Perceptions of Home: The Urban Appalachian Experience is a traveling exhibit of photographs by Malcolm J. Wilson paired with text from interviews conducted by Don Corathers three decades ago. Completed in 1996, Perceptions of Home features the images and stories of twenty-two families and individuals who through choice or circumstances made greater Cincinnati their home, and includes artists, musicians, educators, business people, blue collar workers, students, and more.

The Urban Appalachian Story Gathering Exhibit includes over 100 recordings of short interviews conducted with greater Cincinnati residents from 2021 to present, and captures who we are as urban Appalachians today. Many interviewed are the grandchildren and greatgrandchildren of original migrants, and know Appalachia only through stories shared by their elders.

The exhibit will be displayed in the public gallery of the Catherine C. and Thomas E. Huenefeld Story Center on the second floor of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library main library and available to view during the library’s open hours from October-December 2025. The Urban Appalachian Story Gathering Project digital exhibits can also be explored via the Center’s four 55’’ interactive touchscreens. One floor up from the Story Center is the Joseph S. Stern, Jr. Cincinnati Room, dedicated to the display of artifacts and material relevant to local history. Throughout the month of October, a pop-up exhibit of Appalachian material from CHPL’s Special Collections will be available for view, including vintage cookbooks, sheet music, photographs from the Cincinnati Enquirer repository, and other items seldom seen by the public.

The exhibit is part of the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition’s Kith and Kin: Appalachians and the Making of Cincinnati. Explore a digital version of the exhibit here thanks to the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library.

This project was funded in part by an Ohio Humanities Ignite Grant.