A Center Sparked by Two Lifelong Educators
When Dr. Edsel T. Godbey arrived in Cumberland in 1959 as the first president of what would become Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College (SKCTC), he saw more than a campus-in-waiting tucked against Black Mountain’s northern flank. He saw a chance to give Harlan County’s coalfield youth the same break that a scholarship had once given a Casey County farm boy named Edsel Godbey. Four decades later—after careers that stretched from Kentucky to France to Atlanta—Dr. Godbey and his equally tenacious wife, Lois “Sue” Godbey, returned that favor in bricks and mortar.
In 2000, the couple funded the creation of the Edsel T. & Lois “Sue” Godbey Appalachian Center for Fine Arts and Cultural Preservation, gifting their alma mater a multidisciplinary hub dedicated to preserving, studying, and celebrating Appalachian culture. The complex folded an existing theater, archival stacks, and classroom wing into a single identity that honors the region’s heritage while nurturing new voices. Today their names crown the marquee above the Godbey Appalachian Center Theatre, and their endowments continue to underwrite scholarships for students who feel called to teach in mountain schools.
From Archives to Art: What’s Inside
The Appalachian Archives
A climate‑controlled vault now safeguards more than 70,000 catalogued items—photographs, oral histories, rare documents, and ephemera—everything from coal‑company camp newsletters to hand‑typed union flyers. Researchers can book appointments, but curated mini‑exhibits spill into public corridors year‑round.
The Godbey Gallery
Rotating shows highlight regional talent such as Letcher County realist Jeff Chapman‑Crane, whose haunting portraits of miners and matriarchs regularly draw standing‑room‑only crowds. The gallery doubles as a classroom where visiting artists coach SKCTC students in plein‑air technique, pottery glazing, and digital imaging.
Theatre & Black‑Box Studio
The 250‑seat main stage hosts everything from Shakespeare on School Night to SKCTC’s annual International Arts & Entertainment Variety Show, renowned for pairing zydeco accordion with mountain dulcimer. A flexible black‑box annex gives student playwrights and choreographers a low‑stakes venue to test new work.
Higher Ground: Community Storytelling on Stage
If the archives curate memory on shelves, Higher Ground amplifies it under stage lights. Launched in 2005, the ongoing community‑performance project gathers oral histories, folk music, and contemporary testimony, fusing them into original musicals performed by locals of every age. Ten original productions—Higher Ground (2005), Playing with Fire (2009), Talking Dirt (2011), Solving for X (2013), Foglights (2013), Find A Way (2015), It’s Good 2 Be Young in the Mountains (2017), Shift Change (2021), IG2BYITM? (2022) and Angels Unaware (2024) have tackled addiction, strip‑mining, out‑migration, and hope.
Festivals, Exhibits, and Digital Futures
Every October, the surrounding quad erupts in the Kingdom Come Swappin’ Meetin’, one of Kentucky’s longest‑running craft and music fairs, founded in 1965. Inside, the gallery hosts quilt retrospectives, coal‑camp photography, and workshops on everything from seed‑saving to Afro‑Appalachian percussion. In 2024, an Appalachian Regional Commission POWER grant of $1.63 million transformed the center’s lower level into the Southeast HUB—a digital‑literacy and coworking facility wired for livestream classes, podcast production, and Zoom‑era entrepreneurship.
Why It Matters
The Godbey Appalachian Center isn’t just a building; it’s a pulse. At a time when mine closures and population loss threaten to flatten local identity, the center insists that Harlan County remains a wellspring of creativity, debate, and pride. Its archives remind us where we’ve been; its stages and studios suggest where we might go next. As Dr. Godbey liked to say, “A region that tells its own story writes its own future.”
Sources & Further Reading
“Obituary: Edsel Taylor Godbey,” Edo Miller & Sons Funeral Home.
“Obituary: Lois ‘Sue’ Godbey,” Edo Miller & Sons Funeral Home.
SKCTC Cumberland Campus Overview – Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College
“Grand Reopening of the Southeast HUB,” SKCTC Newsroom.
“Chapman‑Crane Paintings at Godbey Gallery,” SKCTC News Archive.
“Higher Ground Announces Ninth Play Shift Change,” SKCTC News.
“Higher Ground Series Overview,” SKCTC News Archive
“Godbey Appalachian Cultural & Fine Arts Center,” Explore KY Wildlands tourism listing
LaFollette, Larry. “Federal Grant for Southeast Will Improve Access to Thousands of Historical Items.” SKCTC Newsroom.
“SKCTC Receives $1.63 Million from Appalachian Regional Commission POWER Initiative.” SKCTC Newsroom.
“Kingdom Come Swappin’ Meetin’ (60th Annual).” Harlan County Tourism Events Calendar.
Higher Ground in Harlan County home page.
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