Interview with Maxie Ramey Stiltner, June 9, 1987

Partial Transcript: --little home after a while.

Segment Synopsis: Maxie Ramey Stiltner talks about her childhood on John Moore's Branch and describes her father's work in mines and timber rafting.

Keywords: Bosses; Cows; Fathers; Federal Mine; Grandparents; Hours; Houses; Jobs; John Moore's Branch; Mothers; Rafting; Stores; Virginia

Subjects: Childhood; Coal miners.; Coal mines and mining; Country life; Families.; Genealogy--Appalachian Region; Logging; Occupations.; Timber--Rafting

Partial Transcript: And the way they did their farming on John Moore's Branch most of them they'd put their crops out...

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner describes growing up on a farm. She talks about how neighbors would help one another at "workings" and how the women would cook food. She talks about the types of food they raised on the farm.

Keywords: Beans; Biscuits; Chickens; Cooking; Corn; Curing meat; Dessert; Fun; Gardens; Helping; Hoeing; Hogs; Neighbors; Potatoes; Workings

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Childhood; Communities.; Country life; Crops; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Farmers.; Farms, Small.; Food habits--Appalachian Region, Southern; Recreation; Rural children; Rural conditions; Subsistence farming; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: Did most people--most of the men work in the mines or did a lot of them still just farm?

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks more about her father's jobs in the mining and timber rafting businesses. She says most people would trade goods. She talks about how government assistance changed people's lifestyles.

Keywords: Bootlegging; Education; Franklin D. Roosevelt; Government assistance; Income; Jobs; John Moore's Branch; Money; Salary; Selling; Taxes; Trading; Wages; Work; World War II

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Childhood; Coal miners.; Coal mines and mining; Country life; Families.; Family farms.; Farmers.; Logging; Occupations.; Rural conditions; Subsistence farming; Timber--Rafting; Traditional farming

Partial Transcript: What--when you were growing up as a girl what did you, uh, do?

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks about her family's economic conditions when she was a child. She talks about her childhood and high school education experiences. She describes the buildings, class sizes, and teachers.

Keywords: Attendance; Brothers; Buildings; Class sizes; Cooking; Differences; Elkhorn City (Ky.); Family; Girls; Great grandmothers; Hard times; Harriet Wright; High schools; Hollers; Hollows; Home economics; Learning; Lunches; Mathematics; Money; Mothers; Outhouses; Schools; Sisters; Stores; Strict; Towns; Water springs

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Childhood; Communities.; Country life; Education--Kentucky; Families.; Family farms.; Farm life.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Teachers

Partial Transcript: And so then what?

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks about taking the exam for her teaching certificate at age 16, despite 18 being the age requirement. She talks about starting to teach the next year, 1929. She talks about attitudes toward discipline in schools in those days.

Keywords: Age; Attitudes; Examinations; Exams; High schools; John Moore's Branch; Paddling; Parents; Pikeville (Ky.); Teaching certificates; Trains

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Communities.; Country life; Discipline of children; Education--Kentucky; Education--Study and teaching; Families.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; School discipline; Teachers; Teaching

Partial Transcript: So, um, when did you meet Autie?

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks about meeting her husband, Autie, at a Democratic rally in 1929. She talks about the limited forms of entertainment in those days.

Keywords: 1929; Autie Stiltner; Bean stringings; Entertainment; Husbands; Meeting; Music; Musicians; Political rallies; Square dances

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Appalachian Region--Social life and customs; Communities.; Country life; Families.; Marriage; Recreation; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: So did you grow up near G. Tom Hawkins?

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks about a local teacher and politician, G. Tom Hawkins.

Keywords: Congressmen; G. Tom Hawkins; Politics; Republicans; Unions

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Coal miners--Labor unions.; Education--Kentucky; Politicians--Kentucky; Teachers; Teaching

Partial Transcript: So what year did you all get married?

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks about continuing to teach after getting married. She talks about where she lived during her time as a teacher. She talks about continuing her education at Pikeville College. She talks about hiring someone to take care of her child while she was teaching and taking classes.

Keywords: Autie Stiltner; Boarding; Childcare; Childrearing; Children; Coal mines and mining; Conditions; Correspondence courses; Daughters; Family; Gardens; Hired girls; Home; Houses; Lucille Stiltner; Married life; Pay; Pikeville College; Room for rent; Schoolhouses; Summer schools; Trains; Trustees; Wages; Walking

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Communities.; Country life; Education, Higher--Kentucky; Education--Kentucky; Education--Study and teaching; Families.; Marriage; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Teachers; Teaching

Partial Transcript: --teaching in the country before I came to Elkhorn City.

