Moonshining in Rockingham County: A case study on oral traditions and folkways

Known as the second oldest profession, moonshining has had a significant presence in Rockingham County since the influx of Scots-Irish settlement in the Shenandoah Valley in the mid-1700s. Once used as a commodity for barter and sale and an ingredient in home remedies, a limited number of people still continue to make moonshine. But the practice is most widespread as the subject of oral histories and folklore as told by Rockingham County residents. Often framed as an honorable tradition whose practitioners were heroes and at times even martyrs in their communities, the collective narrative of those closest to moonshining—the sons, daughters, wives, and neighbors of moonshiners and moonshiners themselves—suggests a nostalgic worldview of an illegal practice. Basing the bulk of my research on over fifteen oral histories, I will discuss the way in which moonshining‟s relationship to three themes—natural environment, family and community, and folkways—shape and reflect how local residents positively perceive moonshiners and how moonshiners perceive themselves. The discussion will conclude with a commentary on the paradoxical state of moonshining currently in Rockingham County and the contradictions that arise from claiming to be a traditionalist as compared to a capitalist moonshiner

James Madison University Special Collections

This newsletter article summarizes highlights from manuscript and archival collections recently acquired by James Madison University Special Collections. Includes images and references to collections likely to be of interest to genealogical researchers of families located in the central Shenandoah Valley. Collections highlighted include the Blackley family papers, the Heatwole family papers, and the Henkel family papers. Includes information about other repositories and resources in Harrisonburg, Virginia with genealogical holdings

Taking Control of Archdesc: Implementing Spaceport for Special Collections Finding Aids

This poster describes a project to develop Spaceport, a Python app that transforms EAD finding aids from ArchivesSpace into EADs for Virginia Heritage, HTML files for the JMU Libraries website, and MARCXML records for the catalog. It outlines the challenges and needs that led to Spaceport\u27s development and describes benefits experienced from its implementation

James Madison University Special Collections: Collections Management

This presentation covers different facets of collections management at James Madison University Special Collections. Presented to archival professionals from institutions and organizations within the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, the presenters also discuss collection development, access, and outreach operations at their repository. Established in 1983, Special Collections serves as JMU Libraries’ repository for rare, irreplaceable, unique, or otherwise valuable materials in various formats which warrant special handling or care to assure their long-term availability. Historically, Special Collections has acquired materials that document the Central Shenandoah Valley, the history of James Madison University, as well as other unique materials that support the curriculum of the University. JMU Special Collections strives to build on current collection strengths as well as encourage new initiatives

The Board Border

Skateboard culture is a lot like high school—cliques rule. You have your technical skaters, your punk skaters blah blah and so on. Certain skateboarders fi t into these cliques and stay within them. When an individual does something diff erent—let’s say longboarding, for example—an openminded few may accept that person, but most will ostracize him or her

Archival Continuum

Presentation to JMU Libraries and Furious Flower Poetry Center

The Performance of Dancers on the Lower Quadrant Y Balance Test

The Lower Quadrant Y-Balance Test (YBT-LQ) is an evidence-based screening tool that measures one’s ability to maintain unilateral stance while reaching the contralateral leg in the anterior (ANT), posteromedial (PM), and posterolateral (PL) directions. The purpose of this study was to observe the performance of collegiate dancers on the YBT-LQ and compare it with that of other athletic populations from previously published studies. 39 healthy collegiate dance majors at the Purchase College Conservatory of Dance (ages 17-24 years; mean years of dance training 12.9 ± 3.9 years) participated in this study. Subjects stood on the central platform of the YBT-LQ device and used one foot to slide the reach indicator in each direction. After 3 trials, each subject\u27s highest score per direction for right and left sides was recorded and used to calculate the reach asymmetry score for each direction. Each reach distance score was normalized by subject leg length and used to compute a composite reach score. Mean values were calculated for each outcome and compared to mean values of other athletes available from the literature, using a one-sample t-test. The mean reach scores for the dancers in each direction expressed as a percentage of leg length were: ANT: 75.0% ± 7.2%, PM: 121.6% ± 9.3%, and PL: 120.0% ± 8.7%. Mean composite reach score was 105.5% ± 7.7%. Mean reach asymmetry values were greatest in the PM direction (3.8cm ± 3.0cm) followed by the PL and ANT directions (2.8cm ± 2.1cm; 2.6cm ± 2.4cm). When compared to other groups of athletes, the dancers in this study performed superiorly in all outcome measures except for the ANT reach distance; dancers demonstrated a significantly superior performance compared to all other athletes in their composite score (p \u3c 0.005), and PL reach distance (p \u3c 0.0005). In the PM direction, dancers were observed to reach significantly further than all comparisons (p\u3c0.0001), with the exception of professional soccer players (p=0.04). Dancers performed a significantly more symmetrical PL reach on each side when compared to all athletes (p \u3c 0.0001) except professional soccer players (p = 0.18). The values outlined in this research demonstrate that dancers perform differently on the YBT-LQ than do other athletes. YBT-LQ normative values must be established for dancers before this test can be used as a screening tool for this population

Aeroservoelastic wind-tunnel investigations using the Active Flexible Wing Model: Status and recent accomplishments

The status of the joint NASA/Rockwell Active Flexible Wing Wind-Tunnel Test Program is described. The objectives are to develop and validate the analysis, design, and test methodologies required to apply multifunction active control technology for improving aircraft performance and stability. Major tasks include designing digital multi-input/multi-output flutter-suppression and rolling-maneuver-load alleviation concepts for a flexible full-span wind-tunnel model, obtaining an experimental data base for the basic model and each control concept and providing comparisons between experimental and analytical results to validate the methodologies. The opportunity is provided to improve real-time simulation techniques and to gain practical experience with digital control law implementation procedures