Shocking and Controversial Documentary of 1940s Appalachia 

There were still people living similarly in the early 1970’s. I taught in a one room school in WV in 1971-1973, grades 1-6. I recognize the sing-song reading style, not really understood by the readers, but to them, it was “reading.” Then there was the “other kind” of reading, like writing when you had to understand it! Arithmetic was taught mostly by rote as well, although most pupils began to be able to use it to solve practical problems I gave them. Parents expected the old style of teaching by rote and recitation, so I did that and then expanded upon it. The music was authentic, as was the flat foot dancing. I knew two of the older boys smoked, but it was more oriented towards the thrill of sneaking a cigarette and getting away with it. We had a hot school lunch, supplied by Uncle Sam. The commodity truck equipped with a kitchen arrived at 11:30 and started serving at noon. Recess was until 1:15. For many children, it was the main meal of the day. The food at home wasn’t as poor as portrayed here. In season, they ate from gardens. Lots of women canned at least beans, tomatoes, carrots, and some corn, but not solely! They weren’t as poorly clad and I saw no pellagra or dysentery, but cases of ringworm, head lice, and chigger bites were frequent visitors. Dental health wasn’t very good, and still isn’t very good or affordable in many parts of WV. There was electric and one flush toilet. The toilet frequently backed up and the pipes froze in winter, so often we resorted to the outhouses and used the outdoor pump. I’m not sure the water would have passed a health inspection. When I first came I spent the month of September dealing with diarrhea. A coal stove supplied the heat and I still have my teacher’s bell! In September of 1973, the new central school was completed and the old schoolhouse was closed down. I had the children from five families, 17 the first year, 15 the second year. At first it was very difficult. The parents didn’t trust a teacher from New York. It took awhile, but we were mostly friends by Christmas. As for the film, the tone was very condescending and depressing. The real people were materially poor, but not stupid! Those who worked were mainly coal miners, not farmers. One family had neither electric nor indoor plumbing. They possibly fit the stereotype as I suspect the parents were inbred. They had four children in school. The three oldest did quite well but the youngest was what we called a slow learner. As a people, I found them remarkably resilient, tough, resourceful, friendly, open, charitable, with a good sense of humor. The children were very well behaved and not at all lethargic or disinterested. I think I learned more from them than they from me.

I’m just sitting over here obsessively wondering if that tea spilt everywhere in the lunch pails. Lol

I absolutely loved the short film. My grandmother and her sisters and one brother were born and reared in Eastern Kentucky (Louisa area) in 1904 forward. Known as the “Borders girls”, they sewed, crocheted, knitted, learned to read and write by their father and mother. They were beautiful! The girls farmed, canned food, put up meats for the winter (they had a smokehouse). My uncle, as well as the girls, planted, grew, harvested and hanged tobacco to dry. My great-great-great grandfather was the first judge of Lawrence County, Kentucky.

Pork, biscuits and berries, sounds pretty good to me. I remember tending a garden as a child and helping mom put up okra, beans, tomatoes, and corn. I’m sure we learned that from our grandparents. I’m sure the people of Appalachia did the same. This movie was trying to show what the government could do for you. Sound familiar?

I was raised in Eastern Ky, 30yrs later. And they still try to portray the same today.

Children cannot read like that today. They were disciplined and mannerly to most everyone. They actually learned reading, writing, math, geography, history, respect. Very familiar to me since I was born in Charleston WV in 1941.

And they filmed it in the dead of winter so I'm sure they didn't have fresh vegetables right then, but I'm also sure they had big gardens and grew as much as they could in the warm months. Everybody looked pretty healthy to me.

Being originally from Phelps, KY, I heard my parents speak of how they were raised, and it's on par with this film. Trees were only at the tops of the mountains due to logging; gardens and cows were on the mountain sides, and one room school house with grades 1-8th. Hard times for sure, but their spirit was willing to make the best of it.

I gave you a thumbs up because I love your videos.

