Appalachia in the Sixties: Decade of Reawakening
In The Southern Appalachian Region: A Survey, published by the University Press of Kentucky in 1962, Rupert Vance suggested a decennial review of the region's progress. No systematic study comparable to that made at the beginning of the decade is available to answer the question of how far Appalachia has come since then, but David S. Walls and John B. Stephenson have assembled a broad range of firsthand reports which together convey the story of Appalachia in the sixties. These observations of journalists, field workers, local residents, and social scientists have been gathered from a variety of sources ranging from national magazines to county weeklies.

Focusing mainly on the coalfields of West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and north-central Tennessee, the editors first present selections that reflect the "rediscovery" of the region as a problem area in the early sixties and describe the federal programs designed to rehabilitate it and their results. Other sections focus on the politics of the coal industry, the extent and impact of the continued migration from the region, and the persistence of human suffering and environmental devastation. A final section moves into the 1970s with proposals for the future. Although they conclude that there is little ground for claiming success in solving the region's problems, the editors find signs of hope in the scattered movements toward grass-roots organization described by some of the contributors, and in the new tendency to define solutions in terms of reconstruction rather than amelioration.

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Appalachia in the Sixties: Decade of Reawakening
In The Southern Appalachian Region: A Survey, published by the University Press of Kentucky in 1962, Rupert Vance suggested a decennial review of the region's progress. No systematic study comparable to that made at the beginning of the decade is available to answer the question of how far Appalachia has come since then, but David S. Walls and John B. Stephenson have assembled a broad range of firsthand reports which together convey the story of Appalachia in the sixties. These observations of journalists, field workers, local residents, and social scientists have been gathered from a variety of sources ranging from national magazines to county weeklies.

Focusing mainly on the coalfields of West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and north-central Tennessee, the editors first present selections that reflect the "rediscovery" of the region as a problem area in the early sixties and describe the federal programs designed to rehabilitate it and their results. Other sections focus on the politics of the coal industry, the extent and impact of the continued migration from the region, and the persistence of human suffering and environmental devastation. A final section moves into the 1970s with proposals for the future. Although they conclude that there is little ground for claiming success in solving the region's problems, the editors find signs of hope in the scattered movements toward grass-roots organization described by some of the contributors, and in the new tendency to define solutions in terms of reconstruction rather than amelioration.

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Appalachia in the Sixties: Decade of Reawakening

Appalachia in the Sixties: Decade of Reawakening

Appalachia in the Sixties: Decade of Reawakening

Appalachia in the Sixties: Decade of Reawakening

Overview

In The Southern Appalachian Region: A Survey, published by the University Press of Kentucky in 1962, Rupert Vance suggested a decennial review of the region's progress. No systematic study comparable to that made at the beginning of the decade is available to answer the question of how far Appalachia has come since then, but David S. Walls and John B. Stephenson have assembled a broad range of firsthand reports which together convey the story of Appalachia in the sixties. These observations of journalists, field workers, local residents, and social scientists have been gathered from a variety of sources ranging from national magazines to county weeklies.

Focusing mainly on the coalfields of West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and north-central Tennessee, the editors first present selections that reflect the "rediscovery" of the region as a problem area in the early sixties and describe the federal programs designed to rehabilitate it and their results. Other sections focus on the politics of the coal industry, the extent and impact of the continued migration from the region, and the persistence of human suffering and environmental devastation. A final section moves into the 1970s with proposals for the future. Although they conclude that there is little ground for claiming success in solving the region's problems, the editors find signs of hope in the scattered movements toward grass-roots organization described by some of the contributors, and in the new tendency to define solutions in terms of reconstruction rather than amelioration.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780813101354
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Publication date: 11/04/2009
Pages: 280
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range: 18 Years

About the Author

David S. Walls, professor emeritus of sociology at Sonoma State University, served on the staff of the Appalachian Volunteers, doing community-organizing work in central Appalachia. He is the author of The Activist's Almanac: The Concerned Citizen's Guide to the Leading Advocacy Organizations in America. John B. Stephenson, a native of the Appalachian mountains, was the first director of the Appalachian Center at the University of Kentucky and served as the president of Berea College from 1984 to 1994. He was the author of numerous books including Shiloh: A Mountain Community.

Table of Contents

Part One: The Early Sixties

Recognition Again
1. "The Lost Appalachians" by Harry W. Ernst & Charles H. Drake
2. "In Hazard" by Dan Wakefield
3. "The Latest Rediscovery of Appalachia" by Robert F. Munn

Declarations of War & Forecasts of Victory
4. "Pork Barrel: The Appalachia Approach" by Jerald Ter Horst
5. "How Much Better Will the Better World Be?" by Rupert B. Vance

Part Two: Between a Rock & a Hard Place

The Quality of Life: Hard Times in God's Country
6. "Life in Appalachia—The Case of Hugh McCaslin" by Robert Coles
7. "Kennedy Hears of Need" by T. N. Bethell, Pat Gish, & Tom Gish

The Politics of Coal
8. "East Kentucky Coal Makes Profits for Owners, Not Region" by James C. Millstone
9. "Conspiracy in Coal" by T. N. Bethell
10. "The Scandal of Death & Injury in the Mines" by Ben A. Franklin

Environmental Pillage
11. "The Logical Thing, Costwise" by Calvin Trillin
12. "Hot Time Ahead" by T. N. Bethell
13. "Strip Mining in East Kentucky" by David B. Brooks

Migration: Take It or Leave It
14. "A Look at the 1970 Census" by James S. Brown
15. "The Uptown Story" by Bill Montgomery
16. "The Family behind the Migrant" by James S. Brown

Part Three: Lessons in Fighting Poverty

Organizing at the Grassroots
17. "A Rope to Jump, a Well to Dig" by Thomas Parrish
18. "Fair Elections in West Virginia" by K. W. Lee
19. "On the Outside Lookin' In" by Jeanne M. Rasmussen

Local Reactions: Outside Agitators, Subversives, & Other Helping Hands
20. "Kentucky's Coal Beds of Sedition" by Paul Good
21. "A Stranger with a Camera" by Calvin Trillin
22. "Catalyst of the Black Lung Movement" by K. W. Lee
23. "Romantic Appalachia" by Don West

Part Four: Can We Get There from Here?

Education & Youth
24. "The School & Politics" by Peter Schrag
25. "The Crisis of Appalachian Youth" by James Branscome

Into the 1970s
26. "A Bold Idea for a New Appalachia" by John Fetterman
27. "Nationalizing Our Resources" by Philip Young
28. "Jaded Old Land of Bright New Promise" by Harry M. Caudill
29. "Toward a People's ARC" by Robb Burlage

Biographical Notes

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United States Studies
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Regional Studies - Southern U.S.

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