Appalachian Collection

Folk Healing In Southern Appalachia


 

 

Scope

A great deal has been written in the past on herbal healing in Southern Appalachia. However, works specifically about religious healing are sparse. Most sources include sections on both herbal and religious healing, showing how often times the two are tied. A majority of the information on folk healing can be found in books. This pathfinder focuses mainly on sources concerned with religious and magical healing but does not exclude general overviews of herbal remedies. The pathfinder does not necessarily focus on who is doing the healing, but rather the healing processes and the beliefs involved. Native American folk healing is not included here. Sources listed are currently available in the Belk Library or the W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection at Appalachian State University.

Introduction: The most complete general source on folk healing in Southern Appalachia is:

The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing; Log Cabin Building; Mountain Crafts and Foods; Planting by the Signs; Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing; Moonshining; and Other Affairs of Plain Living . Eliot Wigginton, ed. NY: Doubleday, 1972. 384 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS and ASU MAIN STACKS: F291.2 .F6. Interviews and essays describe the way of life and crafts of pioneer America still surviving in the Appalachian region.

 

Some relevant Library of Congress Subject Headings
     ( Search by "Subject" in the online catalog using these headings) :

  • Alternative Medicine
  • Appalachian Region -- History
  • Appalachian Region -- Religion
  • Healing -- Religious Aspects
  • Herbs -- Folklore
  • Herbs -- Therapeutic Use
  • Medicine -- Appalachian Region -- History
  • Mountain Whites (Southern States)
  • Snake Cults
  • Spiritual Healing
  • Traditional Medicine -- Appalachian Region, Southern
  • Traditional Medicine -- Dictionaries
  • Traditional Medicine -- Encyclopedias

 

Frequently used Library of Congress Call Number ranges:

  • BL 441
  • GR 108
  • R 152
  • BR 535
  • GR 110
  • R 154
  • BX 7990
  • GR 540
  • R 692
  • F 106
  • GR 780
  • R 733
  • F 210
  • GR 880
  • RC 81
  • F 216-217
  • HC 107
  • RM 666
  • F 264
  • HD 9019
  • RS 164
  • F 291
  • PE 2970
  • RS 172
  • GR 1
  • QK 99
  • RZ 433
  • GR 101
  • R 133
  • SB 351

 

More information can be found in the Appalachian Collection Clippings File under the following subject headings:

  • Botany, Medical
  • Folklore
  • Snake Cults

 

Some Frequently Cited or Relevant Books include the following:

Barney, Sandra. Authorized to Heal: Gender, Class, and the Transformation of Medicine in Appalachia, 1880-1930 . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. 222 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: R692 .B67 2000.

Bolyard, Judith L. Medicinal Plants and Home Remedies of Appalachia . Springfield, IL: Thomas, 1981. 187 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: RS164 .B63.

Crellin John K. and Jane Philpott. Herbal Medicine Past and Present . Durham, NC: Duke University Press. in 2 vols. ASU APP COLL STACKS RS164 .B324 C74 1989. (See v. 1, Trying to Give Ease .)

The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing; Log Cabin Building; Mountain Crafts and Foods; Planting by the Signs; Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing; Moonshining; and Other Affairs of Plain Living . Eliot Wigginton, ed. NY: Doubleday, 1972. 384 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS and ASU MAIN STACKS: F291.2 .F6.

Hand, Wayland Debs. Magical Medicine: The Folkloric Component of Medicine in the Folk Belief, Custom, and Ritual of the Peoples of Europe and America . Berkeley: University of California Press. 345 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: GR880 .H35 1980.

Herbal and Magical Medicine: Traditional Healing Today . James Kirkland et al, eds. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 240 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: GR110 .V8 H47 1992.

Jones, Loyal. Faith and Meaning in the Southern Uplands . Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 245 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: BR535 .J66 1999.

 

Relevant Journals in the W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection:

Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review . Boone, NC: Appalachian State University. v. 1, 1972 to present. ASU APP COLL STACKS: F216.2 .A66. Indexed in vols. 7, 18, and 23.

Foxfire (earlier title: v. 1 - 26:2, 1967-1992). Foxfire Magazine (current title: v.26:3, 1992 to present) . Rabun Gap, GA: Foxfire Fund, Inc. ASU APP COLL STACKS: GR1 .F59.

Bibliographies that contain materials on this topic include:

Appalachian Bibliography, 1980 . Morgantown: West Virginia University Library. 2 vols. in one. ASU APP COLL STACKS: Z1251 .A7 A6 1980. See entries: 2104, 2107, 4876, 3417, 3432. Categories: Faith Healing, Folk Medicine, Health, Religion.

Appalachian Outlook. Morgantown West Virginia University Library. 1964 -- present. ASU APP COLL STACKS: Z1251 .A7 A55. Includes 54 citations relevant to topic, from 1967-1997 . See entries: 100, 981, 990, 1273, 1275, 1288, 3318, 3323, 3432, 3819, 4459, 4505, 4953, 5313, 5484, 5596, 5787, 6057, 6605, 6612, 6622, 7176, 7265, 7418, 7430, 7725, 7728, 7855, 7857, 7911, 8395, 8871, 8964, 9409, 9445, 9886, 9915, 9916, 10217, 10490, 10561, 10836, 10976, 10977, 11137, 11193, 11194, 11195, 11244, 11289, 11306, 11391, 11534, and 11783. Categories: , Folk Medicine, Healing, Herbs, Holiness Churches, Religion, and Snake Cults.

