence of the COVID pandemic, with all of its attendant suffering. Healthcare workers are constantly adapting to new information, worried about being…
It was early in the morning on November 20, 1968 when an explosion rocked the small town of Farmington, West Virginia. It was powerful enough to be felt miles away, in the larger city of Fairmont. Miners and their families lived in fear of the sound of an explosion and the blaring of the alarm…
Appalachia’s Role in National Politics In 2016, Donald Trump won 95% of all Appalachian Counties. I don’t think anyone who actually lived in Appalachia at the time was terribly surprised. It apparently shocked the rest of the country. As it attempted to explain this, popular media soon turned its eyes to the region. As NPR…
The Creation of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum “In the halls of what once was the area’s most reputable hospital, a demented doctor has brought his patients’ nightmares to life. Society’s undesirable souls have been abandoned in the dark recesses of this once safe haven. Their sole purpose is to serve the good doctor and his…
My Connection I grew up in Lewis County, West Virginia. I grew up in the southern part of the county, below where Stonewall Resort is today. When I was born, the glass industry of central West Virginia was in its last days,. I remember when the last glass factory in Weston shut down. Today, my…
Stereotypes and Reality I’ve debated covering this topic for some time now. I know that this is an important piece of our region’s history. It’s an important driving force behind so many of our epidemics, but I didn’t even know how to begin to attack it. I also wasn’t sure that I wanted to address…
Six-Dollar Grapes In Morgantown there is a very large Kroger which the locals jokingly refer to as “Gucci Kroger”. It has a Starbucks, a huge international food section, aisles of vegan/vegetarian food, healthy meal-prep sections, a large meat and seafood counter, and a variety of organic and locally-sourced dairy and egg products. The produce section…