Even the poorest people bad a large variety of fruits and vegetables. Wild berries and nuts were abundant. What about those chickens and eggs

I was a kid in the ‘60’s when Life Magazine did their big expose on Appalachian poverty. We followed them around on our bicycles and watched how they set up the shots to look the worse. Good times, love y’all ☮️

VERY GOOD HARDWORKING PEOPLE !~!

Anyone FREAK OUT when the first modern commercial broke thru the watching of this? How awful and garish it looked!

I’m from Louisiana and we are still looked upon as “backward” people. Which we far from that. I would love to live in WV, and learn about the old ways that kept the new settlers alive. My family members are Scot-Irish who traveled through your state, some even homesteader your home state. Thank you for everything.

They talk negative and lies about Native people too in the u.s.,the film about the Appalachia people was all negative, the food they had looked really good, they built their houses with skill, that lasted for many years, a lot of people would never leave Appalachia, they need to talk about how horrible it is to live in any city in the u.s., I would take Appalachia over most places in the u.s.

City dwellers had it rough, too (overcrowded tenement dwellings, disease, environmental hazards, etc.)

Well my family has lived in Appalachia in southwest Virginia and northwest north Carolina since the late 1700s....my parents and grandparents hunted, fished, gardens, honey bee gums, wild edible plants, I have had many meals of poke salad , or creasy greens, branch lettuce and cornbread among others....ate many squirrels, rabbits ,etc...growing up , no electricity in our hollar till the late 60s....oil lamps, wood stove, water from a spring ....we never knew we were poor , because everyone else lived the same way where we lived .....thanks for sharing this video .....and your thoughts....appreciate you 2....God bless y'all...🙏❤

Respect......for their parents, teachers & each other. Discipline.....they didn't sass or curse their parents! The 2 biggest things missing today! And God was still in the schools and a large part of their learning. School shootings were unheard of!!!

October Sky is an excellent movie that was set in 1957 West Virginia.

Sad how the government can create unequal conditions and then blame the people there for those same conditions. It’s the same thing today with unequal funding for public schools in our inner cities. The sadness of the people in the old video could have been created WHOLLY by the filming crew going into the schools and homes, in which the children reacted in an unnatural way - not knowing what is expected of them. Wherein those same children and families are totally at ease and natural otherwise. I loved your video. Thank you for sharing.

I found it interesting how he mentioned the lack of lumber but didnt explain why. They almost made it sound like it was the settlers' fault rather than the lumber industry stripping the land.

My family lived in Eastern KY near Floyd County around 200 years until my Grandma (born in 1930s) left in the 1950s. This video wasn't much different than life she described and the photos I have of her life there. It wasn't much different than the life she grew up with the exception of farming. She was a coal mining family, prior to be coal miners the family was farmers but sold their land. Growing up with her in the 80s/90s/00s we had very little fresh vegetables. Our dinners were a lot of carbohydrates, cornbread, and meats. Like you mentioned in your commentary we had green beans that we canned, tomatoes that we canned, collard greens, k*lled salad on special occasions but to say we had fresh fruit, vegetables in the variety that is widely available in my house would be an overstatement. I also lived in rural Central KY and part of our curriculum was a farming course similar to the one described, we also learned how to keep a home, tend to children, balance a checkbook, bake, fry meat, etc. Having such a long line of family from Appalachia, when I have reached out to 2nd or even 3rd cousins I have been met with resistance because they have a fear of being judged by the outside world and in this instance I think your own insecurities many be amplifying what you are feeling. I am sure there are people who judge Appalachia but I promise it's not as widely spread as what you likely would believe. Most people I've talked to know nothing about it. On the topic on pellagra my Grandma had severe vitamin B deficiency. I couldn't attest to when she started smoking or if there was any relevance to her smoking young but I know it was before she was 18. My family may not be in Appalachia anymore but Appalachia is still in our hearts.

Proud to have been born, raised and lived in Appalachia. Not ashamed of it at all! GOD has kept great care of me here in these mountains!

