Appalachia: Rich Land, Poor People - A Riveting Look at 1960s Appalachia 

He who oppresses the poor taunts and insults his maker. But he who is kind, merciful and gracious to the needy honors him. Proverbs 14:31 AMP

Hey I just came across this channel. I've lived in Appalachian mountains my whole life. We let these people prostitute us for or coal and natural gas. My grandfather's worked in the coal mines their whole life. The mines owned their house and the company store. They was paid in script. We are Scottish, Irish and German decent. Virginia stops at Roanoke Kentucky stops at Lexington and Tennessee stops at Knoxville west Virginia at Beckley. They took everything we had to offer and left us with nothing. The county I live in has 12.5 percent unemployment and there's no meaningful employment here. Now for the positive. These hollers and mountains are the best keep secret in our country. Yeah we have alcohol and drugs problems here. Most people though are the salt of the earth. We growed up in church. We are God fearing people. The prayers that go up in these mountains and hollers holds this country together. I'm proud to be Appalachian American.

The very sad reality is it is not just in Appalachia. Poverty, homelessness, unemployment and crooked politicians are in every state of America.

The greedy coal companies stripped out the mines and didn't even want to pay a nickel tax on a ton of coal. It's sickening what they got away with. So much poverty in eastern kentucky . 🙏

Normally I'm such a wordy person, as you guys know by now. 🙂 But this left me speechless. As far as I'm concerned, the father in this household is a truly heroic individual. Anyone who's ever been in a situation where things look truly, terrifyingly bleak, and yet you know you absolutely have to keep it together for the sake of your spouse and children knows the amount of courage it takes to do what he's shown doing here. So many men would collapse into sullen rumination. Or explode in chronic fury and take all that anger out on the wife and kids. Or drown themselves in alcohol. Or simply pick up and abandon the whole family one day, totally overwhelmed and hopeless. Or take any of a million other escape routes. But he doesn't do any of that. He has a gentle smile, a tender heart. He's not too proud to make dinner or wash dishes. You can see that his wife and children adore him. It would have taken so little to get him and his neighbors back up on their feet again. A little training in a relevant profession. A little better health care. A little more support for his kids in school. Nutrition assistance that lasted a little longer than 21 days of the month. But no... in this era all of that was "communist stuff." So they were cruelly left to suffer if they didn't accept help, and insulted and mocked as lazy deadbeats if they did. Any alliance that was formed between New York law school grads (otherwise known as smelly, fuzzy faced beatniks), Black citizens struggling for full citizenship and these Appalachian families was obviously considered incredibly dangerous by the powers that were. You can see the terrified rage on the face of the one man who had a verbal showdown (about fuzzy faces) with one of the people who were filming at the "anti-communist rally." He knew that if those disparate groups ever actually did coalesce into one large group and start to realize the enormity of their power and act in unison, he and his type were going to be history. He was scared to death. Wow... we seem to be reliving so much of this era in slightly different ways today. So much to think about. So much gratitude to y'all for once again having the courage to show films like this. Please keep going!

Back when a dime was worth something. I remember penny candy, when candy bars cost a nickel, a soda cost 12 cents, and that was the late 60's early 70's!!!

My husband grew up in Ashland Kentucky. Enjoyed watching this video. It was disturbing how rude people were to those less fortunate. It was great to hear the one man who confessed that he had hatred but finally read the Bible and grasped that all are created equal. I remember the 60’s. I was born in 1952 so I remember the good the bad and the ugly of that time. We love your channel . We love your heart for Appalachia. Keep up the good work.

