Recently I received a notice of a new book about Eula Hall who has run a medical clinic in Kentucky since 1973, Mud Creek Medicine: The Life of Eula Hall and the Fight for Appalachia. Upon checking, I found a 1988 interview for an oral history project, Appalachia Oral History Collection, Family and Gender in the Coal Community Oral History Project. I think you’ll enjoy it.
Interview with Eula Hall, June 14, 1988
"Whether it is the trailblazing, family feuds, coal miners' strife, moonshinin', or just folksy charm, the personal stories of individuals found in the hills of Appalachia often do rise to the heights of drama and intrigue, and reach to the depths of the American experience. Eula Hall's life is no exception. Eula's story is of a woman of remarkable strength, shaped by her community above all else. It is a story that should appeal to those with no connection to Appalachia, and to those who simply want to leave the world a better place than they found it. From a rugged mountain youth to hired girl to organizer, health care entrepreneur, and iconoclast, Eula's story echoes the story of America in the twentieth century, in all her rage and glory. She is the quintessential Appalachian-American poverty warrior combined with bucolic self-sufficiency, and she represents a dual ethos of community and individualism that is unique to the mountains.
"Eula, like so many quiet civic heroes, didn't do it for fame because, in her words, 'Fame ain't worth a damn'; didn't do it for accolades because 'We need action, not awards'; and sure as hell didn't do it for money because she's 'been rich without money since birth.' She fought on, and risked her life at times, as the sign outside the clinic reads: 'For the People.'" Pages: xvi – xvx Mud Creek Medicine
Butler Books, 2014.
Posts
