Appalshop Archive Staff

Chad Hunter was co-founding archivist of the Appalshop Archive in 2005. After years away, he returned to help after the July 2022 flood, and is now leading the Archive team to save and preserve the largest collection of Appalachian media in the world. He previously worked as an audiovisual archivist at institutions such as George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY, and musician Peter Gabriel’s human rights organization, WITNESS, in New York City. His work in film exhibition includes serving as manager of the Little Theater in Rochester, NY, as Executive Director of the nonprofit Hollywood Theater in Pittsburgh, and as Senior Director of The Rangos Giant Cinema at Carnegie Science Center. He is also founder and director of the Pittsburgh Silent Film Society & Festival.

Joshua Caleb Daniel Outsey has been an actor, both on stage and on television. He is also a dedicated Community Organizer and hip hop recording artist and performer. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1986. He attended high school at Berea Community High School in Berea, Ky. At the age of 19, he relocated to Knoxville, TN, where he began organizing for social change. Joshua is a co-founder of “Socially Equal Energy Efficient Development” (SEEED) in Knoxville , TN. For over a decade, he has worked as an advocate for racial equality and economic and environmental justice in and around urban and rural Appalachia. In 2014 He served as a fellow in the Appalachian Transition Fellowship at the Highlander Center for Education and Research. He continues to promote diversity and inclusion through his artistic performance and creative writing. Currently, Joshua is a new employee on the archive team at Appalshop. He has been researching and documenting the history of Black Churches throughout Central and South Central Appalachia. When he is not writing music and poetry, Joshua enjoys being outdoors. His affinity for nature is fulfilled when he is hiking, camping, or hanging out with his friends around campfires. Currently, he lives in Big Stone Gap, VA with his wife, Terran Young, and their daughter, Eden. 

Joshua is a staff board member.

Leo Shannon joined Appalshop in 2021 as our Archive Assistant. Leo is a fiddler and visual artist from Seattle, Washington who learned to play as a boy from older musicians around him and from friends his own age, particularly those who shared his interest in American traditional music. Since age 7, Leo has played as part of a group of friends called The Onlies, who continue to travel the country performing old time music. Before moving to Whitesburg, Kentucky, he spent four years in Swannanoa, North Carolina, studying regional history and sound technologies, and exploring the deep world of archives.

Shane Terry is the Archive Technician at the Appalshop Archive, where he supports the recovery, digitization, and long-term preservation of Appalshop’s extensive audiovisual collection. A Knott County native, Shane’s connection to Appalshop began in his teens at punk shows in the Youth Bored building. In 2010, he launched The Shanger Zone, a late-night punk radio program on WMMT, and later collaborated with Appalshop filmmakers on projects documenting environmental and socio-economic issues across Central Appalachia. He also trained under the Archive’s former technicians, gaining industry standards in film and audio preservation. Following the 2022 flood, Shane played a key role in keeping WMMT on the air by creating The Possum Den, a mobile radio studio in an RV. Today, his work at the Archive focuses on stabilizing, digitizing, and preserving flood-damaged materials to ensure Appalshop’s cultural legacy remains accessible for generations to come.