Missouri State University Ozarks Studies

26/03/2019

This evening at the Boone County Library in Harrison, Ark. Something tells us the biologist wasn't asked to sign off on the flyer, but it should be a good program nonetheless.

26/03/2019

With A Smoothie A Day, Students In The Rural Ozarks See Malnutrition Decline

The newest "Sense of Community" piece from KSMU. https://www.ksmu.org/post/smoothie-day-students-rural-ozarks-see-malnutrition-decline?fbclid=IwAR2qKeh5ZuZP4qfvIHFD9NDImYLKSXbHgVUzBkzTctcRvg3INEy2Ac30KHo#stream/0

Every day at school, Kenzie Warren, a sophomore at West Plains High School, sets her backpack down at one of the six rows of rectangular tables that line

25/03/2019

Rural Schools Meet Personal Needs, One Slow-Cooker Or Bike At A Time

Catch KSMU's spring "Sense of Community" series. https://www.ksmu.org/post/rural-schools-meet-personal-needs-one-slow-cooker-or-bike-time?fbclid=IwAR3KSC3vmIyr1qgkA5rQ1JLkyrq23297r-OqCcQfZnpEluJLOCvZI2zFTC4

At the end of a long hallway in the West Plains High School’s career center building, there’s a room with racks of clothing and shelves of canned meat and

25/03/2019

University of Arkansas Press

Farmland Shrinks in Northwest Arkansas - Jared Phillips, author of Hipbillies, on KUAF 91.3 Public Radio

https://www.kuaf.com/post/farmland-shrinks-northwest-arkansas

21/03/2019

Ozarks at Large for Tuesday, March 19, 2019

The Gibson family of white-oak basket makers and other Ozarks stories on "Ozarks at Large". https://www.kuaf.com/post/ozarks-large-tuesday-march-19-2019#stream/0

This week, we continue a Spring Break tradition with a listen to stories from our archive pertaining to the idea of family. On today's show, we hear how

19/03/2019

Tuesday: Ozarks Cuisine Takes Center Stage At Bulrush, Set To Open This Spring

The opening of St. Louis's Ozarks cuisine restaurant draws near. https://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/tuesday-ozarks-cuisine-takes-center-stage-bulrush-set-open-spring?fbclid=IwAR03wrj1Scbqq3BeLJALZI2e2PQ-0fa0Jagv5xujSHw1apaxXKR1GOnIRn8#stream/0

Including Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma, the Ozarks is a geographic region known for its mountainous topography, forests and tourism. The region also has

17/03/2019

History Blog Keeps the Ozarks Alive at First Meetup

The first of many Ozarks Alive meetups. We'll try to keep you posted from here on out. https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/history-blog-keeps-the-ozarks-alive-at-first-meetup/1855070666

History is a big fascination here in the Ozarks -- and the blog Ozarks Alive held its first meetup today.

16/03/2019

University of Arkansas Press

Now available! Hipbillies: Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks by Jared M. Phillips

“Hipbillies boldly challenges common stereotypes of the back to the landers who relocated to the Ozarks in the 1970s as clueless, deadbeat dropouts who never fit in with their local neighbors and failed miserably to establish sustainable communities and live ‘naturally.’ Instead, Jared Phillips persuasively argues that the back to the landers arrived with serious commitments to their ideals and, despite their setbacks and struggles, ultimately left their mark on the region’s arts and crafts communities, solar energy advancements, organic farming and farmers’ markets, environmental activism, and other legacies that can be seen in the Ozarks today. This is a fascinating read and an important contribution to recent Ozarks history.”
—Blake Perkins

25% off when you order online! https://www.uapress.com/product/hipbillies/

12/03/2019

Hipbillies

Spring's right around the corner -- and so is the release of this book. https://www.uapress.com/product/hipbillies/

Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks Jared M. Phillips With a Foreword by Crescent Dragonwagon 218 pages, 6 × 9, 9 images, index April 2019   Available In: Paper: $20.96 $27.95 (978…

08/03/2019

National Enquirer attraction to open in Branson, Pigeon Forge

There are an unlimited number of connections and similarities between Appalachia and the Ozarks, not least of which are the twin sisters of hillbilly tourism, Pigeon Forge and Branson. Something new in common: https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2019/03/06/national-enquirer-branson-pigeon-forge-attraction-opening/3069442002/?fbclid=IwAR08aPsF7l51ud5CDNZ86ionVgmBiRlVMqSZQQU_kKwq-u1oxc9cl4cxZB8

National Enquirer is set to open an interactive family attraction for Pigeon Forge in May and this summer for Branson.

