In the mid-20th century, thousands left the hills of Appalachia for the hills of Cincinnati. This event explores how that migration reshaped both the lives of the people who moved and the city they came to call home. We’ll feature speakers Pauletta Hansel, writer, teacher and community activist, Richard Hague, the 2025-2027 Cincinnati and Mercantile Library Poet Laureate, and Michael Henson, poet and author.
Tickets can be reserved on a “pay what you would like” donation basis at www.otrmuseum.org/events. Doors open at 6:00 PM and the program begins at 6:30 PM. A cash bar will be available throughout the event. Walk-ins are welcome until we reach room capacity. The event will be live streamed at facebook.com/otrmuseum.
This Three Acts event will be held in Memorial Hall’s first floor ballroom accessed by the main entrance stairs. Accessible access is available on the north side of the building. Parking can be found at the Washington Park garage, nearby lots, or on-street. Bus and streetcar stops are located across from Memorial Hall. Donations to support this program are welcome!
SPEAKERS
Pauletta Hansel, Urban Appalachian Community Coalition
Pauletta Hansel is a writer, teacher and community activist with the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition. Born and raised in southeastern Kentucky, Pauletta has lived in Cincinnati since 1979. She was Cincinnati’s first Poet Laureate and was the 2022 Writer-in-Residence for The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.
The Urban Appalachian Community Coalition was born out of the Urban Appalachian Council, a grassroots effort in the 1960s by providing outreach and support to Appalachian migrants in Over the Rhine and other neighborhoods. Pauletta Hansel will discuss the evolution of this work, including UACC’s Kith and Kin: Appalachians and the Making of Cincinnati, which documents the lives of urban Appalachians through interviews and photographs.
Richard Hague, 2025-2027 Cincinnati and Mercantile Library Poet Laureate
Richard Hague is an American poet, writer, and teacher whose work has appeared in Poetry, Appalachian Journal, Nimrod, Ohio Magazine, and Creative Nonfiction, among many others. He is the author or editor of 22 volumes of prose and poetry, most recently Continued Cases (Dos Madres Press, 2023) and Earnest Occupations (Bottom Dog Press, 2018). A graduate of Xavier University, he grew up in Steubenville, Ohio, and has taught writing and literature in Cincinnati and beyond for more than 50 years. Since 2015, he has served as Writer-in-Residence at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
Michael Henson, Author and Poet
Michael Henson, born in Sidney, Ohio, studied at Xavier University and earned an M.A. from the University of Chicago. He has worked as a teacher, community organizer, factory worker, union steward, substance abuse counselor, and adjunct professor. As a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor, he served with Talbert House, Addiction Services Council, and Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Services. His writing, which often explores Appalachian poverty and addiction, includes Tommy Perdue (Mote Books), one of the first works of fiction to confront the region’s opioid crisis.
ABOUT THREE ACTS
Three Acts in Over-the-Rhine is an innovative lecture series designed to expose attendees to stories of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. Each event features three, fifteen-minute talks and concludes with a group question and answer period. The Over-the-Rhine Museum welcomes your support for these provocative stories. Donate online at www.otrmuseum.org/donate.