Scott Huffard
@shuffard.bsky.social
historian, author, train song connoisseur, and college prof posting dispatches from deep in the blue ridge mountains (Beech Mountain, NC). Currently working on a book about Casey Jones. Also into skiing, cycling, folklore, and fiddling w/the banjo
me rn (mentally broken penn state fan)
November 8, 2025 at 8:36 PM
me rn (mentally broken penn state fan)
Check out this piece on a train song I wrote, which touches on a series of tragedies along the Western NC RR and bridges my 1st and 2nd (forthcoming) @uncpress.bsky.social books. All part of a band w/friends that really cohered in the aftermath of Helene: uncpressblog.com/2025/10/30/o...
Old Fort Loops: A Soundtrack of Resilience After Hurricane Helene - UNC Press Blog
How does one recover from and process a generational storm like Helene? For UNC Press author Scott Huffard and his friends, the answer was through music. When Helene swept through the Banner Elk area ...
uncpressblog.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Check out this piece on a train song I wrote, which touches on a series of tragedies along the Western NC RR and bridges my 1st and 2nd (forthcoming) @uncpress.bsky.social books. All part of a band w/friends that really cohered in the aftermath of Helene: uncpressblog.com/2025/10/30/o...
Reposted by Scott Huffard
How does one recover from and process a generational storm like Helene? For UNC Press author @shuffard.bsky.social and his friends, the answer was through music.
Learn about the making of their band Spell of Leaves and their new single Old Fort Loops ⤵️
uncpressblog.com/2025/10/30/o...
Learn about the making of their band Spell of Leaves and their new single Old Fort Loops ⤵️
uncpressblog.com/2025/10/30/o...
Old Fort Loops: A Soundtrack of Resilience After Hurricane Helene - UNC Press Blog
How does one recover from and process a generational storm like Helene? For UNC Press author Scott Huffard and his friends, the answer was through music. When Helene swept through the Banner Elk area ...
uncpressblog.com
October 30, 2025 at 8:15 PM
How does one recover from and process a generational storm like Helene? For UNC Press author @shuffard.bsky.social and his friends, the answer was through music.
Learn about the making of their band Spell of Leaves and their new single Old Fort Loops ⤵️
uncpressblog.com/2025/10/30/o...
Learn about the making of their band Spell of Leaves and their new single Old Fort Loops ⤵️
uncpressblog.com/2025/10/30/o...
today in Appalachian history: discussing a reading (War Trails of the Blue Ridge) from the guy whose historic marker I almost hit every time I back up my car
September 18, 2025 at 2:27 PM
today in Appalachian history: discussing a reading (War Trails of the Blue Ridge) from the guy whose historic marker I almost hit every time I back up my car
a student missed class today because they “fell in the river” which to be fair, is something that’s possible to do in this campus
August 28, 2025 at 8:46 PM
a student missed class today because they “fell in the river” which to be fair, is something that’s possible to do in this campus
thank you Victoria 3 for reminding me about my book project (and also thanks for having this event appropriately boost the labor movement)
August 6, 2025 at 12:31 AM
thank you Victoria 3 for reminding me about my book project (and also thanks for having this event appropriately boost the labor movement)
troubling that octoberfest beers are hitting the shelves before I’ve even started working on my fall syllabi
July 30, 2025 at 7:59 PM
troubling that octoberfest beers are hitting the shelves before I’ve even started working on my fall syllabi
Fust = a perfect soundtrack to a summertime post-thunderstorm cruise through the NC Piedmont on I-40
July 12, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Fust = a perfect soundtrack to a summertime post-thunderstorm cruise through the NC Piedmont on I-40
talking trains (specifically the Western NC Railroad and what its history tells us about the complicated cultural history of southern railroads) over in Johnson City today: 6 pm at the Johnson City Railroad Experience!
June 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
talking trains (specifically the Western NC Railroad and what its history tells us about the complicated cultural history of southern railroads) over in Johnson City today: 6 pm at the Johnson City Railroad Experience!
Reposted by Scott Huffard
@shuffard.bsky.social wrote about striking workers and their relationship with railroads and capitalism in the late 19th century and beyond.
Strikers, Octopi, and Visible Hands: The Railroad and American Capitalism
In popular culture and American historiography, the railroad corporation has long been a site where Americans have grappled with larger questions of political economy.
clioandthecontemporary.com
May 1, 2025 at 3:21 PM
@shuffard.bsky.social wrote about striking workers and their relationship with railroads and capitalism in the late 19th century and beyond.
