Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
"In the Shadow of the Mountains: A Study of Women and Problem Drug Addiction in West Virginia"
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
The women of West Virginia have been succumbing to problem drug addiction at an alarming rate. Overdoses and overdose related deaths in the state have been rising to the point of more than doubling the national average in the past ten years. Nationwide women are the fastest growing demographic of illicit drug users. Current scholarship on drug addiction shows there is a perfect recipe which helps to create a person with substance abuse issues, namely depression, lack of education, lack of opportunity, history of sexual or domestic abuse, and low socioeconomic standing. Very few works have correlated the fact that these issues are rampant in southern West Virginia where drug abuse has dominated the local narrative. The cultural ideals of women and their role in society in southern West Virginia have worked to keep women in a patriarchal cycle which leaves them feeling they have very little access to opportunity. Using current data of drug use and overdose rates, teen birth rates in southern West Virginia, employment data, drop-out rates and higher education statistics, this work will link the situation in southern West Virginia to scholarship on the state of women in the region as well as research on problem drug addiction. In doing so, this work will show that women of Appalachia are using illicit drugs to escape the pain and loneliness they feel from the pressures and stress of the cultural ideals of Appalachia as well as the socioeconomic turmoil they find themselves suffering in southern West Virginia.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Meghan Mayo-Knapp was born and raised in Huntington, WV. She began her college career at Marshall University in 2003 and quickly found herself landing in the history department, lured in by the charismatic faculty. In 2007 she left the university life and began a family with her new husband, earning an associate’s degree in culinary arts along the way. After spending nearly 10 years as a stay at home mom, Mrs. Mayo-Knapp returned to Marshall University to finish her bachelor’s in history, graduating in 2017. She immediately entered into the graduate department in history at Marshall and hopes to attend a PhD program in the same field beginning in 2019.
Presentation #2 Title
"Granny Women: Rural Mountain Healers of West Virginia"
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
Folk medicine has been an integral part of Appalachia since immigrants first began settling in the mountainous region. It has roots in Germanic herbal medicine with some Northern European Celtic influence. For most mountain villages, the local folk healer was the only person available to aid with every day health maladies and even to assist in home births as physicians were in short supply and road conditions often did not allow for quick travel. Granny women became the midwives of the community, sometimes a granny woman could be credited with assisting in the delivery of every baby born in the area. These folk medicine healers also helped in many other ways. They divulged recipes and home remedies for curing ailments, and would sometimes offer premade tinctures made from local herbs, barks, roots, and other wild local plants. At the turn of the 20th century, modern medicine became more prevalent and many new physicians wanted to practice in the hills of Appalachia. Many in the communities did not trust the ideas of modern medicine and were unwilling to fully place their faith in doctors whom they felt only wanted their money. Through this period of medicalization, many rural communities continued to rely on their local healers. Knowledge of herbal remedies and medicinal plants were continually passed through generations, and many relay that their mothers taught them about home herbal remedies. Several women still relied on granny women to deliver their babies, often due to the issue of a doctor not living near enough to the community. Granny women held vast knowledge of the medicinal herbs and plants and women were responsible for the health of the family in rural communities. Granny women held a much stronger role in the community than only that of midwife as has been portrayed in the much of the secondary literature. Using oral interviews and first-hand accounts, this work aims to show the importance of granny women to the overall health of rural communities and their strong function as community healers.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
See above
"In the Shadow of the Mountains: A Study of Women and Problem Drug Addiction in West Virginia"
The women of West Virginia have been succumbing to problem drug addiction at an alarming rate. Overdoses and overdose related deaths in the state have been rising to the point of more than doubling the national average in the past ten years. Nationwide women are the fastest growing demographic of illicit drug users. Current scholarship on drug addiction shows there is a perfect recipe which helps to create a person with substance abuse issues, namely depression, lack of education, lack of opportunity, history of sexual or domestic abuse, and low socioeconomic standing. Very few works have correlated the fact that these issues are rampant in southern West Virginia where drug abuse has dominated the local narrative. The cultural ideals of women and their role in society in southern West Virginia have worked to keep women in a patriarchal cycle which leaves them feeling they have very little access to opportunity. Using current data of drug use and overdose rates, teen birth rates in southern West Virginia, employment data, drop-out rates and higher education statistics, this work will link the situation in southern West Virginia to scholarship on the state of women in the region as well as research on problem drug addiction. In doing so, this work will show that women of Appalachia are using illicit drugs to escape the pain and loneliness they feel from the pressures and stress of the cultural ideals of Appalachia as well as the socioeconomic turmoil they find themselves suffering in southern West Virginia.
