Acknowledgments

As a young girl in eastern Kentucky, deep in the heart of coal country, I fell in love with books. My Mom took me to the local library, a small building nestled against a lush green mountain, and I handled each volume with wonder and care. Pike County, Kentucky is often portrayed derisively as the home of a forgotten people, crippled by generations of economic exploitation, corrupt fossil fuel corporations, and now the epicenter of the opioid epidemic. Often mocked as “hillbillies” and cast aside by the majority of America, my Appalachian people also embody strength, resilience, kindness, and love. We know the value of family and community. Generations of my ancestors worked long hours in dangerous coal mines and on family farms, sacrificing their health and sometimes their lives, for the good of the family. In the isolation of Appalachia with my well-worn volumes, I dreamed of a different kind of life, one filled with education, travel, and mountains of books. As I finished writing this book, I reflected on how that life became a reality only through the love and support I received from my family, and generations of struggle and endurance. My work may be in the ivory tower, but my heart will always be on a back porch, stringing green beans from the garden, and listening to Bluegrass music with my family. Although I’m grateful to my entire lineage, I am especially grateful to my loving parents, Gary and Carol Slater. Thank you, Daddy, for working so hard in the coal mines and always taking such good care of your girls. Thank you, Mommy, for your friendship and insistence on the importance of good education. I love you both so much.

I’ve been fortunate to have extraordinary teachers in my life, educators who inspired and supported me along the way. Thank you to my Aunt Judy who dedicated her life to educating Appalachian children. Our shared love of preserving family history fills my heart with joy. My fourth-grade teacher, Ruby Allen, saw something special in my bookish awkwardness and until her death in 1999, wrote me letters of love and encouragement. Her kindness and dedication changed my life and I’m forever grateful. Thank you to my professors at Lincoln Memorial University: Candance Armstrong, Elizabeth Lamont, Earl J. Hess, and Colum Leckey. At the University of Kentucky, I received tremendous support from Daniel Blake Smith, Ellen Furlough, Fay Yarbrough, Joanne Pope Melish, Karen Tice, Patricia Cooper, Kathi Kern, and Gretchen Starr-Lebeau.

My colleagues overwhelm me with their brilliance, kindness, and generosity. A special thank you to those who edited or provided comments on portions of this book: Phyllis Jestice, Cara Delay, Chris Boucher, Jacob Steere-Williams, Zebulon Dingley, Monica D. Fitzgerald, Ann M. Little, R. Todd Romero, Francis Bremer, Richard Godbeer, John McCurdy, Lorri Glover, Emily C.K. Romeo, Matthew Becker, and Richard Bailey. I’m deeply indebted to Brill Academic Publishers and Ivo Romein, Bertrand Van Ruymbeke, Louis Roper, and Jaap Jacobs. Thank you to the support I received from the College of Charleston to complete research on the project, especially my department chairs, Phyllis Jestice and Jason Coy, and Deans Gibbs Knotts, John White, Cynthia Lowenthal, Jerry Hale, and Aimee Arias. The Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program at the College of Charleston enriches my professional and personal life and affords me the opportunity to work with incredible scholars, public historians, museums, archives, and academic institutions throughout the Atlantic World. As Director, I’ve made incredible connections in the Lowcountry and am grateful to the larger Charleston community for their warmth and embrace. It’s a remarkable historically significant city to call home and I never take that for granted. Thank you to my CLAW collaborators, partners, and friends.

Archivists and librarians do the essential work that makes all academic books possible. I’m deeply indebted to the staff at the Library of Congress, Massachusetts Historical Society, John Carter Brown Library, Addlestone Libraries, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center.

My friendships provide an endless source of much-appreciated love and support. With my whole heart I’m grateful to Mary Jo Fairchild, Cara Delay, Catherine Thomas, Emily Dotson, Andy Johnson, Blake Scott, Simon Lewis, Tamara Butler, Jessica Schavone, Kris de Welde, Chris Boucher, Bernard Powers, Bill Olejniczak, Jacob Steere-Williams, John White, O. Vernon Burton, Mari Crabtree, Shannon Eaves, Elizabeth Chew, Valinda Littlefield, Richard Bailey, Candace Armstrong, Monica Fitzgerald, Ashley Walters, Carl Wise, Adam Domby, and my devoted work-husband, John McCurdy. Thank you to my life-long childhood friends Chris Evans, Chris Hamblin, Sunny Brogan, Angela Wheatley-Orr, and Nephateria Bean. My college friends Erin McMurray, T.J. Sewell, Caroline Mayes-Cooper, Tim Muncy, Kasi Gooch, and Michael Lynch, thank you. My friends at the University of Kentucky made life in the trenches joyous. Thank you to Jami Bartek, Amber Fogle Sergent, Jim Kulwicki, Christy Bohl Kulwicki, John Davis, and Betsy Hopkins.

And to my students, you bring vibrancy to my life and work. My deepest hope is that you, too, fall in love with books.