I love in this video how the young boy looks at his dad at the table with honor and pride this poor man feels broken and even though the meal looks lean they seem very happy it humbles me I have been without but my kids have never

I grew up in Southwest Virginia, still here. My granddaddy's family were sharecroppers. They work for a man that would buy a piece of property, then they would cut the trees, clear the brush,plow,disc and plant the seed. When harvest time come they got 1/3 of the crop. They raised tomatoes and canned them each year for their cash crop and sold the in town. They had hogs,chickens,milk cows so things were very hard on them but they made it. They hunted crows because there was a nickel bounty on them back then. Kill a crow, skin the scalp off the head and save it. That was the part taken to the store for trade in. His daddy would go to West Virginia each fall and work for a mine, not in the mine, he tended the horses and mules for a particular mining company. Stayed in a boarding house for like 25 cents a week then come home at Christmas time. After that, go back to the mines until time to start plowing again. Thats how they lived. Fortunately we didn't grow up like that, but there is still some awful poor people in these Appalachian hills. Thanks for sharing this documentary. Your friend

Very important to know our history! Thank you for making this documentary , brings back lots of memories ! We were poor but didn’t know it , picked our own coal to heat the house . Berries for mom to make jellies and pies . Pap took us fishing 🎣 and taught us about the herbs and trees in forest , mushrooms . We all worked together everyone had their “job” .

My family has lived in Kentucky and North Carolina since the 1800s. It’s funny how all of these rich people have always made fun of us and now we can’t keep them from moving here.

Some things never change, the rich will always take and take until nothing is left. And then they will blame the poor for everything

Growing up through the 60's & into the 70's, I remember the social chaos of the '60's & early 70's and the high inflation of the 70's. What I found most interesting as well as disturbing about this documentary r the parallels of government/industry apathy toward the working class.

I remember seeing this when I was young. Now I really understand the importance of documentaries like this. I don’t want to get in to politics, but it shows from wence we came.

My ancestors for hundreds of years are from Appalachia. I was born and raised in Central kentucky and my in-laws hail from Eastern Kentucky. When I first started going to Appalachia to visit I felt like I was trapped. Someone said it best when they said that the mountains close in on you. Now at 37 that's not how I feel. I would love to live in Appalachia and retire there. My in-laws have a lot of land and gardens in the mountains. My blood pressure goes down when I go to visit. I need out of the city so bad. I have the opportunity to make the same amount of money in Appalachia right now that I do in Lexington. I am planning on moving in the next year. I would like to be able to step outside of my home and have nothing but wilderness around me. It's like the older I get the more the mountains call my name. My immediate family never worked in the coal industry because we were in Central kentucky. But I know my ancestors probably did and my in-laws did. And I did a report in college about 15 years ago on mountaintop removal. Those coal companies are bastards. Massey energy was one of the worst. There is an excellent documentary called kilowatt ours that talks about the decimation of Appalachia because of coal companies. There was a better way to mine which would have employed tons of people versus mountain top removal. Also it would not have decimated the land either. But you know those companies wanted to do what was the cheapest route which means want to top off a mountain that doesn't take many people to work it.

I really enjoyed watching this. It really hits home how our mountain neighbors lived and survived.

I loved this documentary!! Please bring us more like it. "Poverty is a state of mind"...hmmmm. I was a young teenager in 1968, and I wish my twin sister and I had known this "fact" back then. We could simply wipe that poverty right out of our head!!

Grew up in 50’s on a mountain above Red Ash coal camp in southwest Va. We were poor but we had a garden, a cow, chickens, pig and all the wild eatables in the woods. The camp was a little different they were poor with nothing.

I saw this documentary a few years back. Sad to see such wiilling, not always able, people determined to get by. Get ahead. Thank you two for such a great channel. I just now saw Soft White Underbelly has posted another "Whittaker Family ". Thanks guys for being kind and authentic.

I grew up in Appalachia during the sixties. I started first grade in 1960. It is true that my family had very little money but I was and still am very rich.