It is a stereotype. I am 74. The Great Depression ended in 1939. Growing up in Indiana I listened to my parents argue endlessly about who had the worst childhood. My mother's Mom, Fannie Lee Scroggins died when she was 4 in Fentress County, TN and she and her two sisters ended up in Yorktown, Indiana. Their Uncle Bobby had gone to get the little girls at his Sister Fannie Lee's request from her death bed in a log cabin in TN. She died from drinking raw cow's milk while pregnant with 4th child, she was 27. Their Uncle Bobby asked Indiana for help feeding his family. Indiana said, NO and that they could do a better job taking care of his nieces in an orphanage! My father grew up in Norwood, Massachusetts in a converted barn with his two Swedish immigrant parents and 11 siblings, no electricity or running water during the Depression. He told me they had a cow and garden in back but really harsh winters and hunger during the Depression. My Mom always told my father, "AT least you had your FAMILY." When my Mom, 72 died, Parkinson's, I asked my Dad about their longest running argument. He was amazed that I remembered it. I asked "So who was right? Who had the worst childhood?" He answered, "Your Mother because she and her sister had no family!". The third baby sister had been adopted out of the orphanage. These living conditions were common all over this country at that time. Folks that were dependent on jobs in towns and cities also knew really difficult times and no electricity, etc was also commonplace. That film is basically misleading or just taken out of context for the time period. There is always "more to the story"! A good lesson for all of us to always remember!

I see so many holes in this dissemination. I’ve grown up here, in Virginia. My family, dating all the way before the revolutionary war, were here. We worked this land, for many generations, and I ain’t seeing no saplings around here except young trees. I believe my ancestors were stewards of the land. I know for a fact, they planted more trees than they cut. Did they clear land? YES!! Did they destroy their land? NO!

Shane and Melody, I have not finished the documentary yet they were just talking about them clearing the land and cutting down the trees and deforesting the area, the one thing they forgot to mention is that most of that lumber went to New York Boston and other big cities on the northeast from the logging companies because that's what helped build the big cities, the same with the coal that was mined from the hills went to Northern cities for industry and also to make steel to build the big cities, we did not have Rich industrialist or newspaper magnets to set aside the Appalachian mountains to make Parks out of them, the way they did with the Adirondacks, s the one thing I can mention about President Roosevelt during the depression that they made work programs that were really work programs to put people to work even though it was funded by the government and they built the parks and built the roads and planted the trees that were stripped that caused seasonal flooding and Appalachian towns and villages in Appalachia, Northern industrial loggers removed, I don't know what else the documentary will say but I will listen now and I thank you for airing it.

That was my grandpa playing the banjo and my grandma. The kids were my aunts and uncle’s. They had a hard life but a rich life. You can’t take a short film and judge their whole life or their worth by that. It’s a real honor for me to have this on a dvd. How many people can see their family in that time period?

I did find it interesting that they harped on the fact that all the children had were "some berries, but no fruits". Berries are FAR better than most fruits and contain more vitamins. That's why blueberries and blackberries are considered "super foods". The other thing that drove me nuts was the narrator constantly bringing up pellagra. That disease shows up in people who only eat corn or at least 3/4 of their diet is corn products, since pellagra is caused by a niacin deficiency. Those kids had a fairly good winter diet of root vegetables (potatoes), pork, berries (probably canned from early season fruits), wheat biscuits and corn breads. They get plenty of niacin from the potatoes to make up for any deficit from the corn bread. Other than the constant condescending tones, I thought the film was rather interesting. Those kids appeared happy, healthy and well mannered. The child given the cigarette didn't really surprise me as I started smoking at nine years old, following what my older brothers and sister did.

