Stokesville and North River Gap Oral Histories, 1996-1997 *JMU Faculty Papers*

Repository:

Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University

Creator:

Veith, Kay

Creator:

Geier, Clarence R.

Creator:

Chapman, C. Thomas

Creator:

Monger, Kathryn

Title:

Stokesville and North River Gap Oral Histories

Collection No.:

SdArch 35

Date:

1996-1997

Extent:

1 box, 14 audiocassettes, .42 Cubic Feet

Language of the Material:

English

Abstract:

The Stokesville and North River Gap Oral Histories, 1996-1997, are comprised of audio interviews, census data, genealogy research and scans of photographs related to prominent families of the North River Gap area and town of Stokesville, in Augusta County, Virginia.

The collection is comprised of research materials created by Kay Veith, Kathryn Monger and C. Thomas Chapman, James Madison University students who took courses taught by Dr. Clarence Geier, professor of Anthropology. Their research contributed to the book, "North River Gap – Stokesville, Augusta County, Virginia: A Selected Genealogy and Oral History of Residents," authored by Kay Veith, with contributions by Carole Nation and Clarence Geier, published in 1996. The project was a joint venture between members of the JMU history and anthropology departments, and the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests of Roanoke. Photograph scans were made from photographs belonging to individuals that participated in field survey.

Dr. Clarence Geier is a professor emeritus of Anthropology at James Madison University, where one of his primary research areas was the archeology of the American Civil War, specifically in the Shenandoah Valley. Kay Veith, who conducted many of the oral histories in this collection, was a student at JMU in the mid-1990s. Veith was a member of the Massanutten Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia, where she served as Secretary and chief organizer. Veith conducted fieldwork on many projects, including the Shenandoah National Park Archaeological Survey Program in the early 2000s. James Madison University established the Kay Veith Field Archeology Award to support young archeologists. Kathryn Monger undertook the geneology project on Reba Sirk Floyd.

The Stokesville and North River Gap Oral Histories, 1996-1997, is comprised of audiorecordings and research files from the professional papers of Dr. Clarence Geier, a professor emeritus of Sociology and Anthropology at James Madison University. Materials include recordings, scanned photographs and other documents gathered from oral histories conducted with people in the Stokesville, and North River Gap area in August County. Narrators in the recordings discuss various topics, including the practice of tanbarking, the flood of 1949 in Stokesville, buildings in Stokesville, the Mt. Solon CCC camp, and personal family histories. The collection also contains genealogical studies of the North River Gap area.

Family names represented in the collection include Maichel, Sheffer (Scheffer, Shaver), Hise, Cramer, Loyd, Floyd, Todd, Daggy, Wilfong, Sirk, Karicofe, among others.

The interviews are arranged alphabetically by last name, and further arranged chronologically.

Nash, Carole. "Kay Veith Named ASV Avocational Archaeologist of the Year," Archeological Society of Virginia Massanutten Chapter. Volume 35, Issue 11, November 2014. http://www.mcasv.org/Points/NOV_2014.pdf (accessed on July 23, 2018).