Author

Courtney Balestier

Courtney Balestier is a James Beard-nominated writer. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker online, the New York Times, Oxford American and others.  

Courtney Balestier's Latest Articles

Kentucky memorabilia
Beans and dobros: Preserving what’s left of Appalachia in Detroit

In part two of our series on Appalachian culture in metro Detroit, West Virginia-native Courtney Balestier listens to stories from the Kentuckians of Michigan. And takes home some beans. 

West Virginia University College of Pharmacy Guests at Parke-Davis Home Laboratories in Detroit (1959)
In search of the Hillbilly Highway

Between 1940 and 1960, seven million Appalachians left their home region to find work in places like Detroit. In the first of a two-part series, native-West Virginian Courtney Balestier writes about the history of the migration, and speaks to people who experienced it. 

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