All of our education films in school in the 60s were like this

The children in the classroom were very well read and articulate. The education must have been top notch and more advanced than the film makers made it out to be because there's no way they would have learned to read and right that well with being such "simple brains" as the narrator tried to portray. That teacher was someone the kids looked up to and respected. She was there portal to the outside world if you will. I was so impressed with the genuiness of the children and parents existence. What was impressed upon me was the lack of any spark of joy or carefreeness in their overall countenance. This being a direct result of being in a state of survival most of the time(hunger,hard work, cold and heat). Of course though, the film makers did their very best to portray their construed "poverty" by filming in the dead of winter and the music in the background (sounded just like the Waltons music). I wish to God though that I had half their knowledge on how to self sustain myself with planting and gardening etc. Although it WAS a hard life back then, I wish I could go back and live in an age where I didn't have the internet and TV and I could focus on the bread and butter of life-literally. although I know back then people got sick and died more often. Sorry to ramble. Best part of the video...the smiles of the family as the Dad played the banjo. Also, the teacher sounded like the way they sounded on the Little Rascals. I love it!

My Appalachian hillbilly father (b. 1934) and his side of the family are from the hollers between Pine Knot and Williamsburg KY, his mother came from Warren County TN, she was raised in the Bon Jellico Coal Camp, all the men were coal miners in the mine from 1912-1937…my father left the hollers to work in NJ & PA, I was born and raised in Philadelphia. Growing up I knew my father was from Kentucky but didn’t realize he was an Appalachian Hillbilly until much later in life.

I agree with y’all about the diet. They were probably healthier than a lot of children today. They spent a lot of time outside, ate very little processed food, as you mentioned Shane, none of them were overweight.

Please do more of these ty

I am SO glad you took the brave step of showing this film! I had seen it before and it just "rubbed me the wrong way" (to use Mom's phrase) the very first time I saw it. The word that comes to mind is "patronizing." Weirdly, I have a feeling that the people who produced this probably thought of themselves as really open-minded and "artsy." They used those oh-so-avant-garde camera angles and "folksy" background music, and "poetic" narration delivered in a dramatic radio voice. Eewwwww...! So many ways in which they went wrong.... There is nothing awful about a school lunch that consists of sausage and biscuits, berries and juice. It's probably better than a hot dog and a diet cola. There was zero violence in that classroom. The kids were wearing clean clothes and their hair was washed. They seemed literate, attentive and respectful. The walk to and from school was probably safer than going on a school bus with no seat belts. Dad's smoke that was shared with junior might well have been a kind of male bonding thing. I do believe that little boy was the only son in the family and it might have been Dad's way to connect with him. Sure, it's not ideal to "roll one" for the clog dancing 5 year old, but as you said, the risks of smoking weren't as well known then. There are ways to share the latest agricultural advances with local farmers without making them feel like ignoramuses in the process. Same with home extension lessons for women on canning, cooking and preserving. Women like this mother knew perfectly well what vegetables were. As you mentioned it's hard to find media images of Appalachia that show some level of respect for and recognition of the positive sides of the area. I read that one documentary filmmaker who was doing an "expose" on the area in the 1960's actually asked the kids in one rural family to *take their shoes off* when he photographed them, so they would conform to the "barefoot and ignorant" image he was going for! Grrrrr....! That made me so angry! I could go on and on, but I won't bore y'all. All I can say is "Thank You" for your daily hard work to get the truth about this part of the country out there. Which is not to say that you claim everything about it is perfect. That's not the way the truth usually works. LOL! But you're doing a valuable service to your viewers when you show the beauty and decency of these communities! Please keep doing it.

