Photo, Print, Drawing Herman Williams, cracking walnuts with this grandson, Nicholas

About this Item

About this Item

Title

  • Herman Williams, cracking walnuts with this grandson, Nicholas

Names

  • Eiler, Lyntha Scott (Photographer)

Created / Published

  • October 26, 1995

Headings

  • -  Fall
  • -  October
  • -  Buffalo Fork (Clear Fork, W. Va.)
  • -  Walnuts, black (Juglans nigra)
  • -  Nutting stones
  • -  Photographs
  • -  Ethnography
  • -  West Virginia -- Raleigh County -- Clear Fork

Genre

  • Photographs
  • Ethnography

Notes

  • -  During black walnut season in 1995, we visited the home of Wesley Scarbrough's uncle, Herman Williams, Sr. on Buffalo Fork of Clear Fork. Wesley's cousin Herman, Jr. was there with his son, Nicholas, who cracked a few black walnuts using the permanent walnut cracking stone under the supervision of his grandfather. When black walnuts were in season we spied many coal buckets filled with the bright green fruit of the black walnut tree (Juglans nigra), and engaged in many conversations about how to process and serve black walnuts. John Flynn recalled that many children came to school with hands stained from the process of removing the green hulls. Jenny Bonds described a method of removing the hulls by first curing the nuts, driving over a sack full of them to loosen the hulls which can be then shaken out. Cracking the nuts requires a hammer and a concrete surface, reminiscent of the "nutting stones" found in local archeological sites. Mae Bongalis canned her walnuts, which Shorty, her son, cracked at his "walnut cracking station" in the basement. We sampled a number of delicious walnut confections, including Mae's black walnut pumpkin roll, Glenna Bailey's black walnut cake, and Shorty Bongalis's black walnut pie. Feeding squirrels as well as humans, nut trees in general are said to enjoy a special status on the forested tributaries of Coal River. "We were taught never to cut down a nut tree," as Virgil Jarrell, of Sylvester put it, "because they're good for the animals."
  • -  Event: Black walnut season.

Medium

  • 35 mm Color Slide

Call Number/Physical Location

  • AFC 1999/008: CRF-LE-C032-02

Source Collection

  • Coal River Folklife Collection (AFC 1999/008)

Repository

  • American Folklife Center

Digital Id

Online Format

  • image

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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Credit line

Coal River Folklife Project collection (AFC 1999/008), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Eiler, Lyntha Scott. Herman Williams, cracking walnuts with this grandson, Nicholas. Clear Fork Raleigh County West Virginia, 1995. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/cmns001396/.

APA citation style:

Eiler, L. S. (1995) Herman Williams, cracking walnuts with this grandson, Nicholas. Clear Fork Raleigh County West Virginia, 1995. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/cmns001396/.

MLA citation style:

Eiler, Lyntha Scott. Herman Williams, cracking walnuts with this grandson, Nicholas. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/cmns001396/>.