Interview with Jane W. Eller, May 25, 2001

Interview Summary

Jane Eller provides an overview of her educational and professional background and her work for the University of Kentucky Appalachian Center and the Kentucky Environmental Education Council. Eller talks about her family's deep roots in the West Virginia area. She talks about the environment in Rand, West Virginia, where she grew up. She describes the area in the 1950s, including the houses, cinder roads, the Kanawha River, and the surrounding landscape. Eller talks about living with her grandparents at the farm during the summers. She talks about different things they would do in the creek including building rafts, swimming, and fishing. Eller talks about the characteristics, history, and stories of the farm's forest. Eller talks about her experience with traditional herbal remedies as she was cared for by her grandparents. She talks about playing games and building forts in the woods with her neighborhood friends. She shares about a special moment on a beloved rock and having a pet cemetery in the woods. Eller describes the many adventures and freedom she had growing up outdoors. She talks about the challenge of growing food for the family, and the environmental changes she has noticed, including a fewer number and diversity of insects, which make it more difficult to garden. She discusses the challenges her children have faced living in the city without the freedom of playing outside.

Interview Keyword

Appalachian development Appalachian Region Appalachian identity Logging Gardens Grandparents Traditional medicine Forests

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Appalachian Region--Social life and customs Eller, Jane W. Eller, Jane W.--Interviews Childhood Country life Families. Land use, Rural. Rural children Rural conditions Family farms. Farm life. Subsistence farming Traditional farming Recreation Environmental education. Appalachian Region--Social conditions Appalachian Region Family histories. Genealogy

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.