Freedom Stories

Freedom Stories: Unearthing the Black Heritage of Appalachia is an ongoing series that marries performance and discussion, connecting prominent Black storytellers, humanities scholars, and community leaders with the public to trace this rich history and highlight the role that face-to-face storytelling has played in both African and Appalachian experience—from the first African arrivals in these mountains, to the shaping of a distinct culture, to the ongoing struggles for freedom and equality. This project is funded by the National Endowment of the Humanities.

“Without storytelling, we’d have no roots.”

– Alex Haley, author

Unearthing the
Black heritage of Appalachia

Amplifying the integral stories of

our region’s unique heritage

“The culture of Appalachia is like the region
itself—diverse in its traditions, people, and ethnic groups.”

–Alicestyne Turley, PhD. Freedom Stories Project Director

“When there is story-telling,
there is story-listening.”

“Without storytelling,
we’d have no roots.”

–Alex Haley, author

When there is story-telling there is Story-listening!

Unearthing the
Black heritage
of Appalachia

Awesome discussion—helps me begin to understand the changes needed.”

Amplifying the integral
stories of our region’s
unique heritage

Wonderful panel
and amazing
storytelling!

“The culture of Appalachia is
like the region itself—diverse
in its traditions, people,
and ethnic groups.”

–Alicestyne Turley, PhD.
Freedom Stories Project Director

“The culture of Appalachia is like the region itself—diverse in its traditions, people, and ethnic groups.”

“When there is
story-telling, there
is story-listening.”

This has been a beautiful conversation and understanding of an important story. Thank you!”

Unearthing the Black Heritage of Appalachia

The Freedom Stories Story Map serves as an amalgamation of location data which pertains to the Freedom Stories project. This includes places of interest which relate to each of the twelve Freedom Stories public discussions and information on project supporters.

Access discussion recordings, slideshows, reports, infographics, and more.

Learn more about Freedom Stories scholars, storytellers, civic leaders, and partner organizations.

Freedom Stories is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

As part of this project, ISC partnered with the National Humanities Alliance to document the impact of the Freedom Stories initiative. Your feedback was very important in this regard, so we invite you to review the report by clicking here.

Freedom Stories

Unearthing the Black Heritage of Appalachia

Freedom Stories is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

As part of this project, ISC partnered with the National Humanities Alliance to document the impact of the Freedom Stories initiative. Your feedback was very important in this regard, so we invite you to review the report by clicking here.

Please consider supporting our work.

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