today in history of southern Appalachia I think I irrevocably damaged YouTube’s auto-closed captioning function by using it on an Alan Lomax interview with Ray Hicks
April 29, 2025 at 2:56 PM
today in history of southern Appalachia I think I irrevocably damaged YouTube’s auto-closed captioning function by using it on an Alan Lomax interview with Ray Hicks
today a student told me she’s listened to a song I played in class - Steeleye Span’s Blackleg Miner - 30 times so yea I feel like I’ve done my job here
April 25, 2025 at 11:14 PM
today a student told me she’s listened to a song I played in class - Steeleye Span’s Blackleg Miner - 30 times so yea I feel like I’ve done my job here
lecturing on TVA dams in the morning and 1920s/30s southern textile strikes in the afternoon - not a bad day of class at all (even if students were not impressed when I told them I wanted to make a playlist of songs about dams)
March 25, 2025 at 5:00 PM
lecturing on TVA dams in the morning and 1920s/30s southern textile strikes in the afternoon - not a bad day of class at all (even if students were not impressed when I told them I wanted to make a playlist of songs about dams)
not my sweet summer child students walking to class in t-shirts and shorts when we're about to get whacked by a cold front (and get 1-3 inches of snow this afternoon)
March 20, 2025 at 1:18 PM
not my sweet summer child students walking to class in t-shirts and shorts when we're about to get whacked by a cold front (and get 1-3 inches of snow this afternoon)
I showed my students the NWS forecasted rainfall map the Wednesday before Helene destroyed my school/town and some later thanked me for preparing them for the nightmare to come. Why slash and cut an extremely effective government service at the behest of a billionaire?
February 27, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I showed my students the NWS forecasted rainfall map the Wednesday before Helene destroyed my school/town and some later thanked me for preparing them for the nightmare to come. Why slash and cut an extremely effective government service at the behest of a billionaire?
don’t even bother inviting me to the hangout if the vibes aren’t in the realm of Dwight Yoakam’s video for A Thousand Miles To Nowhere (1993)
February 23, 2025 at 12:36 AM
don’t even bother inviting me to the hangout if the vibes aren’t in the realm of Dwight Yoakam’s video for A Thousand Miles To Nowhere (1993)
trying to get work done while my car is being serviced and I severely underestimated the amount of chatty old men at the car dealership in Boone (I really should be used to this by now)
February 21, 2025 at 5:34 PM
trying to get work done while my car is being serviced and I severely underestimated the amount of chatty old men at the car dealership in Boone (I really should be used to this by now)
I’d like to thank whoever drew a large-breasted mothman on my class’s whiteboard for reminding us of the always-flexible nature of Appalachian folklore traditions
February 20, 2025 at 3:57 PM
I’d like to thank whoever drew a large-breasted mothman on my class’s whiteboard for reminding us of the always-flexible nature of Appalachian folklore traditions
today in history of southern appalachia - lecturing on the construction of railroads that Helene destroyed :(
February 20, 2025 at 2:08 PM
today in history of southern appalachia - lecturing on the construction of railroads that Helene destroyed :(
tourists currently leaning over Helene-smashed fences to feed bojangles biscuits to some mangy looking deer = not exactly a healthy ecosystem here on beech mtn
February 8, 2025 at 2:15 PM
tourists currently leaning over Helene-smashed fences to feed bojangles biscuits to some mangy looking deer = not exactly a healthy ecosystem here on beech mtn
hard to have more depressing weather in a ski town than a February full of rain, thunderstorms, warmth, and mud
February 6, 2025 at 2:19 PM
hard to have more depressing weather in a ski town than a February full of rain, thunderstorms, warmth, and mud
covering the whiskey rebellion in Appalachian history (w/heavy inspiration from Ramp Hollow) today. Not only do I get to ramble on about rye whiskey, I also get to ruin Alexander Hamilton for all the theater kids
February 4, 2025 at 2:06 PM
covering the whiskey rebellion in Appalachian history (w/heavy inspiration from Ramp Hollow) today. Not only do I get to ramble on about rye whiskey, I also get to ruin Alexander Hamilton for all the theater kids
what do exploding oil trains, the Las Vegas sphere, teenage mutant ninja turtles, Billy Strings, precision scheduled railroading, Gillian Welch, and a tornado outbreak in western Kentucky have in common? All are making appearances in the epilogue of my Casey Jones book...
January 31, 2025 at 7:45 PM
what do exploding oil trains, the Las Vegas sphere, teenage mutant ninja turtles, Billy Strings, precision scheduled railroading, Gillian Welch, and a tornado outbreak in western Kentucky have in common? All are making appearances in the epilogue of my Casey Jones book...
after I said I was a history prof, the guy next to me on the ski lift asked for fun facts about Daniel Boone...just out here doing my part to engage with the public
January 27, 2025 at 10:08 PM
after I said I was a history prof, the guy next to me on the ski lift asked for fun facts about Daniel Boone...just out here doing my part to engage with the public
the good news is crews are (finally) clearing Helene debris from my mountain town…the bad news is the trucks hauling debris keep crashing on the road down the mountain
January 16, 2025 at 1:54 PM
the good news is crews are (finally) clearing Helene debris from my mountain town…the bad news is the trucks hauling debris keep crashing on the road down the mountain