Derivative Nursing 1

 

The 1950s Pocahontas County Audiovisual Program is a clinical, historically grounded Therapeutic Reminiscence Program designed for nursing home residents—particularly those experiencing age-related cognitive decline or memory loss.

Because long-term autobiographical memory consolidated during childhood and young adulthood remains preserved significantly longer than working memory, the program uses sensory triggers from the 1950s to activate dormant neural pathways, boost mood, reduce agitation, and restore a sense of personal dignity.

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1. Historical Anchor: A Decade of Transformation

The 1950s was selected as the program's anchor because it represents a major socio-economic pivot in Pocahontas County's history:

• The Transition: It marked the twilight of the traditional resource-extractive economy—the decline of steam logging on Cheat Mountain, the closing of sawmills and tanneries, and the end of passenger service on the C&O Railway's Greenbrier Division.
• Modern Milestones: Simultaneously, the decade inaugurated a new identity anchored by state forest conservation (the 1954 dedication of Calvin W. Price State Forest) and Cold War space science (the 1957 establishment of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank).

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2. Multi-Sensory Architecture (The 5-Sense Protocol)

To maximize neural activation across multiple cortical regions without causing sensory fatigue, sessions are limited to 45 to 60 minutes for intimate groups of 4 to 6 residents. The curriculum stimulates all five senses:

• 👁️ Sight: Enlarged, contrast-enhanced archival photos and 16mm film clips displayed on high-definition screens.
• 👂 Sound: Era-authentic environmental soundscapes, steam engine whistles, church bells, and traditional mountain fiddle music.
• ✋ Touch: Tactile occupational artifacts passed hand-to-hand (e.g., tanned leather swatches, iron railroad spikes, wooden slate frames, lead printing type).
• 👃 Smell: Botanical and culinary scent triggers (e.g., red spruce needles, cinnamon and spiced apple butter, cedarwood, coal-smoke strips).
• 👅 Taste: Period refreshments served during social segments (e.g., spiced apple butter on crackers, miniature waffle ice cream cones).

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3. The Six Core Program Modules

1. Rural Life, Farms & Commerce (00:00–14:00): Features 1957 aerials of Marlinton and Monongahela National Forest, photos of Edna "Nannie" Kisner on a steel-wheeled tractor in Frank, L. E. Kisner General Merchandise, and workers grinding bark at the Marlinton Tannery.
2. Church Services & Spiritual Life (14:00–23:00): Explores local vernacular church architecture—including Baxter Presbyterian in Dunmore, Huntersville Presbyterian, and historic African American congregations like Pleasant Green Methodist Episcopal, Rising Zion Baptist, and Wilson Chapel—paired with tolling 1842 church bells and clothbound hymnals.
3. Education & Schoolhouse Memories (23:00–32:00): Depicts one-room schools at Thornwood, Jacox, and Campbelltown alongside Marlinton High School class portrait composites (1947–1950) and the 1950 Durbin 8th-grade trip to the State Capitol in Charleston; paired with school handbells and blackboard chalk.
4. Transportation: Steam Trains to Highways (32:00–42:00): Showcases C&O steam locomotives emerging from Sharps Tunnel, the self-propelled "doodlebug" railcar at Clover Lick Depot, and rare September 1958 color film of Mower Lumber Co. Shay No. 5 hauling log cars up Cheat Mountain.
5. Social Events, Music & The County Fair (42:00–51:00): Highlights the Pocahontas County Fair, The Saga of Pocahontas historical pageant, Marlinton’s Teepee Cone ice cream stand, and classic old-time fiddle recordings of the legendary Hammons Family (Edden, Burl, Lee, and Sherman Hammons).
6. Landmark Historical Milestones (51:00–60:00): Focuses on The Pocahontas Times editor Cal Price in his handset print shop, the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace in Hillsboro, and the October 1957 groundbreaking of Green Bank Observatory where scientists tracked the radio signals of Sputnik.

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4. Post-Viewing Therapeutic Integration

Following the presentation, facilitators transition residents into a 15-to-20-minute expressive integration phase. Oral histories, past trade experiences, and personal stories shared during the session are digitally recorded and transcribed to enrich individual memory albums and contribute directly to the Preserving Pocahontas digital county archive.

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🎶 Would you like to dive deeper into the traditional music and storytelling repertoire of the Hammons Family, or explore how the Green Bank Quiet Zone was established during the late 1950s?