07/03/2019

Brooklyn Folk Festival

Jalopy Records is proud to announce “Going Down to ‘Leven Point,” the first studio album from The Ozark Highballers, coming out on April 5th, 2019. The album’s release is scheduled to coincide with their headlining performance Sat. April 6th at the Brooklyn Folk Festival.

The Ozark Highballers is a string band from the Ozark Mountains of Western Arkansas, composed of Roy Pilgrim (fiddle), Aviva Steigmeyer (guitar), Clarke Buehling (banjo) and Seth Shumate (harmonica).

The album features 22 all new recordings by the band, along with extensive liner notes and historic photographs documenting the origins of the music.

Hear some exciting tracks and Pre-Order!
http://ozarkhighballers.bandcamp.com/album/going-down-to-leven-point

04/03/2019

'We Have Met The Ozarks, And It Is Us'

Always good to hear from Marideth Sisco, sage of the Ozarks. https://www.ksmu.org/post/we-have-met-ozarks-and-it-us

This is Marideth Sisco for These Ozarks Hills. In this week of wacky weather I was looking really hard for a metaphor and maybe a song to describe the

03/03/2019

Arkansas’s Oldest Public Structure Receives Upgrades - Only In Arkansas

The Wolf House becomes more visitor friendly. https://onlyinark.com/places-and-travel/arkansass-oldest-public-structure-receives-upgrades/?fbclid=IwAR3PmS_ag-Lnj_qNOWwwkuUjUtKws1q3L30CYTbYKXTVBaltJyE9J3J383Q

What is known now as the Jacob Wolf House was the first courthouse to Izard County, a bustling center of trade due to its location on the White River.

01/03/2019

Territorial Arkansas Living History Fest | Arkansas.com

Tomorrow marks the 200th anniversary of Pres. Monroe's signing the Arkansas Territory into existence. Davidsonville Historic State Park near Pocahontas will celebrate the occasion with a living history fest. https://www.arkansas.com/events/territorial-arkansas-living-history-fest

The past becomes the present at Davidsonville Historic State Park as we celebrate 200 years of Arkansas Territory. Come explore the town as it would have been during a hey-day market week and explore the pattern of

28/02/2019

New UA Press Book Collects Two Centuries of Ozark Literature

New UA Press Book Collects Two Centuries of Ozark Literature

Phillip Douglas Howerton, editor of the anthology, will sign books at Fayetteville Public Library and other venues.

25/02/2019

Perspective | Meet the men living deep in the Ozarks, away from the fray

The age-old fascination with the marginal Ozarks. https://www.washingtonpost.com/photography/2019/02/22/meet-men-living-deep-ozarks-away-fray/?utm_term=.bbee9041cedc

Matthew Genitempo's photographic life took him into the Piney Woods of Texas and led him to the hills of the Ozark range, where he chronicled a remote way of life.

25/02/2019

Rogers Historical Museum

Don't miss your opportunity to see Still on the Hill's "Cane Hill Show". Saturday March 2nd. The Concert is free! Go to Eventbrite.com to reserve your seats, space is limited and going fast!

21/02/2019

Ozark Mill Starts it's Move Back Home

Quite an undertaking. https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/ozark-mill-on-the-move-back-home/1797448068

OZARK, Mo. -- It's round two of a restoration project for a piece of Ozark history.   

21/02/2019

The Scots in St. Louis Speaker Series - Dr. Brooks Blevins

If you're in the St. Louis area next Wednesday evening, come on out to catch Dr. Blevins's talk on the Scots-Irish in the Ozarks. It's free but the Scottish St. Andrew Society of Greater St. Louis asks that you register. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-scots-in-st-louis-speaker-series-dr-brooks-blevins-tickets-51362750369

Did you know that the first governor of Missouri, Alexander McNair, was Scottish? Or that a national Scottish fraternity, the Order of Scottish Clans, was established in St. Louis? If you love history and Scottish culture, the Scottish St. Andrew Society of Greater St. Louis is proud to bring you a....

20/02/2019

Ozarks Tonight: Smallin Cave

A little more Schoolcraft . . . https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/ozarks-tonight-smallin-cave/1794990864

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Archaeologist Eric Fuller joins John Adams to talk about a historical event that took place in the Ozarks 200 years ago.   