I really love how his wife looked at him so lovingly at the end and they seemed like such a happy , satisfied family even though they were stricken with poverty .. the way Appalachian people suffered is soo similar to the American Indians that live on reservations ….. and I love the your Pocahontas shirt ❤️

I was the age of those kids at the time in NE Ohio. There were many current events happening in the mid 60's with Vietnam and Kent State, racial riots in the big cities like Cleveland and Detroit, and the Kennedy and MLK assassinations. President Johnson's War on Poverty is often overlooked but I remember my Dad taking us to southern Ohio to see the strip mines and the "reclaimed" land, we drove past actual tarpaper shacks and abandoned coal operations. This is the first time I've seen this documentary, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing this! My family came down from Pennsylvania and settled southwest Virginia and northwest north Carolina, and other than coal mining , their lives were pretty much as these people. Very poor folk, and some went up north to work in Michigan(Detroit) and Ohio(Cleveland) , but they eventually moved back home to the mountains of Virginia and NC. I have heard many stories from my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles about how tough life was back then .luckily I grew up mostly in the 70s and early 80s and missed the really hard times . Today, people would consider when I was growing up hard times , but compared to my parents and their parents, it was easy times ...thanks guys . Appreciate you 2 always. God bless. 🙏❤

My ancestors were some of the very first settlers in southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky. Today, their descendants are scattered to the far corners of the US and world. Few of our kin remain there. This documentary brings a surge of mixed emotions. Unfortunately, I can’t go home again because to quote John Prine ‘s song “Paradise” : Mr. Peabody’s coal train done hauled it away”.

It has been a minute since I have seen that documentary. I agree this is very important history and for all of us to this day, who have deep roots in Appalachia have someone in their family who was more likely than not to have been just as shown and seen here. Also you will see same work ethic and loyalty as seen here, some of best traits have been passed on and lead to each generation after the next to be that much stronger. Just my view and thoughts on what I have seen as well as experienced.

This could be one of the best examples of why history is so important to learn from. With all the government programs there has never been much progress only moving the problem to different zip codes…

Lived in Sevierville Tenn. for five years , most humble, loving, people filled with Godly wisdom, those graceful people taught me so much. Coming from a native Floridian , I was very concerned for the change that others bring , when moving to the south, and not always good, cause I seen it in my state, needless to say they have taken over FL. well at least from Gainsville down. I will stay close to the Georgia line. love ya'll

This was chilling to watch for me. I grew up in a small town in Ohio where many of the appalachians moved to work in the paper mill or the salt plant in my home town of Rittman. I had many a friend that remembered living back in there hills, as they would say. Rittman is still to this day named the 3R town. Reading, righting, and road to Rittman. Thanks so much for showing this riveting movie.

Sadly, some has changed. Yet still there are many who are still struggling all across Appalachia.

Hello I am a Tazewell county native as well. I was born on Hogback over in the Wards Cove community. I appreciate the work and effort you put into telling these stories.

Thank you for the video . I'm from Silicon valley , San Jose CA, born and raised we have poverty in a different way I'm 62 and make $20.00 an hour in other parts of the country that would rent and a car in a private dwelling here it's a room for $800.00 to $1000.00 or more a month . Here you need a degree to get ahead .Blue collar is a hard life for many.

The war on coal, oil, gas and nuclear will lead America into decline. Our people will suffer, our military strength will fail just as our enemies progress. Clean air don't mean much if you are suffering in poverty. Depression and drug abuse comes next. Thank you for this video. It let's people know how tough it was back then. Daddy always had work and did fine raising six of us along with Mommy's help. I never knew we were considered poor by the outside world. Not until the Unions were striking so much Daddy went North. He made good money up there in construction, but when i asked him once about how much better money he made up North, he just looked at me and said 'David, i loved the mines and i would rather have stayed and worked there but i couldn't work because of the strikes' although he believed in the Union. That coal stays in your blood i guess. He died of lung and throat cancer, but he lived to be 92. I think his hard life made him tough. I really enjoyed this Video. Thanks again.

The human condition , remains unchanged . All else is window dressing. Thank you for this . People need to see how much seems to have changed and how much really hasn't . Peace . Be Free .