Let me start by saying, I love ❤️ y'all. This story started by the credits, NYU. I know what my dearly departed Dad would say "Take your happy ass back above the Mason Dixon line" When my Xhusband was transferred to Florida I cried for about 6 months. I thank God everyday for my West Virginia public school education. I never knew working in a bank that people couldn't write a check read, or even sign their own names. They need to make a documentary on the people who live in the flipping swamps down here. Y'all have me fired up. Thanks for the video, it just goes to show that we are hillbillies and proud of it. Hugs

I find any of these type video's SOOO INTERESTING ! One side of my family lived off the land in NC... 😁 I suppose, there was some who couldn't afford seed, groceries, material, etc... But, I've realized thru the years, when I had to struggle the most to achieve what I wanted, was the most FOND and WORTHY MEMORIES... Make something out of nothing and FEEL BLESSED ALWAYS ! ❤ THANK YOU for sharing this... 😘😘😘

I agree with you guys. At the beginning when I saw the crew was from NY I had a pretty good idea how this family would be portrayed. Actually, I saw two caring parents and a happy loving tight knit family. People don't realize that over 80% of early America lived in poverty until the 1950`s. The snooty Yankees from the big cities loved singling out and mocking people from the south. My family is from northern Maine and they grew up with nothing! No indoor plumbing, and an 8 seat outhouse. My father and his brothers and sisters had to walk over a mile one way to a well pump and haul buckets of water back to the house. They had two 55 gallon steel drums outside against the house with a downspout running down from the gutter to catch the rain water for washing clothes and cooking. No electricity, wood stove for heat and a cast iron wood burning stove/oven for cooking. Nearly all their food was from their small farms and animals. Because of their upbringing our parents spoiled my brothers, sister and I because of their rough lives as kids with no creature comforts working from sun up til sundown and during the winter shivering in bed at night. As kids we never had to do chores, nothing! Our parents told us, we always said as a young couple our kids are not going to have to do what we did, we are going to make sure they have everything we werent able to have or do. On a funny note, when we were young adults, my mother would say to my father, Ya know what, we weren't hard enough on them! We spoiled and pampered them way too much. hahaha

Enjoyed that look at history. Thanks. PS. You’re a nice couple. Keep up the good work. Very interesting vids.

Shane, this isn’t far from what my early life was like as a kid in Doran Bottom. Sandra and Renee were bussed to Richlands for school but my sister and I walked the train tracks to Raven for our school. Mine was a big room over a business in Raven; sister went to the Raven school on the hill. I remember some families who were very poor, but there were so many things growing naturally no one needed to go hungry. Because most of the families were going through the same, we never realized we were “poor”. My mother was very creative with food. We joked how she could feed several people with a can of Vienna sausage. Another treat was her scrambled hamburger that went a long way with a little catsup. During summer we took hikes picking whatever was ripe. We also learned how to string beans using needle and thread. They hung from the porch roof. At summer’s end, most of the ladies went to the cannery in Pounding Mill and canned the crops from their summer gardens. Our schools were excellent in my opinion. And I always tried to be at Wanda and Roy’s at lunchtime because she made a huge midday dinner. So many good memories. Sorry to take so much time.

Thanks for sharing the video, and more importantly, an objective view of the Real Appalachia.

I lived in Kentucky for a little bit, coming from New jersey I loved every moment of it. They were the nicest people ive ever met, very simple, very beautiful nature out there. The stereotypes are definitely false

This was very interesting thank you 🙏

I’ve heard they portrayed these people as who they wanted them to be. Interviews with some of the children as adults confirmed this. What I saw in this was that the family all sat together for the meal. Plates were full. Then they all got together after to enjoy themselves as a family. Poor mum looked tired though. But what mum wouldn’t with such a big family at the end of a day.

Great job guys. The documentary depressed the hell out of me. I'm glad at the end you told us it was an inaccurate depiction. I found it hard to believe they only ate potatoes and corn. Keep up the good work. I love learning about Appalachia.

I enjoy your you tube programs so much. I have learned much about the part of your country. Bless you both. Good people telling the truth.

You can telll a "Damn Yankee" made that film. And they wonder why we didn;t them to well either

I absolutely agree with the points you raised and the tone of the film. Such a wasted opportunity to capture the rich and colourful culture.

