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Records the reminiscences of Ada "Addie" Anderson, (née Smith), with contributions from Vallie Cave, Beulah Sirbaugh and Nell Woodward. Due to the conversational nature of the interview, only Mrs. Anderson's and the interviewer's remarks are identified in the transcript, with comments from the other participants dispersed throughout. Describes home and family life, daily chores, schooling, holidays and community events. Among the topics discussed are the growing, harvesting and preserving of food, soap making, raising livestock and wild game hunting. Includes numerous references to and anecdotes about family members, friends and neighbors known to all four women.

Records an interview with Allen Patterson, who owned extensive cattle grazing pastures on Dean Mountain in Rockingham County, Virginia. Describes his impressions of the mountain families who tended his cattle, daily life in the mountains, touching on the work of growing and preserving food, herbal remedies, courtship and holidays. Mr. Patterson's granddaughter, who is not identified in the recording, joins the discussion near the end of the interview.

Records the reminiscences of Annie Fox, who lived in Fox Hollow, near Front Royal, Virginia, briefly after her marriage in the 1930s. Describes daily life in the mountains, including local agriculture, livestock production and food preservation, courting rituals and folk music.

Records the reminiscences of Arlene Carr Abell who grew up in Sugar Hollow, Virginia, prior to the establishment of Shenandoah National Park in 1934. Describes her home and family life, schooling, holidays and community events. Among the topics discussed are the growing, harvesting and preserving of food, corn shucking and apple butter boiling parties, wild game hunting, home remedies and folk medicine. Includes references to holiday celebrations, mountain music, her father's occupation as a tanner and tales of local moonshiner.

Records an interview with Austin C. Judd, whose father, W. Lee Judd, owned a general store near Luray, Virginia, from the turn of the 20th century until the advent of Shenandoah National Park in the mid 1930s. Discusses the retail business at that time and his impressions of the mountain people who would patronize the family store. Most of the store's interaction with the mountain people was based on a barter system, where chestnuts, ginseng and farm produce were exchanged for store credit. Also describes his time with the Civilian Conservation Corps, (CCC), during the 1930s. Includes references to local entrepreneur, George Freeman Pollock, owner of nearby Skyland resort, and George Corbin, who built Corbin Cabin, near what is now the Appalachian Trail. Mr. Judd's wife, who is identified only as Mrs. Judd in the transcript, but who is believed to be Gladys Judd, contributes throughout the interview.

Records the reminiscences of Bennie Cupp, his grandmother, Lula Roach, and his aunt, Hazel Marshall Roach, who lived near Rocky Bar, Virginia, an area that became part of Shenandoah National Park. Much of the interview centers around the reminiscences of Lula Roach, who was 95 years old at the time and who recalled many details of everyday life in the Blue Ridge Mountains around the turn of the 20th century. Describes home and family life, school days, farm chores, livestock, wild game and folk remedies. Discusses family gatherings, such as holidays, apple butter boilings, hog butchering and funerals. Other topics include the various means of earning a living available to the local residents, such as bark peeling, cutting poles and ties for the railroads, the apple, chestnut and ginseng harvests and the production of moonshine.

Records the reminiscences of Beulah Atkins, who grew up in Beech Spring, Virginia prior to the establishment of Shenandoah National Park in 1934. Describes her home and family life, schooling, holidays and community events. Among the topics discussed are the growing, harvesting and preserving of food, soap making, collecting ginseng and wild game hunting. Includes references to the local Civilian Conservation Corps camp, wakes and funerals, and her work with her father and husband in the barrel making business.

Records an interview with Blanche Rickard, (née Batman), who lived in Thornton Gap, within the future boundaries of Shenandoah National Park. Describes daily life in the mountains, touching on the work of growing and preserving food, herbal remedies, courtship, birthing and funeral rituals, as well as holiday celebrations. Discusses at length the reaction of family and neighbors to being forcefully evicted from their property by the state of Virginia, to make way for the national park.

Records an interview with Butler Franklin, (née Butler-Brayne Thornton Robinson), a direct descendant of Francis Thornton, III, who built a plantation near Sperryville, Virginia, in the 1740s. Mrs. Franklin contends that several prominent geographic features now located in Shenandoah National Park, including Thornton Gap, the Thornton River and Mary's Rock, were named for Francis Thornton and his descendants. Includes a genealogical history of the Thornton family in Virginia, from William Thornton, III, who emigrated from England in the 1640s, through Col. John Thornton, who married Jane Washington, aunt of the future first president. Discusses several Thornton estates, including Montpelier, the plantation built on the Rappahannock River near Sperryville, and the Thornton ancestral home, Fall Hill, in Fredericksburg ,where Mrs. Franklin resided at the time of the interview.

Records an interview with Carl Shifflett and his wife, Gertrude, (née Shifflett), who discuss their memories of the people who lived within the future boundaries of Shenandoah National Park. Describes daily life in the mountains, touching on the work of growing and preserving food, herbal remedies, courtship, and funeral rituals, as well as holiday celebrations.