19/02/2019

Ozarks Genealogical Society

Ozarks Genealogical Society

Wednesday February 20, 2019 - 10:00 am in the The Library Center auditorium
“Who were the Settlers of the Old Ozarks?”
Brooks Blevins will give a presentation titled “Who Were the Settlers of the Old Ozarks?” Using his new book, A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks, as the launching point, Blevins will discuss settlement patterns in different parts of the Ozark region. Among the topics covered will be the ethnic and national origins of those who immigrated to the area between the 1790s and the beginning of the Civil War and the social institutions and lifeways they brought with them. He is the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University. He is a seventh-generation Ozarker and the author or editor of eight books. Books by Brooks Blevins will be available to purchase.

08/02/2019

Anthology of Ozarks literature explores culture

A nice article on Phil Howerton's new anthology of Ozarks literature. https://www.westplainsdailyquill.net/features/article_a01da4d4-2991-11e9-b376-8b1405f03b4c.html

“The Ozarks were never as isolated as it’s been presented,” asserts Missouri State University-West Plains English Professor Phillip Howerton, leaning forward as though divulging a long-kept secret.

01/02/2019

'Deep Revolution in the Arkansas Ozarks:' Phillips Discusses New Book on 'Hipbillies'

Listen to Jared Phillips discuss the impact of back-to-the-landers in the Arkansas Ozarks. https://news.uark.edu/articles/46062/-deep-revolution-in-the-arkansas-ozarks-phillips-discusses-new-book-on-hipbillies-?fbclid=IwAR23ycILqgy1F7xBUJdGe3hV1x9SiJTcMahW-C1ynZVdh_YJD32sT7tj0g0

The latest edition of Short Talks From the Hill, a podcast from the U of A, features Jared Phillips, an instructor of international studies in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

30/01/2019

Appalachian Reckoning: A Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy | West Virginia University Press

New rebuttal to "Hillbilly Elegy". https://wvupressonline.com/node/774

With hundreds of thousands of copies sold, a Ron Howard movie in the works, and the rise of its author as a media personality, J. D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis has defined Appalachia for much of the nation. What about Hillbilly Elegy accounts for this explo...

25/01/2019

The Literature of the Ozarks | University of Arkansas Press

Terrific new book edited by Dr. Phil Howerton of MSU-West Plains. Should be on the shelf of anyone interested in the Ozarks. https://www.uapress.com/product/the-literature-of-the-ozarks/

The job of regional literature is twofold: to explore and confront the culture from within, and to help define that culture for outsiders. Taken together, the two centuries of Ozarks literature collected in this ambitious anthology do just that. The fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama presented i...

23/01/2019

Mary Jo Wynn — pioneer of women's sports at Missouri State — dies

An Ozarks native and pioneer in women's athletics. https://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/college/msu/2019/01/22/mary-jo-wynn-pioneer-womens-sports-missouri-state-dies/2584606002/?fbclid=IwAR21Dk-_ViPLxVzq8Kk-JE6NGFc2UCoHoJpVwJ-9Jjz3zV6Y1QktB7MS7eg

Mary Jo Wynn, who died Tuesday at age 87, was the first woman to be named a Missouri Sports Legend by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.

19/01/2019

Astronaut who grew up in Ozarks to be inducted into NASA's Hall of Fame

https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Astronaut-who-grew-up-in-Ozarks-to-be-inducted-into-NASAs-Hall-of-Fame-504514232.html

Dr. Janet Kavandi, born in Springfield, raised in Cassville and Carthage, schooled at Missouri Southern and Missouri S&T, will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on April 6th, completing a life-long dream that's seen her to soar to amazing heights.

18/01/2019

Ozark Mountain Music Festival | Eureka Springs, Arkansas

This weekend at the Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs. https://www.ozarkmountainmusicfestival.com/

The Ozark Mountain Music Festival is an Ozark Mountain fusion of Bluegrass, Folk and American Roots Music held annually at the Basin Park Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. With bands often celebrated at such major festivals as Wakarusa or Harvest Fest, the Basin Park Hotel has invited festival goer...