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks about teaching on John Moore's Branch and Potter's Flats. She talks about disciplining the children.

Keywords: Bridges; Cars; Disobedience; Fathers; John Moore's Branch; Murder; Potter's Flats; Scared; Spankings; Stories

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Communities.; Country life; Discipline of children; Education--Kentucky; Families.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; School discipline; Teachers; Teaching

Partial Transcript: And, uh, when school was out--see, school was out in January--uh, I still rode with Inez.

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks more about continuing her education at Pikeville College. She talks about eating lunch at college.

Keywords: Dormitories; Dorms; Food; Lunches; Meal tickets; Outsiders; Pikeville College; Prices; Relations; Restaurants

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Communities.; Country life; Education, Higher--Kentucky; Education--Kentucky; Education--Study and teaching; Rural conditions; Teachers; Teaching

Partial Transcript: What was the story you were telling me yesterday about the bridge and the train?

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner tells a story about having to cross a railroad bridge to get to high school on John Moore's Branch.

Keywords: Bridges; Creeks; Grandmothers; High schools; John Moore's Branch; Railroad tracks; Railroads; Returning; Train tracks; Trains; Walking

Subjects: Childhood; Country life; Education--Kentucky; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky

Partial Transcript: Teddy Stapleton was a good teacher.

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks more about her childhood education, including the teachers and family members who encouraged her to continue her education. She describes school spelling bees.

Keywords: Brothers; Encouragement; Fathers; Gifts; Graduation; Head of the class; High schools; Influences; Mothers; Pink stationery; Rankings; Spelling bees

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Childhood; Communities.; Country life; Education--Kentucky; Families.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Teachers

Partial Transcript: So what would you say, looking back on it, what would you say would be the main thing that you learned from your mother?

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks more about her parents' encouragement of her education. She talks about their economic conditions during her childhood and how she was undernourished. She talks about how most people in the area were also poor, but names some of the families who were more well off.

Keywords: Barrowman Mines; Businesses; Carson Mines; Coal camps; Company towns; Crossties; Dry goods stores; Economics; Elkhorn City (Ky.); Encouragement; Family; Fathers; Federal Hill; Food; Houses; Income; John Moore's Branch; Learning; Mining camps; Money; Mothers; Nurses; Owners; Poor; Poverty; Railroads; Salary; Socialites; Transportation; Undernourished; Wages; Wealthy; Well-off

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Childhood; Coal mines and mining; Country life; Families.; Occupations.; Rural conditions

Partial Transcript: Did you ever have anybody, um--did people encourage you or try to discourage you, or how did they regard you as a woman...

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks about how she was treated as a woman with a career. She talks about how she did not travel far out of the John Moore's Branch area until later in her life.

Keywords: Allen (Ky.); Ashland (Ky.); Attitudes; Clothes; Colleges; Daughters; Discouragement; Distance; Elevators; Encouragement; Experiences; Family; Hotels; Impressed; Lexington (Ky.); Lucille Stiltner; Personal shoppers; Stores; Travel; Treatment

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Communities.; Country life; Education, Higher--Kentucky; Education--Kentucky; Education--Study and teaching; Families.; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Teachers; Teaching; Women--Employment.

Partial Transcript: That was something else when I came--see, the consolidation, I came in with the consolidation.

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner talks about her experiences teaching at Lookout before the consolidation of schools. She talks about being scared when she first began teaching there. She talks about the economic conditions of the area.

Keywords: Attitudes; Businesses; Children; Closing; Coal camps; Coal mines and mining; Company towns; Elkhorn City (Ky.); Hellier Mine; Henry Clay Camp; Henry Clay Mine; Lookout (Ky.); Mining camps; Poor; Scared; School buses; School consolidation; Size; Strikes and lockouts--Coal mining; Strikes and lockouts--Miners; Students; Transportation

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Coal mines and mining; Communities.; Country life; Education--Kentucky; Occupations.; Rural children; Rural conditions; Rural schools--Kentucky; Teachers; Teaching

Partial Transcript: Well tell me about the time that Autie came home and he'd made a dime.

Segment Synopsis: Stiltner and her husband tell a story about when he earned a dime on payday. She talks about how times have changed since those days. The interview is concluded.

Keywords: Autie Stiltner; Company stores; Dimes; Housekeeping; Husbands; Income; Money; Paydays; Salary; Technology; Wages

Subjects: Appalachian Region--Economic conditions; Appalachian Region--Social conditions; Coal mines and mining; Country life; Economic development--Kentucky; Families.; Occupations.; Rural conditions; Technological innovations