Bibliography File . Not online...4 Holinger boxes of files, found at: Z1251 .A7B4 in the W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection. Includes one file relevant to topic entry: from file North Carolina--A Dissertation List August 1978-May 1983. See: Reinherdt, Douglas Edward. Faith Healing: Where Science Meets Religion in the Body of Believers . Dissertation for the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 1982.

Bibliography of Southern Appalachia. Charlotte T. Ross, ed. Boone: Appalachian Consortium Press, 1976. ASU APP COLL OVERSIZE: Z1251 .A7 B5x. Entries indexed by subject and author. Includes 30 entries relevant to topic, plus two entries in the film listing entries: B4660, C3920, C4700, C6690, C6700, C6710, G6610, H2130, H2160, H2650, H6650, J230, L10, L20, P1620, S2700, T7720, W40, and W7170. Numbers 24 and 80 are in the film index. Categories: Folk Medicine, Folk Medicine in Appalachia, Folk Medicine in North Carolina, Medicinal Plants and Herbs, Medicinal Plants--Appalachia, Religion and Religious Bodies--Appalachia-- Snake Handlers, Religion and Religious Bodies--Appalachia--Snake Handling Cults . Two films in the film index: Catfish, Man of the Woods , and Nature s Way . Both are available in the App Coll. See video listing below.

Cavender, Anthony P. A Bibliography on Culture and Health in the Appalachian South with Special Reference to Ethnomedical Beliefs and Practices . Prepared for the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. (Available through Interlibrary Loan).

 

Dictionaries, Guides, & Encyclopedias:

American Folklore: An Encyclopedia . Jan Harold Brunvand, ed. New York: Garland Publishers. 794 pages. ASU APP COLL OVERSIZE and ASU REFERENCE: GR101 .A54 1996. (library use only)

Bown, Deni. Encyclopedia of Herbs and Their Uses . London; New York: Dorling Kindersley. 424 pages. ASU REFERENCE: SB351 .H5 B645 1995.

Bricklin, Mark. The Practical Encyclopedia of Natural Healing . Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press. 574 pages. ASU MAIN STACKS: RZ433 .B74 1983.

A Folk Medical Lexicon of South Central Appalachia . Anthony P. Cavender, ed. Johnson City: History of Medicine Society of Appalachia, James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University ; Nashville: Tennessee Humanities Council. 36 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: PE2970 .A6 F64 1990.

Krochmal, Arnold, Russell S. Walters, and Richard M. Doughty. A Guide to Medicinal Plants of Appalachia . Washington: U.S. Forest Service, 1971. 291 pges. ASU APP COLL STACKS: QK 99.K696.

Levinson, David, and Laura Gaccione. Health and Illness: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia . Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. 253 pages. ASU REFERENCE: R733 .L477 1997.

Rinzler, Carol Ann. Dictionary of Medical Folklore . New York: Crowell. 243 pages. ASU APP COLL STACKS: RC81 .A2 R56 1979.

 

Videos:

Catfish, Man of the Woods . Alan Bennett, Director. Appalshop, 1975. Motion Picture. 16 mm film. 25 mins. ASU APP COLL: C4245. Also available on video: Whitesburg, KY: Appalshop, 1974. 1 videocassette, 28 mins . ASU APP COLL VIDEOS: VC 18.

Fire and Serpent Handlers . BV, 1973. ASU APP COLL VT2.

Holy Ghost People . New York: Contemporary Films/McGraw Hill, 1968. Motion Picture. 2 reels, 53 mins, b&w, 16 mm. + 1 film guide. ASU APP COLL: C38,pts. 1 and 2. Also available on video: Del Mar, CA: CRM/McGraw-Hill Films, 1968. 1 videocassette, 53 mins . + 1 film guide. ASU APP COLL VIDEOS: VC 179.

Nature s Way . Whitesburg, KY: Appalshop, 1973. 1 videocassette, 22 mins. ASU APP COLL VIDEOS: VC 65.

 

Other Materials:

Internet Resources:

The American Religious Experience. http://are.as.wvu.edu/Region.htm

Microfilm:

Kane, Steven M. Snake Handlers of Southern Appalachia . Thesis (Ph. D.)--Princeton University, 1979. 291 leaves. ASU APP COLL MICROFILM: MicF 277.

Parker, G. Keith. Folk Religion in Southern Appalachia . Thesis (Th.D.)--Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 1969. 248 leaves. ASU APP COLL MICROFILM: MicF 190.


Reviews:

Owen, Guy. "Here is God's Plenty...Faith Healing, Moonshining, and Snakelore." Appalachian Journal . Fall 1972, pp. 56-7. Review of Eliot Wigginton's The Foxfire Book .


Theses:

Cozzo, David N. Herb Gatherers and Root Diggers of North Western North Carolina . Thesis (M.A.)-- Appalachian State University. 174 leaves. ASU APP COLL STACKS: HD9019 .H473 U63 1999.

Timah, Nga Joseph. Comparison of the Cultural, Taxonomic, and Ecological Aspects of Medicinal Plants in Cameroon and North Carolina: Causes of Rarity and Potential Solutions . Thesis (M.S.)-- Appalachian State University. 52 leaves, maps. ASU APP COLL STACKS: RS172 .N75 T56 1999

 

Compiler: Sarah Poteete, 5 December 2000