17/01/2019

Season 3 of 'True Detective' Is Set In The *Most* Gorgeous Place

Cinematography and the Ozarks. HBO's "True Detective" continues Hollywood's newfound interest in the region. https://www.romper.com/p/where-is-true-detective-set-season-3-takes-place-in-the-ozarks-15691687

If you're a True Detective fan there's no doubt you're excited for the premiere of Season 3. A common factor in the first two seasons was the intensity of the show's setting, whether that was small-town Louisiana or gritty LA. So you may be…

17/01/2019

A Portrait of Life Secluded in the Ozark Mountains

Get drawn in by the mention of Frank Stanford; stay for the photographs in "Jasper". https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/a-portrait-of-life-secluded-in-the-ozark-mountains

Matthew Genitempo’s photo series “Jasper” is an idiosyncratic travelogue, combining elegiac black-and-white landscapes with portraits of the men and women he encountered deep in the Ozarks.

17/01/2019

Why Northwest Arkansas is the True Star of True Detective Season 3 | Architectural Digest

Nic Pizzolatto came back home, sort of (the Louisiana native earned an MFA at the U. of Arkansas in Fayetteville) to film the third season of his HBO series "True Detective". The season premiere aired Sunday night and is already sparking more national interest in the Ozarks. https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/northwest-arkansas-is-the-true-star-of-true-detective-season-3?fbclid=IwAR1DAV20Xz_OMMY4bBs2n5RLqXmupSlEPiN8C3jx7WsYOTY2glFnrBBzlCI

One of the fastest-growing areas of the country is also a hotbed of burgeoning cultural activity

16/01/2019

1912 murder explored in new book | Ozarks Alive

1912 murder explored in new book | Ozarks Alive

“Remembering Ella” was published in 2018. In 1912, a gruesome murder rocked rural Arkansas when 18-year-old Ella Barham was raped, murdered and dismembered. A neighbor was soon charged with the crime, and by the next year, had been convicted and hanged. But was he guilty? Learn more about this m...

15/01/2019

Previewing 2 New Food, Drink Spots Coming to St. Louis-Area

Interesting interview with forager chef Rob Connoley, whose new Ozark cuisine restaurant Bulrush will open in St. Louis next month. Starts at about the 21-minute mark. https://kmox.radio.com/media/audio-channel/previewing-2-new-food-drink-spots-coming-st-louis-area?fbclid=IwAR1WlylLuLwFWWRUzq8HYmtMOmkzIW-EuO9j1q3YDMiJMYYHhxceHLPLSYA

Carol Daniel and Food Writer Brandi Wills are talking all things food, their love of grocery stores and what restaurants to try if you have a little money or a lot to spend. They'll be joined by Rob Connolly, owner of the highly anticipated Bulrush, who'll discuss his Ozarks-focused cuisine and fora...

09/01/2019

The Literature of the Ozarks | University of Arkansas Press

Coming out next month -- Phil Howerton's new anthology spanning some two centuries of Ozarks literature. Pre-order yours now. https://www.uapress.com/product/the-literature-of-the-ozarks/

The job of regional literature is twofold: to explore and confront the culture from within, and to help define that culture for outsiders. Taken together, the two centuries of Ozarks literature collected in this ambitious anthology do just that. The fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama presented i...

09/01/2019

OzarksWatch

One of the pioneers in Ozarks Studies at MSU passed away Monday. Russel Gerlach, professor emeritus of geography, taught at SMSU from 1969 until his retirement in 1996. Along with such colleagues as Milton Rafferty, Bob Gilmore, Bob Flanders, and Donald Holliday, Gerlach helped establish Springfield as the nerve center for the academic study of the Ozarks. He is probably best remembered for his 1976 book "Immigrants in the Ozarks: A Study in Ethnic Geography" (U of MO Press). He was also the author of "Settlement Patterns in Missouri: A Study of Population Origins" (U of MO Press, 1986), and collaborated with SMS colleagues on "Atlas of Missouri" (with Rafferty) and "The Heritage of the Ozarks: A Multicultural Curriculum for Elementary Schools" (with Bill Wedenoja). He died in Lafayette, IN at the age of 79. Russel Gerlach was especially interested in the German immigrant settlements of the Ozark plateau. Here is one of several publications on the topic, from an early issue of "OzarksWatch Magazine": https://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/ozarkswatch/ow50306.htm

To some the suggestion that there might be such a thing as German Ozarks will seem strange. The popular image f the Ozarks is one of a region reflecting a British heritage brought by descendants of early English and Celtic settlers who had slowly trekked west from the Atlantic coast to the hills of....