Frances Reedy Oral History on Appalachian Forests

Frances Reedy talking about the Appalachian forest
with her granddaughter Timi Reedy, April 19, 1996

We previously posted about the original oral history with Frances Reedy on her memories of Appalachian forests as the initial inspiration for documenting her and her husband John's Bluegrass music history. Their granddaughter Timi Reedy helped Mark Spencer conduct this VHS video interview in1996 as part of the "Appalachian Historic Forest Conditions" oral history project sponsored by the non-profit organization Appalachia-Science in the Public Interest (ASPI). 

In 2020, ASPI partnered with Berea College Special Collections & Archives to apply for a Preservation Grant from the Kentucky Oral History Commission (KOHC) to digitize the analog interviews from this collection, which also includes John Reedy's sister Beaulah. Thanks to Berea College Sound Archivist Harry Rice and this valuable KOHC funding, the Appalachian forest oral histories are now publicly available online!

In honor of what would have been Frances Williebob Reedy's 99th New Year's Eve birthday today, we share this video oral history interview on her recollections of the Appalachian forests of her youth. We hope her family and many fans enjoy this nearly hour-long video that began this documentary journey. We love and miss you every day, Mamaw!