I am a life long WV citizen. In southern coal fields in the mid - upper 60's. It was very common for like 3 grade or above children go behind the school & smoke with there Teachers. No joke. I am life long non-smoker. 6-1. Lot of them children didn't get over 5-6" I guess to make better underground low coal miners. Our grade school was almost a carbon copy of school building on this video. Except that 1 was much cleaner. I graduated High school in 79 we was still was burning only Coal for heat year around. That appears if video was shot in WV . It was in the mid to upper part of WV . Not the Southern Coal fields area.

Well, I came along in 1944 in Southern West Virginia, so some of the conditions and circumstances depicted here are familiar to me. However, the one thing that really stood out to me was the absolute joylessness of this family. Maybe this was just because they knew they were being filmed, but it really gave the appearance of a sad existence.

Malnutrition is/was a problem in this area early 1900's. My great grandfather died in a mental institution of pellagra, a deficiency of niacin. His 14 year old son went to work in a foundry to support his mother and siblings. Hard times. In the thirties after it was determined to be a niacin deficiency, the nation's flour was enriched, as it is today. Pellegra is still a problem in under developed areas but rarely found in the USA today. Yes, I resent the tone but the message is true to life.

My goodness....when did Appalachia ever run out of trees for building?

They made like all Appalachians were living a sorry life. My grandfather was born in West Virginia but he managed to own a store.

I went to GreenHills Ele in Harlan Co. And I am very proud of my learning there. Check it out sometime. That was back in 1970.

I recently moved to the mountains of South Central Pennsylvania, Somerset Pa. I love the small town, rural living after living in Pittsburgh almost My whole life. Retired to the mountains and I am so happy we did.

I grew up in the 50's and 60's in Rural West Virginia,and a lot of this film i personally experienced!! bought back a lot of memories,some good,some bad! even with those memories,i would go back in a fast min.!!!--David.

That little dude was cutting a rug there towards the end 🤣 guess he had to take a smoke break before round 2 😯

the little boy was so cute dancing , the young girls/ladies in school were beautiful , and boys looked tough and ready ... i grew up to 12 yrs old in Ky and then Pa mountains , then the cities and towns of Pa after 12 .... live in Los Angeles now (last 30 yrs) , but believe it or not , my heart is in Appalachia , i remember the simple life and childhood friends there (literally the best years of my life are the young years growing up there) i love the people and the mountains and creeks , the farms the animals , bringing a tear to my eye as i think about it now .... God bless Appalachia and its wonderful people .... my Grand Dad would have been the mans age that played the banjo and my Dad would have been around 10 at the time of this film

Thank you for sharing I’m sure this could easily be how many of our Mothers & Daddy’s lived 👍 From stories Our Mother would tell of her earlier life on the small farm and her one room school house it’s so great to see it in film .

From what I have learnt, the Scott's, Irish and Huguenots emmigrated to the Appalachian Mountains, I can see why, freedom was preferred over life in the concrete jungle.

I'm From Denmark and what they don't mention in the documentary is that it's not only in Appalachia that it was that way. the rural life was hard in those days and there was a lot there was almost unknown nutrition and agricultural research was just in the early stages and information on the studies was not as available as today, the only means of information in those days was newspapers the few radiostations there was available and the libery's ( if they had the books) most of rural people in those days didn't have power and there for no radio they was often poor and there for saved the newspaper and libery card. The kids went with out Milk and greens in the winter time was the Cows dry and conservation of food was limited to canning. When it comes to agriculture then there was very little known they didnt know much about the benefits of crop rotation, there was only few fertilizers on the market, the only cattle feed farmers know how to make for the winter was hay and there was often not enough. they mention Soybeans, in those days soybeans was considered a exotic crop and there was likely only few varieties available if any there could grow in the northern climate and getting seed was not as easy as calling the COOP. there was a lot of infrastructure there was not existing in the 40's. My dad did tell about visiting my great grandparents in 1968 they didn't had indoor plumbing the restroom was in the gutter behind the cows and my great grandmother did cook on a woodstove. I did also do a agricultural internship in Australia my host told that the area first got connected to the PowerGrid in 1976. before did they run diesel generators.

