Appalachian Treasure

June 04, 2007 07:03 pm

— For the first time in its 20-year history, Morehead State University’s Appalachian Treasure Award is being presented to an organization – The Jesse Stuart Foundation Inc.
The presentation was Saturday, June 2, during the Bluegrass ‘n More festival at the Moonlight Stage in downtown Morehead. Accepting for the JSF was Dr. James M. Gifford, chief executive officer and senior editor of the Ashland-based publishing house.
The Appalachian Treasure Award was initiated in 1988 to honor contributions to the arts and culture of Appalachian Kentucky, including the fields of art, craft, dance, literature, and music. It is sponsored by MSU’s Kentucky Folk Art Center and Kentucky Center for Traditional Music.
“We are pleased and proud to honor the Jesse Stuart Foundation this year because of the great work it does and because the University has been so involved in the organization’s preservation and revitalization,” said Matt Collinsworth, director of KFAC and chair of the award selection committee. “Few are aware that the foundation was in danger of collapse in 1985 when MSU and Ashland Inc., stepped up to provide financial assistance and new staff leadership.”
Founded in 1979 and relocated six years later to Ashland, the Jesse Stuart Foundation has flourished as a non-profit publishing house dedicated to preserving and promoting the writings of its namesake and other Appalachian authors. The Foundation has published more than 50 regional classics by some of Appalachia’s finest writers, including Jesse Stuart, Billy C. Clark, Harry Caudill, and Loyal Jones, and more than 20 books by new regional authors.
The Jesse Stuart Foundation also has donated more than $500,000 in books to colleges, public schools, libraries, and children throughout the region. The foundation sponsors several special events annually, including the Jesse Stuart Weekend at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park in Greenup County.
Housed in the historic former U.S. post office in downtown Ashland, the JSF has become an international marketer of books through the Internet (www.jsfbooks.com) and its association with amazon.com and other major booksellers. The Foundation owns the publishing rights to virtually all of Jesse Stuart’s literary estate.
As the 2007 Appalachian Treasure Award recipient, the Jesse Stuart Foundation joins some of the great figures in the cultural history of East Kentucky, including Tom T. Hall, Ronald and Jessie Cooper, Loyal Jones, James Still, Gurney Norman, Minnie Adkins and Jean Ritchie.

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