Independent Local History Interviews

Our collection of independent oral history interviews includes items from local area projects, as well as from individuals who were inspired to capture family, friends, or community recollections on film or tape.
Pictured here: 1912 Harris Hart School students; our 2009 Story Booth at the Floyd Country Store; and Union Church interior in Willis
  • 1984 Eris Wade interviewed by Kevin Quesenberry
  • 1984 Max Thomas interviewed by Roger Vest
  • 1988 Shape Note singing – Laurel Branch & Beaver Creek Brethren Churches
  • 1991 interview with Luther Bowman, Laurel Branch Brethren minister, by Kathleen Ingoldsby
  • 1993 Effie Brown – Farm Life lecture transcript
  • 2004 Luther Mason Bolt interviewed by Susan Penniell
  • 2008 David Ingram interviewed by Kathleen Ingoldsby
  • 2014 Jane Hellman interviewed by Kathleen Ingoldsby
  • 2013-2017 Randall A. Wells “Floydiana” series of Floyd County interviews

Ma Sue Hall – Living the Legend – 2002, film by Kathleen Ingoldsby. The project tells the life story of Susan Harris Hall (1872-1959), Floyd. VA, as told through oral history interviews from those who knew her. Ma Sue Hall was indomitable, no one doubted that, “she was something!” The film expands on stories from the 1912 photo album of town on “Court Day,” created in memory of her father, Rev. John Kellogg Harris, “of the place he loved so well.” The day-in-the-life photo album is now in the collections of the Floyd County Historical Society. The audio voice-overs include those who knew her: Bob Shelor, Bill Hayden, Pete Hall, Jessie Heafner, John Kellogg Akers, Hazel Edwards, Catherine Nester, Laurence Wood, Ora Brammer, Maude Shelor, Henry B. Shelor, and Eva B. Howard. Full interview audio and transcripts are archived at the Old Church Gallery.

Note: Floyd Story Center has received a number of donated or shared independent interviews covering a wide range of topics. In some instances these interviews have been transcribed but not edited; in other cases they remain as audiotape or digital recordings. All materials are available to researchers. However, donor agreements (or lack thereof) for some materials may preclude copying or quotation. For further information about these oral histories, please contact the Old Church Gallery.