I gotta get a biscuit, before I can finish watching.

Melody has beautiful teeth. LBJ and his great society was going to help these mountain people, then he blew all the money on Vietnam.

Thanks!

Hello from Hayesville, NC

During the 40s my parents would be in their 20s. A lot of this is how they lived. They did have a better diet. But my father did grow up harder than my mother. He didn't have as good diet and they did have health problems because of it. 😞 But Mom would get a whoopin for smoking in front of her parents. Life was hard.... But they worked hard. I'm proud of my parents.

Hey yall. I'm sitting in Meigs County ohio. Love your videos

It was condescending. He kept talking about dysentery. I kept thinking “from where?”. My mom’s family is from Sand Mountain, Alabama. Very rural. I’ve never caught dysentery from being there a lot growing up. By a lot probably 70% of my life through my teen years in the 1970s. The only time I caught dysentery was from a restaurant just south of Auburn 3 years ago that had regular health inspections.

My first thought was that this could have been any farming area, not necessarily the Appalachian mountains. I was impressed with the schoolroom readings and classroom control, being a former teacher. I didn't think that corn was such a staple, so I agree with you guys. Pork fat and dysentery was a stretch. It always amazing to me that if life was really that bad, how could they have so many thriving kids? I think that the challenges portrayed in this movie we're happening in many different places in America.

My mother-in-law grew up in Appalachia. She talks about the poverty she experienced.

Looked like a better type of living than what I see today.

A few minutes into the video I turned the sound off, enjoyed it after that. My family is in eastern N C, my parents grew up in the 1920's and 30's just like those in the video, doing the best they could with what they had. I started school in 1958, our teacher started each day with a prayer and the pledge of allegiance. That's a lot better than schools today. T hanks, love y'alls videos.

In the RU-vid video Mountain Talk (full documentary, official video), from about 25:35 to about 26:16 the blonde lady said: "We didn't know we lived in poverty until we were grown up. Sargent Shriver and Billy Graham came in and told us we were poverty stricken." And then she laughed. Many of the people were comfortable with their lifestyle.

I shared this with a friend that lived in Appalachia for many years. She believes this to be a put on. She knew of folks that were poor, but not so poor that they didn't have a garden of some sort. Her area had a community garden and a sort of farmers market.

Wow, this reminds me some of the stories that my mom and dad told me about them growing up in the 1920’s and 30’s in Kentucky.

Her accent reminds me of my kin in south Georgia. Thanks for the vids

Nice short video and I agree with you guys tell the good along with the bad nobody is perfect everybody had hard times ….I remember totting lard sandwich to school damn glad to have that they need to stop putting them people down thank you guys god bless you both ❤❤

Corn was grown for what Mommie couldn't can for all year around. We turn it into liquid to barter & trade for goods at your local stores year around. If you didn't rodents would start eating it. We had a hollow behind the house called Still House Hollow. Wonder how it got its name? Most everyone did the very same thing. It called survival.

Several times I went to turn the video off but instead paused and then kept watching until the end. It was difficult. These are our people and I felt it would somehow be a betrayal to turn my eyes away from the prejudice and unfeeling way this story was told. I kept thinking that most likely they never saw this documentary and so never knew they were shown in a negative light and demeaned or belittled.

Really one to digest and think over. These are the folk who stuck together to survive. Ignored then and later by the '60s welfare urban areas received. Appreciate you all sharing, Merry Christmas!

I love watching your videos

This is another documentary I have watched many times. The children took what was left from a home cooked breakfast for lunch. Meals were made from scratch. I saw more positive things than negative. Families and community were strong. When a home burned down neighbors and relatives took people in until they could rebuild.

