Interview with Don Sparkman, June 1, 1980

Interview Summary

Don Sparkman was born at Hyden in 1907. His father taught school, became sheriff, and then worked in the coal mines. Sparkman recalls Hyden before Prohibition and describes whiskey being taken home from the saloon in a bucket and medicine being dispensed from large jars in the drugstore. He also recalls other early businesses in Hyden and various personalities. The roads into Hyden were paths or trails, and the mail came in by wagon from Hazard six days a week. Sparkman witnessed the Morgan-Colwell shoot-out in downtown Hyden in which two people were killed. The informant also recalls several black families living in Hyden when he was young. As a boy, Sparkman saw people drink out of the Middle Fork of the Kentucky River. He recalls freight boats being poled downriver and poplar logs wider than a man standing up could reach. Sparkman deplores the waste and loss of natural resources. He also talks briefly about Mary Breckinridge coming to the area and some initial distrust that disappeared after she helped her first patient. Social and recreational activities are also discussed.

Interview Keyword

Appalachia Born at Hyden in 1907 Childhood Churches Clinics Coal miners Fathers Influenza Epidemic, 1918-1919 Medicine Schools Sheriffs Teachers Technology Work

Interview LC Subject

Children--Health and hygiene Electricity Kentucky Medical care Nursing Prohibition Racism Segregation

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.