Collaborative project by:
Stewart Scales, instructor in the Department of Geography at Virginia Tech, where he teaches Cartography and the Geography of Appalachia.
Emily Satterwhite, professor of Appalachian Studies at Virginia Tech.
Abby August, a 2018 graduate of Virginia Tech with a B.A. in geography
“Mapping Appalachia” is the title of Eugene McCann’s article about the ways in which maps usually function as tools of power but can fuel egalitarian political projects when constructed from the perspective of local residents (Journal of Appalachian Studies 4:1 [1998]). We borrow McCann’s title with the hope that this collection of institutionally-backed maps can be appropriated for education and activism. For maps made by students of their home communities, see Berea College’s Mappalachia project.
Mapping Appalachia has three components: 1. This website 2. Our article published in the Journal of Appalachian Studies 3. Interactive maps. The article presents a historical overview of major scholarly and political delineations from 1895 to the present. The online components house the published article, descriptions of and scanned original versions of digitized maps and links to ArcGIS renderings of historical maps.
The purpose of the article and the map series is to make available a mapping tool for education and activism, facilitate discussion regarding the meanings of places, and to urge us to embrace the most useful and inclusive definition of Appalachia.