Berniece T. Hiser, a teacher and author from Kentucky, earned accolades for her books on Appalachia.

Many fine teachers earn accolades in fields outside of education. One of these was Berniece T. Hiser, a schoolteacher from Kentucky, who also achieved notoriety as an author of books on Appalachia.

Berniece was born on April 6, 1908, in Cow Creek, Kentucky. After she earned her degree at Berea College, she taught school in both Kentucky and Indiana.

Berniece published her first book, Quare Do’s in Appalachia: East Kentucky Legends and Memorates, in 1978. The volume is a collection of 30 folktales, ghost stories, and local legends collected by the former educator. Many of the stories included in the collection involve members of her own family. The stories, relayed in dialect, offer interesting details about the lifestyles and attitudes of the Appalachian mountain folk that the author encountered during her youth. The book can be purchased from amazon.

She also published the children’s book The Adventure of Charlie and His Wheat-Straw Hat: A Memporat, illustrated by Mary Szilagyi, in 1986. She chose the Appalachians during the American Civil War for the setting of her story. The plot revolves around a young boy and his grandmother who create a straw hat for the boy to wear to school because they do not have the money to buy one. This book can also be found on amazon.

In her later years, Berniece lived in Walton, Kentucky. She passed away on January 5, 1995. She was interred in Pleasant View Cemetery in Grant County, Kentucky.