Archives dispel Appalachian stereotypes
Jennifer Calhoun
Issue date: 11/1/04 Section: LifeStyle
When Joe Kuhlman moved from Seattle, Wash., to attend school at East Tennessee State University in the foothills of the Appalachians, his friends asked, "Why?"
And they weren't asking out of polite curiosity.
"They were concerned," said Kuhlman, a senior in criminology who plays bass in the university's gospel choir. "They really wanted to know why I would do that to myself."
These questions showed Kuhlman that negative stereotypes painting Appalachians as "overall-wearing-no-indoor-plumbing-making-their-own-corn mash rednecks" are still strong, And while he admitted to harboring some of those stereotypes himself before he moved, he now feels they hurt Appalachians.
"You guys get a bad rap in the West," Kuhlman said. "I think the projected ideal that Appalachians embrace ignorance stops a lot of people from coming here for vacation or for school."
Stereotypes of Appalachians as ignorant, intolerant and violent likely began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when industrialism blazed through the mountains in the form of railroading and coalmining, said Norma Myers, an archivist at the Archives of Appalachia.
The Archives, which serves as the research arm of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services, holds over 450 collections of Southern Appalachian music, photographs, films, and personal and business papers.
"There are little grains of truth in some of these stereotypes, but Appalachia is actually very diverse," Myers said. "The stereotypes have been applied broadly to [all Appalachians], and it's been turned into a caricature."
Officially, Appalachia comprises 406 counties in parts of 12 states and all of West Virginia, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission. It includes "cotton planters in Alabama ... and vintners in the grape-growing counties of New York."
So why is it, then, that Appalachians are more likely to hear the sound of "Dueling Banjos" being hummed in their ears than questions about wine, art or literature?
And they weren't asking out of polite curiosity.
"They were concerned," said Kuhlman, a senior in criminology who plays bass in the university's gospel choir. "They really wanted to know why I would do that to myself."
These questions showed Kuhlman that negative stereotypes painting Appalachians as "overall-wearing-no-indoor-plumbing-making-their-own-corn mash rednecks" are still strong, And while he admitted to harboring some of those stereotypes himself before he moved, he now feels they hurt Appalachians.
"You guys get a bad rap in the West," Kuhlman said. "I think the projected ideal that Appalachians embrace ignorance stops a lot of people from coming here for vacation or for school."
Stereotypes of Appalachians as ignorant, intolerant and violent likely began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when industrialism blazed through the mountains in the form of railroading and coalmining, said Norma Myers, an archivist at the Archives of Appalachia.
The Archives, which serves as the research arm of the Center for Appalachian Studies and Services, holds over 450 collections of Southern Appalachian music, photographs, films, and personal and business papers.
"There are little grains of truth in some of these stereotypes, but Appalachia is actually very diverse," Myers said. "The stereotypes have been applied broadly to [all Appalachians], and it's been turned into a caricature."
Officially, Appalachia comprises 406 counties in parts of 12 states and all of West Virginia, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission. It includes "cotton planters in Alabama ... and vintners in the grape-growing counties of New York."
So why is it, then, that Appalachians are more likely to hear the sound of "Dueling Banjos" being hummed in their ears than questions about wine, art or literature?