Damn, I gotta go but she just mentioned Deliverance. In the mid 70's at Washington College on MD's eastern shore my assigned job was to deliver the James Dicky, celebrated drunk author of Deliverance to his scheduled speech on campus in 24 hours, sober. At first things went well, then on the day thereof, we did imbibe a bit, but in relative control. By showtime however, I swear he had another source. At least that's my story and as Moe of the stooges said, that's my story and I'm stuck with it. James slurred through a harrowing speech, and a creepy time was had by all.;-)

My grandfather, born in NW Georgia in 1930 told me he started smoking when he was 4.

We visited my Aunt Bess in McRoberts Kentucky every summer through the 50s and up to mid 1960s. No question poverty and hardship were part of almost everyone's life. Not until the UMWA and their efforts did things begin to change. Without the UMWA nothing would have ever changed. The mine owners were forced to change.

I’m a native to the upper Midwest and moved to KY nearly a year ago. So far other than the mountains and accents I feel right at home.

As far as films that show Appalachia in a positive light: Appalshops entire catalog

Thank you so much....I can identify with the film. I was born in 1935 and raised in Ohio on the edge of Applachua. Times were hard, but not too bad. A lot of love in our family of five....thanks for the film ....thanks

Wow, an to think, school would be cancelled in weather like this! These kid's had to walk to it, very humbling. Let's us think about how good We have it!....

There is a very creepy documentary that was done on Appalachia during the 1960`s and then the film crew went back decades later to revisit the same family and their offspring. I watched it on YT a few years back.

Just love these documentarys when life may have been harder but was much simpler, not like today where kids have everything apart from freedom and that's priceless , I was the last generation before computers and mobile phones growing up thankfully

I thought the 7th and 8th grade students reading did far better than most kids today in other places. My husband and I have a cabin in Highland County Virginia in the Allegheny mountains. I would live here full time in a heartbeat but my husband doesn't want to because the lack of health care. The people here are genuine and hard working people. I love being around them and try to participate in as many community activities I can when we're up here. The people up here are also very talented craftsmen and artists. I would guess that about 80% of the people here in Highland have their own gardens and put up fruits and vegetables for the winter. I also found this video insulting but I'm glad you showed it. Blessings, Helen

I’d love to go back then.

Great post, thank you Shane and Melody! Didn't care for the film. Also, were those palm trees? Little creative license going on there?

My mother was born in 1939. My grandfather was a Coal Miner. They were not poor but grew a garden raised hogs and chickens. Traded a hog for some beef.They ate well. I'm only 48! I work and repair Robots!!!

Watching this really makes you think just how fortunate we are today. I know I have relatives that somewhat lives like this to a point but more modern I guess. My parents lived like this in West Virginia in the 30s and 40s.

You have to rotate the crops from corn and beans (soybeans). I live in ky and that’s what the farmers do. It does balance the nitrogen in the soil.

Insightful...

Wow once again y’all knocked its out of the park! The positive things are the family was together working eating and music! Our country was built on the backs of our region! Even in the movie hunger games district 12 (coal country) was considered hill Jack’s! But when I was younger we lived in Indiana and when they showed movies of regions in our country this was usually the type of video that was shown sadly. It’sa stereotype I don’t know we’ll ever outlive?

I was raised in the Appalachian Mountains around Western Maryland and sad but true this 1940's documentary is a fact. Most of the people living in the deep mountains and hollers were left on their own. The education provided was little to none for generation after generations. The federal government finally realized how neglected this region was and setup a massive amount of money and effort to educate the people. Thousands of people poured in to that part of America for hands on education about soil restoration. Crop rotation and land management. So that is reality. So get off your high horse and deal with it. Because I am proud of my ancestors and where I come from. And not everyone has been fortunate enough to live in the times that we do. Anyway hope this helps give you a little education about our beautiful Appalachian mountains and and their peoples ❤ So many of these families ancestors arrived from Northern and Eastern European countries during the potato famine with nothing but the clothes on backs. And they were some of the first settlers of that region. I can only imagine how hard life was for them 💔. So now you know why you are so strong and determined to make a good life for you and your children. Thank you for your time and effort to make this video available to all 😊. Take care, peace and love to all!!!!!

I agree with everything you said!