By Fred Sauceman | This is the second of a four-part series of stories to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America as well as the story of the nation's journey since. Two million people lined up along the parade route across Paris, France, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 1918. French President Raymond Poincaré said the reception “stood alone among the welcome given any previous visitor to Paris.”

By Phillip J. Obermiller and Thomas E. Wagner | The Civil War lasted longer and produced more disabled soldiers than Union or Confederacy officials anticipated. In addition to the thousands wounded in battle, camp diseases such as smallpox, pneumonia, cholera, typhoid, and dysentery put many combatants in need of medical care.

In celebration of the anniversary of the nation’s founding, Irish and old-time musicians joined scholars from East Tennessee State University and Ireland on May 15 and 16 to discuss and celebrate America’s Irish Influences. The two-day event, “America 250: Celebrating The Role of the Irish,” was held on the ETSU campus on Friday, and at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park in Elizabethton on Saturday.

For the first time, all 32 years of Now & Then: The Appalachian Magazine are available online through East Tennessee State University’s Digital Archives, giving readers unprecedented access to one of the region’s most significant literary and cultural publications. The milestone comes as Appalachian Places: Stories From The Highlands celebrates its fifth anniversary, continuing a 37-year legacy of Appalachian storytelling that began with Now & Then in 1984.

By Jane Woodside | Ivan White believes in work—hard, physical labor, day in and day out. What the Tennessee farmer does not believe in is change. On a fine early spring day, a visitor is likely to find 77-year-old White, having easily climbed the steep slope of the 2,000-foot mountain behind his home, readying horse and plow for planting one of his hayfields. White lives much the same self-reliant life as his ancestors did, farming 80 mountainous acres without the aid of any

By Jennifer A. Bauer | This is the first story in a series to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America. | Many years prior to the ratification of the Declaration of Independence, hunters, settlers, and folks from many walks of life were exploring what laid beyond the mountains and lands west of the British colonies. This story is about the people who established the first settlement, the Watauga Settlement, which declared its independe

By Ted Olson | A conversation with Rodney Dillard | When the members of The Dillards first left Salem, Missouri, in 1962, they did not know they were a cutting-edge roots music band charting a path for so many others. The band was helped by a fortuitous early stop at what has become the world’s favorite fictional Appalachian town, where “the Darlings” live on as permanent visitors from nearby hills.

By Becky Pendergraft Parsons | The office of Grammy-nominated songwriter, artist, and educator Thomm Jutz is unassuming. Inside Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business building on Nashville’s Music Row, a guitar leans against the windowsill. His Master of Arts in Appalachian Studies degree hangs behind a modest desk outfitted with a computer and two studio speakers. The room is spare, functional, and revealing: Jutz prioritizes music and con

By Ophelia Wagner | Acclaimed Appalachian poet and novelist Ron Rash visited East Tennessee State University in April as the keynote speaker for The Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative’s 10th Annual Spring Literary Festival at ETSU on April 21-22. Hosted by ETSU’s Literature and Language department, the festival welcomed writers such as Rose McLarney, Juan Martinez, and Nickole Brown for poetry and prose readings and public conversations. 

On April 7, East Tennessee State University’s campus was buzzing with showcases of local culture and traditions. Mountain Made, an Appalachian folk festival hosted by the ETSU SGA, Department of Appalachian Studies, and Buctainment, ETSU’s student life organization. The event is a callback to the ETSU campus culture of the 1960s and ’70s, when folk festivals were held on campus every year. Students, faculty, and visitors could find activities and performances throughout campu

By Mark Rutledge | It’s late spring and a few groups of lucky lottery winners are about to gather for some deep-woods wonderment at Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork State Park in Flag Pond, Tennessee. For those who won the free online lottery, the show is about to begin. For everyone else — better luck next year.

By Jeff Keeling | This story was originally published and broadcast on Jan. 16, 2026 by WJHL-TV, an affiliate of CGS and ABC based in Johnson City, Tennessee. Pavlo Rybaruk, who lives in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, is seen here wearing the Hutsul serdak, a traditional decorated jacket worn by men in the region. Rybaruk wore the Hutsul serdak for his graduation ceremony, hosted via Zoom by ETSU.

By Phillip J. Obermiller and Thomas E. Wagner | Although not readily recognized for it, the federal Appalachian region hosts many busy ports. They are an important part of the region’s transportation network, serving national and international markets for coal, steel, chemicals, cement, grain, fertilizer, limestone, petroleum products, sand and gravel, and other bulk commodities such as lumber and wood chips.

By Iris Castillo | On the narrow, winding roads of Southwest Virginia, distance has never been measured in miles alone. Here, distance is felt in whether a car starts on a cold morning, or whether a neighbor can afford to take time off work to drive someone to an appointment three counties away. In central Appalachia, a mile “as the crow flies” can take hours to traverse by road. Geography has always shaped access to health care.

By Mark Rutledge | The majestic peaks, deep valleys, and peaceful blue haze of Western North Carolina are home to a network of faith-based mountain retreats and conference centers established during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Most of the complexes experienced damage to their historic facilities when Hurricane Helene dumped record-breaking and catastrophic amounts of rain on the region on Sept. 27, 2024 ...

By Ted Olson  | In the aftermath of the September 2024 flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, one thing was clear: Ashevillians, whether natives, longtime residents, or recent arrivals, collectively praised their city’s stunning mountain landscape and rich cultural legacy, including a distinctive music heritage. A year after Helene, officials representing the City of Asheville alongside a small team of music scholars and promoters collaborated on telling a story heretofore unto

By Lacy Snapp | Every October, poets from around the Tri-Cities region of East Tennessee gather on one of the first cool nights of fall to celebrate community, creativity, and craft beer. For the past five years, Atlantic Ale House, a tap room in downtown Johnson City with mostly outdoor-patio seating, has hosted the opening-ceremony toast of the Johnson City Poets Collective’s annual Poetry Contest and Pub Crawl ...

By Savannah Bennett | When I was growing up, road trips were riddled with talismans and traditions. Lengthy excursions were marked by unique houses, roadside attractions, and stories my family repeated from memory. These geographic markers turned monotonous car rides into scavenger hunts. My sister and I would compete to see who noticed things the fastest, or who could tell the old stories the best. Many of the roadside messages associated with these memories were scattered a

By Sandra Laws | In 2005, author, food writer, radio host and associate professor of Appalachian Studies Fred Sauceman created and taught the Appalachian Foodways course at East Tennessee State University. He considers the course a natural fit for academic studies of Appalachia or any other part of the world ...

By Laura E. Clemons | The brief life and enduring contributions of Charles Faulkner Bryan of Tennessee.