Appalachian Figures A strike comes to Brookside In the summer of 1973 miners at the Eastover Coal Company’s Brookside mine in Harlan County voted to affiliate with the United Mine Workers of America. When the company refused to sign a contract that matched area standards and included a meaningful right to strike, the miners walked out and set up pickets.
Appalachian Figures A Harlan County beginning Elbert Benjamin “E. B.” Smith was born in Benham, Kentucky, on May 1, 1921, the son of Elbert and Gladys Smith. Benham was a young company town in Harlan County when Smith arrived, and like many Appalachian families of his generation his early years unfolded in a landscape shaped by coal and community churches.
Appalachian Figures Pine Mountain Settlement School began with a local farmer’s gift and a plainspoken promise. William “Uncle William” Creech of Harlan County wanted a school where his neighbors’ children could learn without leaving the valley. In his own words he had “heart and craving that our people may grow better,” and he put land and effort behind the idea.
Appalachian Figures From Harlan to the Army Carl Henry Dodd was born in Harlan County and came of age in a coal camp world that sent many young men into uniform. Before his eighteenth birthday he worked for the Black Mountain Coal Company, then enlisted in the Army at 18, beginning a career that would stretch across World War II and the Korean War.
Appalachian Figures A Harlan County beginning Jerry Donald Chesnut was born in the railroad town of Loyall in Harlan County on May 7, 1931. Multiple primary records fix his birthplace and date, and they place him in the household of A. B. (Alvin Basil) and Ruby Chesnut in Loyall as a child.
Appalachian Figures Silas Harlan’s short life sits at the crossroads of early Kentucky settlement, George Rogers Clark’s western campaigns, and the last major battle of the Revolution in the Ohio Valley. Harlan helped build a Salt River station, scouted for Clark, wrote home about a plan to fortify the “Iron Banks” on the Mississippi, and fell at Blue Licks in 1782. In 1819, the legislature created Harlan County and named it for him.
Appalachian Figures Wallace Clayton “Wah Wah” Jones grew up in Harlan, Kentucky, and carried Appalachian grit onto some of the biggest stages in American sport. He starred at Harlan High, then for the University of Kentucky in basketball, football, and baseball, and in the summer of 1948 he helped the United States win Olympic gold in London.
On April 16, 2025, the Rogue Scholar Advisory Board met for the third time since it started in January 2024. Since the last Advisory Board Meeting on October 24, Rogue Scholar has achieved several important milestones.
Diamond Open Access (DOA) promises a world without paywalls: no subscriptions, no article fees, free publishing and free reading. At first glance, it looks like the fair and sustainable alternative to Gold and Hybrid OA. But behind the appealing vision lie tough questions.
Whether you attended BOSC 2025 or missed it, you can read about it (with lots of photos!) in our report published in F1000Research. We are also pleased to announce that videos of the BOSC 2025 talks are now available on our schedule page, as well as on our YouTube channel. Enjoy!
This month’s news includes: Research software community news, including FutuRSI: the Conception of a German Research Software Institution Funding opportunities, including the Simons Foundation’s Scientific Software Research Faculty Award International Research Software Conference (IRSC) Software plagiarism and AI create new challenges for publishing integrity International Data Week (IDW) 2025 co-located event: Supporting research software in