I’m from Blount County, Tennessee and so is my husband. His people started out in Cades Cove-to Tremont-to Townsend where my husband was born and raised and where we raised our 3 boys. My parents were both from Harlan, Kentucky and so were their great grandparents and their great greats came over and settled in Virginia before headed to Kentucky. My parents moved to East Tennessee where they raised me and all my brothers and sisters. I’m so Appalachian that I don’t think you can get more Appalachian than me and my husband and kids. I felt all of this because i heard these stories first from my Mom….Etta Sue Anderson Walls. It made me miss her voice and the stories of my great grandfather and my grandfather working in the mines. My great grandfather lost his hand in a mine accident and he had a hook he used on that arm and when he wasn’t using it he wore a black glove over it so he wouldn’t scare kids. Ohhh I’d give about anything to hear her tell me all about it for the millionth time. My Dads Dad was a coal miner too. So was my Dad for a while. My Mom lost her Mom to Tuberculosis….my Mom called it Consumption though. She rarely used the word Tuberculosis or TB. My grandmother was only 21 years one when she got it and she was 21 when she died of it too. She was pregnant with my Moms little sister and between that and TB she just didn’t make it. My Mom was only 3 and my Moms little sister contracted it and didn’t make it either. So my Mom was raised by old Appalachians and my grandfather. She knew anything and everything about the mines.

I grew up in Big Stone Gap Va in the 60s and 70s and saw what real poverty was. God bless those people.

In the Fall of 1969, my family moved to Wise, VA which was not too far from Pike County, KY. My father had retired from the Air Force and took a job at the hospital there. Those living within the region of Wise County and Pike County lived among those in extreme poverty. It was common to see shacks throughout the area which were tacked together with wood, cardboard, and anything else that could sustain a family within. In the way of jobs, there were barely any businesses that could employ anyone. That is, beyond coal mines. Men who worked in the mines became old men at a very young age and often died from Black Lung. The culture and beauty of the Appalachian mountains were lovely; however, they were all stained with poverty. How some people survived, I will never know. Sheer will, I suppose. Neighbors bartered and relied on one another. Many children in the Appalachian mountains did not finish school as they were expected to help their families. I learned this very quickly as some of my classmates in 3rd grade, on my first day of school there, were much older. One girl, in particular, was 15 years old and in the 3rd grade. Her mother would call the school to send her daughter home to help out taking care of 13 other siblings. After two weeks of my being there in class, the girl finally quit school and stayed home where she was needed. Some boys quit school young, too, to learn a trade or to work in the fields, if possible. Some hunted to bring food to the family. Back then, it was like walking back in time. There were few modern conveniences and places that were available to go (e.g. general store) still operated as if it was the turn of the century. I often wonder how many people living in the Appalachian Mountains are still struggling. I can only assume a large amount of them have passed down their struggle and poverty to the next generation. The whole area is heartbreaking, but the people are genuine.

I've been interested in Appalachian history and stories recently. I read a book called "Fireball". I'd love to see it made into a movie. Strong people. I wish we had more like that today to teach the young people. It's good for us to realize how easy we have it now, even though we complain so much.

It would be interesting to catch up with the family featured at the center of this documentary to see what became of the children (moved away? went on to school?) and if/how any service programs did come in to help or if the struggle continued.

You know you're right. I was here then and I thought I was aware...but this tragedy missed me. Profoundly sad! No one ought to have to live like this. OUCH....HARD TO SEE!

This was very intense & heartwrenching. I guess because I remember some folks who lived in those situations. It was awesome of y'all to show this video so all can see just how things were & struggles of a lot of people. God bless & y'all stay safe! (From VA) 🙏🏡🐈

I’m glad y’all have shared these to remind people of the history, you can’t erase it. Keep it up! I appreciate it!

