Appalachian Resources in Special Collections and University Archives: Environment
About the Appalachian Environment and Environmental Issues
This section contains resources about the natural history of the region, coal mining and miners, and geography. Maps of parts of the region and photographs of the landscape can also be found here.
The geography in Appalachia is characterized by rugged, forested mountains much shorter than their younger counterparts. The Appalachian include four distinct regions, each with their own topography and history: the Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, the Appalachian Plateaus, and the Ridge and Valley. By the late nineteenth century, logging and coal mining were both popular industries wreaking havoc on the natural environment in Appalachia. The forests were permanently altered by this destruction, with topography altered by activities such as strip mining and many plant and animal species wiped out. Beginning in the twentieth century, environmental activists have been fighting for conservation and preservation of the natural landscape, leading to the creation of places such as the Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah National Parks.
This information and more can be found in the Encyclopedia of Appalachia and the resources below.
Click on the book or collection title to learn more about it.
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Books & Journals
- The American Coal Miner, 1980 Call Number: HD8039 M615 U55 1980 Spec Large
- Encyclopedia of Appalachia, 2006. Call Number: F106 E53 2006 Spec Large and Newman 3rd Floor
- Harlan and Bell Kentucky, 1931-2, 1972. Call Number: HD6515 M615 K46 1972 Spec Large
- Harlan Miners Speak; Report on Terrorism in the Kentucky Coal Fields. Call Number: HD8039 M62 U6465 Spec Large
- Study of Strip and Surface Mining in Appalachia, 1966. Call Number: TN291 U48 1966 Spec Large
- The West Virginia Miners Union. Call Number: HD6515 M616 W45 1972 Spec Large
- Burke, William. The Mineral Springs of Western Virginia[...], 1846. Call Number: RA807 V7 B9 Spec Small
- Burnett, Nancy Svet. Slovenes in Rural Appalachia, 1994. Call Number: E184 S65 B87 1994 Spec Large
- Dickinson, George E.; Sprague, Stuart Seely. Anxiety and Safety: Two Studies of the Kentucky Coal Miner, 1986. Call Number: HD8039 M62 U6122 1986 Spec Large
- Fetters, Thomas. Logging Railroads of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, 2007. Call Number: TF23.2 F47 2007 Spec Large and Newman 5th Floor
- Foner, Philip Sheldon. Coal Creek Rebellion: East Tennessee Miners vs. Convict-Labor System, 1973. Call Number: HD8039 M62 U625 1973 Spec Large
- Frazier, Jack. West Virginia Green, Part I, 1976. Call Number: HC107 W5 F7 1976 Spec Large
- Harman, Frank P. A Review of the Pocahontas Strike and its Causes from the Operators' Standpoint, 1895. Call Number: HD5325 M6152 1895, P63 Spec Large
- Huddleston, Eugene L. Appalachian Crossing: The Pocahontas Roads, 1989. Call Number: TF23.2 H83 1989 Spec Large
- Lee, Howard B. Bloodletting in Appalachia; the Story of West Virginia's Four Major Mine Wars, 1969. Call Number: HD5326 W4 L43 Spec Large and Newman 3rd Floor
- Levy, Builder. Life of the Appalachian Coal Miner (photographs), 1976. Call Number: HD8039 M62 A672 1976 Spec Folio
- McGehee, Stuart. A Century of Stewardship: the History of the Pocahontas Land Corporation, 2001. Call Number: HD242.3 M33 2001 Spec Large
- Pollard, Edward Alfred. The Virginia Tourist, 1870. Call Number: F231 P77 Spec Large
- Porter, Eliot; Abbey, Edward; Caudill, Harry M. Appalachian Wilderness: the Great Smoky Mountains; Natural and Human History, 1975. Call Number: F106 P86 1975 Spec Folio
- Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. Guide to Paths in the Blue Ridge, 1934. Call Number: F217 B6 P81 1934 Spec Small
- Proco, Garland. Merrimac Mines: a Personal History, 1994. Call Number: F232 M7 P76 1994 Spec Large and Newman 3rd Floor
- Tindall, P. B. Observations on the Mineral Waters of Western Virginia, 1858. Call Number: RA807 V7 T5 Spec Small
- Yarrow, C. H. Mike. Voices from the Appalachian Coalfields: Found Poems, 2015. Call Number: PS595 M5 Y37 2015 Spec Large
Manuscript Collections
- Anthony L. Asher Papers, 1921-1923 (Ms1988-078).
- Appalachian Student Organizing Committee, 1964-1975 (RG31/14/10).
- Buckhorn Coal Company Records, 1880-1961 (Ms1984-175).
- Byron Nelson Cooper Papers, 1925-1971 (Ms1973-004).
- Elizabeth Fine Papers, 1983-2012 (Ms2015-041).
- Lon Savage Collection, 1919-1994 (Ms2014-009).
- New Jersey Zinc Corporation [Austinville, VA] Records, 1850-1969 (Ms1991-032).
- New Jersey Zinc Corporation [Austinville, VA] Records II, 1925-1969 (Ms2011-037).
- New River Valley Planning District Commission Records, 1959-1991 (Ms1998-024).
- Page Milling Company Ledgers, 1904-1935 (Ms1988-050).
- Pocahontas Mines Collection, 1883-1997 (Ms2004-002).
Media
- Appalachian Trail Map 3: Blacksburg Ranger District, George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. (Map.0818) (map)
- Bristol, Tennessee-Virginia. (Map.0780) (map)
- Byllesby, Virginia, Dam Construction Photograph Album. (Ms2019-028). (photographs)
- Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Tourist Map of the Warm Springs Valley. 1895. (Map.0790) (map)
- County Map of Virginia and West Virginia. 1863. (Map.0044) (map)
- Dale Belcher Photographs. 1987-1994. (Ms1997-021) (photographs)
- Earl Palmer Appalachian Photograph and Artifact Collection. 1880-1989. (Ms1989-025) (photographs, artifacts)
- Ivanhoe, Virginia, Moonshine Still Glass Plate. c1932. (Ms2009-028) (digitized slide)
- J. C. Porter Photograph Album. 1880. (Ms1990-079) (photographs)
- Jefferson National Forest: Glenwood, New Castle, and Blacksburg Ranger Districts, Virginia. 1978. (Map.0782) (map)
- Map of the Southern States of America (reproduction). 1795. (Map.0016) (map)
- Map Showing the Early County Boundaries in the Territory West of the Blue Ridge and the Present County Lines in the Mountain Empire. 1974. (Map.0172) (map)
- Master Development Plan Blue Ridge Parkway and Parks. 1940. (Map.0074) (map)
- Olin P. Keyes Coal Mining Prints. 1970. (Ms2010-035) (prints)
- Riverside Mine, Washington County, Virginia. 1951. (Map.0084) (map)
- State of Virginia, Coal Fields and Producing Districts. 1919. (Map.0100) (map)
- Title Map of the Great Kanawha Coal Field. 1867. (Map.0371) (map)
- Topographical Map of the Guy's Run Iron Lands, Rockbridge Co., VA. (reproduction) 1878. (Map.0126) (map)