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Jesse Stuart Foundation, Inc.
The Jesse Stuart Foundation is devoted to preserving the human and literary legacy of Jesse Stuart and other Kentucky and Appalachian writers. The Foundation controls rights to Stuart's published and unpublished literary works. Since its restructuring in 1985, the JSF has reprinted many of Stuart's out-of-print books along with other books that focus on Kentucky and Appalachia, and has evolved into a significant regional press and bookseller.
The Foundation also promotes a number of cultural and educational programs. We encourage the study of Jesse Stuart's works, and of related material, especially the history, culture, and literature of Kentucky and Appalachia.
Our primary purpose is to produce books which supplement the educational system at all levels. We have thousands of regional books in stock and we want to make these materials accessible to teachers and librarians, as well as general readers. We also promote Stuart's legacy through videotapes, dramas, readings and other presentations for school and civic groups. In keeping with Stuart's lifelong commitment to teaching, the Foundation publishes materials carefully designed for school use.
We are proud that Jesse Stuart's books are a guideline to the solid values of America's past. With good humor and brilliant storytelling, Stuart praises the Appalachian people whose quiet lives were captured forever in his wonderful novels and stories. In Jesse's books, readers will find people who value hard work, who love their families, their land, and their country; who believe in education, honesty, thrift, and compassion--people who play by the rules.
Today, we are so caught up in teaching children to read that the process has obscured its higher purpose. Children require more than literacy. They need to learn, from reading, the unalterable principles of right and wrong.
That is why Stuart's books are so important. They allow educators and parents to make reading fun for children while teaching solid values at the same time. In a world that is rapidly losing perspective, we at the JSF believe we must help educate tomorrow's adults for responsible citizenship.
Our History
The Jesse Stuart Foundation, Inc, chartered in 1979 in Louisville, Ky., as a non-profit organization, was granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service in 1980. The Foundation established full-time offices in Ashland, Ky., in 1985 with staff and logistical support from Ashland, Inc., and Morehead State University.
Dr. Harold E. (Hal) Richardson, a professor of literature at the University of Louisville and a Stuart authority, is regarded as the founder of the Jesse Stuart Foundation. He served as the first board chair and later as editor-in-chief.
Much of the Foundation's leadership came from board members until the full-time position of executive director was established on a full-time basis in 1985 and filled by Dr. James M. Gifford, an Appalachian scholar on the staff of Morehead State University. Now the Foundation's CEO and senior editor, Dr. Gifford launched the JSF's highly successful publishing operation in 1986. He remains on the University's staff but is on permanent assignment to the Foundation.
To date, the Foundation has published more than 100 printings and editions of books by Stuart and other authors with ties to Kentucky and Appalachia and has grown into a significant regional press and bookseller.
In the early 1980's the Foundation assisted with the management and preservation of W-Hollow, the Stuart family's homestead in Greenup County, Kentucky. Soon thereafter, that beautiful acreage became the Jesse Stuart Nature Preserve under the ownership and management of the Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, an agency of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The Foundation operated for several years in office facilities provided by Ashland, Inc., before acquiring the former Ashland Post Office building in November 2000 as its permanent home.
Today the Foundation operates a bookstore on site and sells books internationally through mail orders, its own Web site (www.jsfbooks.com) and the Web sites of Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other major retailers.
Judy B. Thomas, former president of the Ashland, Inc., Foundation, served as chair of the JSF Board of Directors from 1984 to 2001. She was succeeded by Keith R. Kappes, vice president for university relations at Morehead State University.
During the Foundation's formative years, between 1979 and 1985, the late Dr. J C. Powell, former president of Eastern Kentucky University, and Dr. Morris L. Norfleet, former president of Morehead State University, served as board chairs.
A roster of the current Board of Directors is available in the "Our People" section of this Web site.
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