Appalachian Figures
From Double Creek to Hindman
James Still was born on July 16, 1906, in the Double Creek/Double Branch community near LaFayette, Alabama. After studies at Lincoln Memorial University (’29) and graduate work at Vanderbilt (M.A., 1930), he arrived at the Hindman Settlement School in the summer of 1931. He returned the next year to become the school’s librarian in fall 1932, rooting his life and art in this corner of eastern Kentucky for the next seven decades.
A librarian who became “dean of Appalachian literature”
Hindman became both Still’s workplace and community. He kept the library, read to students, wrote in the evenings, and later served as a longtime writer-in-residence. In recognition of his influence—often summarized in the phrase “dean of Appalachian literature”—the Commonwealth named him Kentucky Poet Laureate for 1995–1996.
The log house on Dead Mare Branch
Away from campus, Still lived at a two-story log house on Dead Mare Branch, a place he called Wolfpen. The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places simply as “Wolfpen,” Ref. No. 12001200, listed January 7, 2014, with Literature noted as the area of significance.
War years and return to Troublesome
During World War II, Still served as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, posted overseas, including North Africa/Egypt. After the war he returned to Knott County, resuming life at Hindman and at Wolfpen, experiences he discussed in later oral-history interviews.
River of Earth and the work that followed
Still’s best-known book, River of Earth (1940), follows an eastern Kentucky family balancing subsistence farming with the pull of coal-camp wages. The novel won the Southern Authors’ Award in 1940, and Still continued to publish poems and stories in leading magazines such as The Atlantic, The Yale Review, Saturday Review, The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, and VQR. Documentary filmmakers and broadcasters also carried his voice to wider audiences. KET produced tributes and programs on Still and his work, and the James Still Audio and Video Collection at Morehead State University preserves interviews, readings, and documentaries, including James Still: Man on Troublesome Creek (1988) and A Master’s Time: 80 Years for James Still (1986), recorded during celebrations at Hindman.
Oak Ledge at Hindman
On the hill above the Settlement School sits Oak Ledge, a cottage built in 1924 by writer Lucy Furman. Still later lived there for much of his Hindman tenure. The school has restored the cottage—keeping Still’s office intact, down to the shelves of his personal library—and now operates Oak Ledge as a writing residency.
Letters and papers: where to find Still in the archives
Researchers will find a wide archival footprint for Still. Berea College Special Collections & Archives holds the James Still Papers (BCA 0037 SAA 035), with series for correspondence, clippings, biographical materials, and manuscripts. The University of Kentucky’s Special Collections Research Center holds the larger James Still papers, 1885–2007, and maintains a public James Still Correspondence Database that lets you search letters by correspondent and date, with box-and-folder citations. Morehead State University preserves the James Still Audio and Video Collection, and East Carolina University’s Stuart Wright Collection includes rare printed proofs and related items, such as an autographed proof of Hounds on the Mountain (1937).
A marker and a title
The Commonwealth honored Still as Kentucky Poet Laureate for 1995–1996, and travelers in Letcher County will find a roadside historical marker dedicated to him, part of a cluster of regional markers.
Why Still matters
Still’s pages are set on specific creeks and branches, yet they travel widely. He wrote about subsistence gardens and coal camps in plain, exacting prose and precise verse. He preserved speech, seasons, and work rhythms from a place he chose as home. That fidelity to a lived landscape is why archives continue to grow, restorations continue, and readers still find their way to Wolfpen and Oak Ledge.
Sources & further reading
Berea College Special Collections and Archives, James Still Papers (BCA 0037 SAA 035) — Finding aid.
Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, “Interview with James A. Still,” Aug. 2, 1991 — kentuckyoralhistory.org.
Morehead State University, James Still Audio and Video Collection — ScholarWorks collection page.
University of Kentucky Libraries, James Still Correspondence Database — stillbib.omeka.net — and SCRC overview — Special Collections Research Center.
National Park Service, Wolfpen (NRHP), Ref. No. 12001200 — NPGallery record.
Hindman Settlement School, Oak Ledge Writing Residency and restoration updates — Oak Ledge and Restoring the James Still Cottage.
Carol Boggess, James Still: A Life (University Press of Kentucky, 2017) — Publisher page.
Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning, Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame: James Still — Biography.
University of Alabama Libraries, This Goodly Land — James Still entry — apps.lib.ua.edu.
UK Libraries guide, Kentucky Poets Laureate — libguides.uky.edu.