Conference Highlights

Opening Ceremony

 

Join us for the opening ceremony at Lewisburg’s beautiful Campus Theater, one of the only remaining single-screen art deco movie theaters in the country. This historic venue was built in 1941, and it will serve as the picturesque setting for the opening of our 50th conference.

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Excursions

 

A coal mine in Columbia County caught fire in 1962, and the fire has been burning beneath the abandoned town of Centralia ever since. Guide and historian David DeKok will offer a 2-2.5-hour tour to learn about the history and legacy of the Centralia mine fire. Space for this excursion is limited, so if you are interested, please use this link for more details and to let us know if you are interested in joining the guided walking tour. Once you complete the form, email will be used to relay the day, time, starting location, and any other relevant information regarding the tour.

 

Note: The Centralia excursion is not handicap accessible, and it includes both walking and driving. Plan to dress accordingly.

 

Walking Tours

 

Consider joining a walking tour of downtown Lewisburg to see the sites and learn about our community’s history. Details forthcoming.

 

Attendees are welcome to enjoy Bucknell University’s Poetry Walking Path, curated by Bucknell University’s Stadler Center for Poetry and Literary Arts. The path is one mile long, handicap accessible, and features a new selection of poems as of fall 2026.

 

Take a self-guided tour that highlights the lives and legacies of veterans from the United States Colored Troops buried in the Lewisburg Cemetery. Designed by Bucknell University graduate student, Lily Hebda, the self-guided tour is based on her research with Bucknell’s Griot Institute for the Study of Black Lives and Culture: “Rememory: The Legacy of the Civil War in the Lewisburg Cemetery.”

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Bertrand Library Special Collections

 

University Archivist & Records Management Coordinator, Eir Danielson, and University Archivist & Director, Special Collections Susan Falciani Maldonado will curate an exhibit inthe Bucknell University Library with items of interest for Appalachian Studies attendees.

 

Plenary Session

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One of the plenary session will feature a discussion with the editors of the forthcoming volume from the University Press of Kentucky, Black Appalachia: Race, Place, and Identity. They will discuss their new book and the influence and legacy of the foundational 1985 collection edited by William Turner and Edward Cabbell, Blacks in Appalachia.

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The other plenary is titled, Present at the Birth: Two Appalachian Scholars Remember the Early Days of the Appalachian Studies Conference and will feature:

 

• Patricia Beaver, Founding Director, Center for Appalachian Studies, Professor Emerita, Appalachian State University

• Jerry Williamson, Founding Editor, Appalachian Journal, Professor Emeritus, Appalachian State University

• Moderator: Sandra Ballard, retired Editor, Appalachian Journal, Professor Emerita, Appalachian State University

Beaver and Williamson will recall the heady day leading up to the first ASA conference held in Berea in 1978. Many threads led to the Cratis Williams Symposium in April, 1976, and the follow-up Appalachian Agenda gathering in Boone that September.

 

Massive flooding in central Appalachia in spring 1977 led to new connections through Highlander Center: the Appalachian Alliance, prelude to the Appalachian Land Ownership Task Force, and the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative (SAWC).

 

Meeting in Berea November 4-5, 1977, thirty scholars and activists laid plans for the inaugural spring conference held in Berea, March, 1978. 

 

Following the theme of the first conference and this 50th conference, Beaver, Williamson, and Ballard invite others who were “Present at the Birth” to add their commentary, reflections, and wisdom to the question: Where do we go from here?

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Keynote

 

This year’s keynote will be delivered by Jim Branscome. Author of the often-anthologized article and pamphlet, Annihilating the Hillbilly, Branscome has been writing about the Appalachian Region for more than 50 years. A former staff member of the Appalachian Regional Commission, journalist, and managing director of Standard & Poor’s, Branscome’s writing has appeared in numerous local, national, and online venues, and he published a collection of his writings in 2026: Annihilating the Hillbilly Redux.

 

Under the Radar Speaker Series: Harrisburg Country Club

 

In partnership with the Dauphin County Library and the Popel Shaw Center for Race & Ethnicity at Dickinson College, ASA attendees are invited to attend an event honoring the history and legacy of the Craig Family, several of whom were enslaved at Fort Hunter near Harrisburg and are buried on grounds currently owned by the Harrisburg Country Club. The speaker series sheds light on the overlooked history of bondage and the struggle for freedom in Pennsylvania and the legacy of Harrisburg’s Black community, and this event will honor the legacy of the Craig family matriarch, Hannah Craig.

 

This event is open to ASA attendees. It will take place on Saturday, March 6, at the Harrisburg Country Club: 401 Fishing Creek Valley Rd, Harrisburg PA 17112. On site parking is available. Details forthcoming. Please RSVP with Rev. Yvette Davis at davisy@dickinson.edu.