Previously examined only by a handful of scholars, the journals of Emma Bell Miles (1879-1919) contain poignant and incisive accounts of nature and a woman's perspective on love and marriage, death customs, child raising, medical care, and subsistence on the land in southern Appalachia in the early twentieth century.

Emma Bell Miles (1879¿-1919) was a gifted writer, poet, naturalist, and artist with a keen perspective on Appalachian life and culture. She chronicled her home region through her prolific journals, illustrations, essays, poetry, and fiction.