Interview with Stella Shell, August 26, 1979

Partial Transcript: This is a interview with Stella Shell for the Frontier Nursing Oral History Project...

Segment Synopsis: To kick off the interview, the interviewer starts off by asking some basic questions about Stella like when her birthday is, where she’s from, and also some family background. They transition to talking about where her family was from and how they got to Kentucky.

Keywords: Birthdays; Family; Home; Hometowns; Parents

Subjects: Families.; Family histories.; Genealogy--Appalachian Region

Partial Transcript: Where’d you go to school?

Segment Synopsis: Back then, school was completely different from what it is now. Shell talks about how she wasn't really good at school (she stopped in the 8th grade) but when she was there they had a good time. The school was just a small log house with long stools that sat around 3-4 children, and there was an open fireplace right in the middle to keep warm during the cold months. They would start school around July and end around December. Some children would miss a lot of school due to having to help their family on their farms, but Shell says that she didn't really miss that much.

Keywords: Log houses; Pencils; School games; Schools; Teachers

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Childhood; Country life; Education; Families.; Family farms; Farm life--Appalachian Region; Rural children; Rural conditions; Subsistence farming; Traditional farming--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Uh, what kind of work did you do to help around the house when you was growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Shell talks about how when she worked on the farms, she would help gather crops, milk cows, and help with field work. Then, she talks more about her home life and how she got married after the 8th grade, at the age of 15 years-old, and had 6 children of her own.

Keywords: Children; Family; Farm chores; Work

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Childhood; Country life; Education; Families.; Family farms; Farm life--Appalachian Region; Marriage; Rural children; Rural conditions; Subsistence farming; Traditional farming--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Who all lived in the, in--around Chapel, in there? Around that community where you lived in?

Segment Synopsis: Shell talks about her hometown and her community. She mentions how the elders in the community were well respected and one of the elders owned one of the popular shops they had in town. Also, she goes back to talk about how mail was delivered only on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and how there was no specific mail carrier and how her father had to deliver mail in the snow (which didn’t make her too happy as a child). Then, she talks about how there was a rumor that there was a lot of silver in their local river, but she never heard of anyone actually finding silver.

Keywords: Elders; Mail; Old wives' tales; Silver; Silver mining; Stores; Virginia

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Childhood; Community; Country life; Families.; Rural children; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: Well, what about when you was growing up, about the, uh, social life?

Segment Synopsis: Shell talks about different social events that took place in their hometown, from parties to whistle contests and spelling bees. Those were some of her favorite activities because she was good at them, unlike quilting, which she didn't like because she wasn’t good at it.

Keywords: Fun; Hobbies; Old songs; Parties; Schools

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Childhood; Community; Country life; Families.; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: What about, uh--what was, uh, Christmas like back when you was growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Shell talks about the different special events that took place in her community. Starting off with Christmas time, she looks back at how they would decorate the tree with twine and holly, and how not only did she have a Christmas tree at home but there was one at school too. Then she moves on to weddings. She says how weddings weren’t as big of a deal as they are today. Growing up, she never really went to that many weddings but when she did they would be at people’s homes and they would dance, eat, and enjoy quality family time.

Keywords: Celebrations; Dancing; Family; Happy times; Holidays; Weddings

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Childhood; Christmas; Community; Country life; Families.; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions; Weddings

Partial Transcript: Uh, how many churches were there around that community where you lived?

Segment Synopsis: Shell looks back at her time in church. There was only one church in her town, and service took place in the schoolhouse. There were two priests, and after church service was over the missionaries would throw a nice picnic. As a child, her mother told her about how she had never been to a picnic, so for her mother’s birthday she asked the missionaries to throw her mother a picnic and they agreed. She goes on to talk about how she really felt good doing this for her mother. On a more sorrowful note, when it came to funerals, they wouldn’t have separate services. Instead they would have one service and recognize each person that had passed away in that time frame.

Keywords: Church; Community; Death; Family; Funerals; Mothers; Picnics

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Religion; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Childhood; Community; Country life; Families.; Recreation; Rural children; Rural churches; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: Uh, what about, uh, the roads into, into Chapel in there when you was growing up?

Segment Synopsis: Shell talks about the conditions of the rural roads. She says that they did not have a radio in their home, but they had a “talking machine.” Then, she recollects her first time seeing a plane in the sky, and how she just thought it was a huge eagle. Also, she talks about how no one in her community had a phone, other than in the chapel. To close this chapter out, Shell talks about their ways of storing food in the winter, which consisted of them just putting the food in a “stone crock.”

Keywords: Airplanes; First cars; Radios; Sheep shearing; Telephones; Wagons; Winters

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Country life; Food habits--Appalachian Region, Southern; Food--Preservation--Appalachian Region; Radio; Roads--Kentucky; Rural conditions; Rural roads; Technological innovations

Partial Transcript: What about, uh, uh, the men in the wintertime?

Segment Synopsis: During the winter months, the men would usually be in the woods hunting and gathering different goods that they could either take home to their families or sell. Shell talks about how her father would do those activities, but also he was very good at weaving baskets and they would be sold for a hefty price because they were so good. She goes on to talk about how he would travel to Virginia to sell his baskets as well.

Keywords: Baskets; Cold; Fathers; Gathering; Selling goods; Winters

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Country life; Families.; Rural conditions; Virginia; Weaving; Winter

Partial Transcript: Can you remember 'em telling anything about, about how the Indians treated people up in that Greasy country up in there?

Segment Synopsis: The interviewer brings up Indians and how they were treated in Shell's community. Also, Shell talks about how voting would work and how people would use ballots and fill them out with pencil, then afterward, people would all come together and eat sweets and drink cider.

Keywords: American Indians; Elections; Native Americans; Politics; Voting

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Kentucky--Politics and government; Race relations--Appalachian Region; Racism; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: What about floods up in there?

Segment Synopsis: The interviewer starts off by asking Shell about different major events that occurred while she was alive. Her first event was World War I, and Shell says that she doesn't really recall much. They talk about the flu epidemic, which she says was rampant at this time; her own sister actually died from it. Medicine back then was very herbal, Shell says, so they would mix moonshine and different teas together to make “medicine” and you would drink it for colds and things of that nature. Also, she talks about how the Great Depression affected them; how basically they still had some work, but things did get tight from time to time.

Keywords: Cancer; Flu; Great Depression; Illnesses; Medicine; Moonshine; Tea; WW1; World War I

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Country life; Depressions--1929--Kentucky; Families.; Floods--Kentucky; Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919; Medical care--Appalachian Region; Medicine, Rural; Rural conditions; Rural health services; Rural health--Kentucky; World War, 1914-1918

Partial Transcript: How old were you when you made your first trip to Hyden?

Segment Synopsis: At the end of the interview, the interviewer asks Shell about her travels throughout Kentucky and why she moved. Shell goes on to talk how Hyden was considered a big city to her, and how she first visited when she was 10 years old. Later they wound up moving, in 1944, because someone “respectfully” bought them out. Once they found their new home, they continued on with their daily lives.

Keywords: Big city; Cars; Cities; Kentucky

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; City and town life; Country life; Families.; Hyden (Ky.); Kentucky; Rural conditions