05/03/2025
At the first annual Faces of Appalachia lecture, Professor Katherine Rodier delivered a powerful presentation on Bessie Woodson Yancey - an overlooked yet impactful African American poet, activist, and journalist from Huntington, WV, and sister to Carter G. Woodson, the father of Black history.
Yancey's work spanned poetry and editorial writing, challenging racial injustice with fierce intellect and heartfelt prose during the 1930s-1950s. Her poetry collection Echoes from the Hills and more than 100 letters to the editor in the Huntington Herald-Advertiser gave voice to Black Appalachian life, youth education, and civil rights. She connected local concerns with national and global movements, courageously criticizing segregation and racism - often receiving threats, yet never silenced.
Yancey broke barriers in both literature and journalism, using dialect, biblical references, and a cross-cultural, cross-generational voice to uplift and empower. She deserves renewed recognition not just as Carter G. Woodson’s sister, but as a formidable thinker and writer in her own right.
Let’s bring Bessie Woodson Yancey’s name into today’s conversations. Join us for the Gravemarker Dedication: Bessie Woodson Yancey. Let her words still resonate with strength, wisdom, and justice.
Dr. Katherine M. Rodier, Professor of English from Marshall University presented for the Faces of Appalachia. Dr. Rodier, Fellow 2009, Symposium on Bessie Wo...