I was born in 1946 and remember having a garden and my mom canning everything. All of us 6 siblings has all hand me downs and remember wearing my brothers hand me down brown shoes. We weren't as bad off as this poor family because my father worked but we were still considered poor.

The finest people I have ever known live in Eastern Kentucky. Honesty, integrity, a handshake and looking someone in the eye means something. Not to mention Ale8 and Rupp Arena! Go big blue

My grandparents are from pike county Kentucky... We used to visit family (greats) and most worked in the mines. Can't even explain my great grandparents home... It was small but home of 15+ kids .. loving feeling. They worked hard for what they had and she always had a meal ready for whoever

I watched this and it had an impact on me, so much so that that I've thought about this and am hoping that things improved for this family. Inspiring and heartbreaking, but of the two contrasts, more inspiring because of this loving and heroic family.

We don’t know how good we got it today,do we

Good looking family. Honest, hard working people. God Bless them!

I greatly appreciate you sharing this video. The past is an important part of our history that we need to learn from regardless of whether it had some negative impact. I would like to know what became of the Collins family. Please continue to share. 💝

the most overlooked group of people in our country. damn good people.

I love this channel. Thank you for keeping these stories alive. It's so relevant even now.

This should be shown in ALL Jr High or High School history classes as this shows the true recent history (history less than 100 years) of how things were and are when it comes to Class Distinction and the loss of jobs due to technology. TAppalachians This video shows how solutions were proposed, but were shut out by the Government. It also shows how the upper income people were prejudice to those who didn't have what they have. Class Division. Government indifference and Industrialists who cared more about wealth then the affects of the Actions in which they were responsible.

Thank you! These videos are SO GOOD!

12:10 Back in the 70s, we pitched a very large, brand new camping tent on the front lawn of our Coldwater, MI home. My mama taught us how to play Annie I Over....this brings back a flood of wonderful childhood memories. Thank you!

I graduated from high school back in '66 and then straight away went out onto the unskilled job market. I got a 27-hour per week job as a baggage porter at an airport. For that, i lived well in part because it was the 'sizzling sixties" and in larger part because I was not burdened down with a family. In later times I moved from place to place in search of knowledge, adventure, and better pay. I succeeded in all of that again because I was single and childless. I was convinced then and now that getting married and having children at a young age is a bad idea unless you can afford it.

Enjoyed very much, I can't help wondering what happened to these poor people ✝️

Hill Billy strong .... yee haw ... I always have fond memories of being invited to visit with some Appalachia back in 1974 ... way up in the mountains of North Carolina ..... the show The Waltons .... reminded me of them a lot as I grew up.

Back then kids was raised respectfully and to respect unlike the kids today

I wish someone could catch up with those people from the past. I would love to know how they’re doing today.

This is so sad but true. I recall talking to my wife's uncle in Big Rock when I first met her in the 60's. He told of coal companies coming to his grandparents home and laying $100 bills on the kitchen table for mining rights. Also they were for 99 years worth of coal... Skip Salmon, Roanoke

Heart felt wishing for better future , coupled with heart break that this happened in the greatest nation on earth. Bless those Appalachian people !

I enjoy seeing the pictures the lady was showing ,,,she is lovely ,,what happened to her and her husband and family ? Very nice good people,..the collins family are lovely I like them

Amazing footage..thankyou for uploading... ♥️💯

History shows how many generations the divide of rich and poor haunt us. The Iron Range in Minnesota had flourishing beautiful schools paid for by iron mining, in the 1960's. Thanks for the history lesson. Excellent quality film. Thanks.

Glad you showed this as it tells the story of our past which effects our culture and our ways today.

I'm writing more. My parents taught themselves how to read. They were determined me and two sisters to go to high school. My brother went north when 19. Daddy wouldn't agree for him to not be a miner. Daddy went back in the mines as soon as he got the cast off. He worked. My mommy raised big gardens. We had plenty vegetables. She canned food to last for winter. The small mines couldn't work in bad weather because of the road. The man that he worked for came and got him to work. We didn't have a vehicle. The man he worked for gave us coal, daddy didn't make much money. All of our neighbors lived like us.I didn't feel as poor as we were. We also got coal from a mine back up the mountain. I remember buying dynamite when I was about 10. Can you imagine now? I was the youngest. My job was to carry water. It rained a lot. We caught rain in barrels for laundry. Washed on wringer washer. We never got government aid. In 1968 my daddy lost his job because his boss decided to do surface mining. Daddy went to northern Ohio to do janitor work in the factory my brother worked. He got sick after a year. My brother brought him to know hospital in Pineville, Ky , He'd had a heart attack. They found out he had Black lung. He finally got disabled Social Security and Black Lung check. Before he got his money the man who ran the country store fed us for a year, mommy kept the garden up. He got his back pay. First thing my parents did was to pay the store what we owed. Then he had a well dug.

This just breaks my heart nobody Imran nobody should ever go hungry in this world 😔🙏

Looks from your hoodie you're from near Lee County. Spent several months every year growing up. Fond memories of the people, trees, mountains, Animals... I regretted not documenting the old timers when I was producing radio documentaries. These slices of history you captured and shared are wonderful. It's good country folk are remembered and their stories told.

Listening to this video enlightening. I grew up in Pittsburgh Pa , a city that profited from E Ky coal, on the backs of coal miners. I learned a lot after marrying my wife of 35 years who grew up in Letcher county. A true “coal miner’s daughter” . I’ve grown to love Eastern Kentucky. I learned a lot from my in laws, the work ethic of Eastern Kentucky people. I think John L Lewis, because he really did improve the working conditions for miners . Some may disagree. I recall stories of the Scotia disaster, bloody Harlan told by my father in law. People need to know about John F Kennedy and establishment of ARC , and how it benefited E Ky and Appalachian area. Thank you both for your continued videos and educating of Appalachian areas.

Watched the whole thing. Thanks for uploading

I’m 66 but we lived a similar fate in 1962, my mom and all her siblings lived on Bottom Fork at Mayking KY. My Holbrook grandfather born at Mayking, My Sturgill Grandma born on Flat Gap near the Pound In 1963 we were dirt poor, nearly homeless, My mom, my dad and us 5 kids and my moms 14 year old brother all crammed into a car, drove 5 days and most nights on two lane roads across the US moving to to Raymond WA. Where dozens of Letcher and Wise county families had moved before us , all working as loggers.

I saw this documentary before. I'm the oldest of three. I was born in '58. My Dad didn't go to work steady in the mines until '68. But I remember him getting up every morning and hitch hiking just to find a day's work. He would work a day or two a week for a local roofing company. A day or two for a local furniture store. Here and there but got work most days. There wasn't a lazy bone in his body. He had a sixth grade education but could do almost anything it seemed. We had big gardens, hogs, chickens, and cows. And I can never remember being hungry. I don't mean to be judgemental but old Frank at the beginning of this simply doesn't seem like the greatest go getter of all time. I've been a people watcher my whole life and I'm not sure he would have worked if he'd been handed a job. Just saying!lol Thanks guys!

Wow! Thank you for sharing and calling awareness that nothing has changed with the ones who are "in control" but WE have. WE are. That's what will make the difference!

Pike County Kentucky, Freeburn KY. Right next to West Virginia. The Tug river is in-between us. I worked in man west Virginia at Rock House#2 .My uncle JR. Mitchell got me on ,how I love and miss him RIP. That family helped me more than anyone has. I love each and every one of them, Barnshe Holler Always will be home to me. I wish I could go back to my people and mountains. Illinois isn't for me.. GOD BLESS YOU ALL, AMEN.

hello y'all. great to see another video. I appreciate your time. these videos really make me miss home. I've been gone for a few years, and what few family I had, is gone or deceased. I love so far away in Texas, and wanting to come home( southern wv), what a hard task this is.

Thanks to you both for sharing this video. I'm proud of my Appalachian roots...ALWAYS. My philosophy is, "Never look down on anyone, only God sits that high." God bless you both, AMEN!!!! We by no means grew up with everything we wanted, but my parents grew up poor. However, they provided quite well for us. We were RICH with God and a loving, caring family. What more could anyone ask for?

Thank you for showing these videos. History right there!

These folks were some of the most hard-working, kind, and humble people on Earth! To see them treated so poorly is heartbreaking!

Excellent peice of social history and documentary film making. Thanks for showing.

3:48 "if the outsiders would leave us alone we dont have any trouble with people here". How true. I agree with that. I would much rather live here than any city I have seen.

My father died from Black Lung. He choked to death. He worked in the mines -on record- beginning at 10 years old. My mom said you couldn't get anything in The Company Store until a certain time of day so that they were sure the miner completed his work day. My grandfather helped establish The UMW....

Thanks for providing this video. I accidentally happened upon another hillbilly youtube account with a guy name Josh and it was so terrible I couldn't watch it , so then I found yours! Thanks for letting history be told. It was nice and relaxing to watch and hear folks disagree without hatred or animosity.. Those were the days my friend, we thought we could argue and disagree and it would never end.....

I have watched this many times in the last couple of years. I have even done research to see where the family is now. Such a nice family with good values. BTW they did move away from the area.

Too bad you couldn't find the kids in this film and see what happened to their family and how their lives have been since the release of the documentary

I love watching content like this. I have lived in Northeast KY my whole life.

Brave people indeed - they try to work there way out

Thank you for including de-escalation tips. Much appreciate. 🤗

It's scary how history is repeating itself regarding politics & the rich vs the poor. They are destroying us rural folk even today! 🥺

Please continue to show these types of documentaries

Melody! You look sooo pretty!! Makeup done fine, big ole smile, just beautiful. Great, great content!! THANK YOU!!!

I'm a new subscriber. 😊 I absolutely love ya'lls content!!!

I love love love the 1960 cbs special and this one Love it how people lived makes me feel so blessed

Grow a garden to eat from and store up on food for the winter with food stamps. Beans are easy to grow and dry well and will give your family a lot of protein. Fish - you can cook it outside over a fire. Try to get some chickens so you will have eggs which will last on the counter for about 3 weeks. If you can get a rooster you can hatch out more and more.

Y'all are absolutely the epitome of what caring good folks should be, I love the hoodies but I am trying to keep food for my wife and myself. it's pretty tough with parkinson's and heart failure in north west Georgia with no help, but we are blessed with each other and people has it much harder. Really love y'all's videos. Be blessed

That was very well said a good mouthful of words

Thanks for making us aware of the struggles of our fellow human beings.

I am deeply affected.... what happened to the children? I know the Appalachian Trail and have a lot of respect for the people....greetings from Germany

I just started watching your videos and have ❤ everyone of them. As soon as this movie I’m watching is over I’m going to watch the hour plus documentary about Appalachia Thanks for sharing! 😊

Excellent video - thanks!

This was a very interesting documentary. I especially liked the fact that it featured a family from Letcher County.

We were raised in a home with a coal furnace oilcloth on the kitchen floor and a freezing cold house all winter long. We ate US Government food handed to us at the back door of the meanest grocer in the neighborhood. The cornbread was delicious. Powdered milk we had to hold our noses to drink. The roast beef was delicious, and to this very day, I've eaten none better. Poverty teaches you many things. Living without isn't so bad as long as you have no idea something better exists. You lived with toothache pain, and my dad's workbench became the dentist's office when the pain was too much to bear. My dad took a pair of nippers or needle nose pliers, and the tooth was out in no time. This video reminded me of the trials and suffering of many families in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s. My neighbors, family, and friends were good people and hard-working people back then.