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Mountain Life & Work vol. 28 no. 4 Autumn, 1952
Mountain Life & Work vol. 28 no. 4 Autumn, 1952 Council of the Southern Mountains 400dpi TIFF G4 page images University of Kentucky, Electronic Information Access & Management Center Lexington, Kentucky 2003 mlwv28n41052 These pages may freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Mountain Life & Work vol. 28 no. 4 Autumn, 1952 Council of the Southern Mountains Berea College; Council of the Southern Mountains Berea, Kentucky Autumn, 1952 $IMLS This electronic text file was created by Optical Character Recognition (OCR). No corrections have been made to the OCR-ed text and no editing has been done to the content of the original document. Encoding has been done through an automated process using the recommendations for Level 1 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines. Digital page images are linked to the text file. 25° MOUNTAIN LIFE WORK MAGAZINE OF THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS MOUNTAIN LIFE WORK V 0 L. X X Y I I I AUTUMN, 1952 PUB LISHFD AT THE OFFICE OF THE COUNCIL OF SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN WORKERS, LIN'fOLN HA LL, BE REA COLLEGE, BEREA, KY. ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT BEREA , KY. STAFF: RECREATION--Frank H. Smith, College Station, Berea, Ky. EDUCATION--Grazia K. Combs, Viper, Ky. fIEAL711-Dr. Robert Metcalfe, Crossville, Tennessee RELIGION--Dr. Sam Vander Meer, Morris Fork, Ky. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS-- Ed Dupuy, Black Mountain, N. C. Roy N. Waiters, Berea, Ky. Calvin Phipps, Berea, Ky. STAFF ARTIST--Mrs. Burton Rogers, Pine Mountain, Ky. MANAGING EDITOR--Charles Drake, College Station, Berea, Ky. MOUNTAIN LIFE AND WORK is published quarterly by the COUNCIL OF SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN WORKERS, Box 2000, College Station, Berea, Ky. Subscription price: $1.00 per year to non-members of the Council. This subscription price is included in the membership fee of the Council and all members receive the magazine. Subscriptions should be sent to: THE COUNCIL OF SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN WORKERS Box 2000, College Station Berea, Ky. ARTICLES for this magazine should be sent to the above address in care of the Managing Editor. SIGNED OR QUOTED ARTICLES ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE EXPRESSION OF EDITORIAL OPINION. NOR DO ARTICLES APPEARING IN THIS MAGA7INE NECESSARILY CARRY THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE COUNCIL OR ITS OFFICERS. COVER: The cover picture is of Grandfather Mountain in Western North Carolina. Photo courtesy State News Bureau, Department of Conservation and Development, Raleigh, N.C. Create High Style Effects W\ ith //// Cottons Shot With-Metallic ; "POSE TRELLIS" AND "AMERICAN BEAUTY" TOWELS A glint of silver against natural and salmon rose cotton in a towel, silver and gold in evening bags, copper against black cotton in an apron - these make designer-type weaving. Develop your own inspirations in skirts, blouses, hand bags, place mats, scarves, towels, aprons, dresses, upholstery, draperies with the myriad of colors from Lily Mills Cotton, crossed with metallic Yarn. Cottons you should try in your weaving are Lily Pearl Cotton Art. 114, Lily Novelty Yarn Art. 105 (boucle), Lily Three Strand Art. 714. Select your threads and colors wisely by using a Lily Color Selector (samples of colors of all Lily Hand Weaving Yarns and Threads). This ,osts $1 which will apply to your next purchase of $10 or more hand weaving yarns. If you do not already have one, send $1 for your Lily Color Selector today. Send for free current price list. li~r,l o Art. 305 COPPER IN 2-OZ. TUBES I'64, GOLD AND SILVER IN GUIMPE PEARL COTTON Art. 114 NOVELTY YARN Art. 105 A~(n THREE STRAND Art. 714 LILY MILLS CO., Handweaving Dept. B, Shelby, N. C. ' mountain worker 1:iiss Elizabeth Watts WHEN MR. AND MRS. JOHN C. CAMPBELL visited her home in Bristol, R. I., in 1909 and told her about a trip through the Mountains of Kentucky, Elizabeth Watts grew excited about the possibility of "helping out" in a new school started by Katherine Pettit and May Stone in Hindman, Kentucky. Although she was only nineteen at the time, Miss Watts set out bravely for her first job in the Mountains. She began learning mountain ways the minute she stepped off the train at the station nearest Hindman and had to mount horseback for the first time. That first ride lasted the better part of two days. Before she came to Hindman, Miss Watts was determined that she would not teach school, and she came to help in the community program of the school. She was accordingly surprised to find herself in charge of a class of a hundred children within a month of coming to her new home. And she was even more surprised when she realized that she loved her work. Although she came to spend just one year at Hindman, she came back the next year and the next, eventually becoming principal of the grade school. She resigned this position to become assistant to Miss May Stone, director of the Settlement School, in 1924. She continued in that post until 1946 when she was named director after Miss Stone's death. During her years in positions of leadership, the School has constantly sought to broaden its contribution to the immediate area and the whole mountain region. Library, recreational, and health workers have been share with the whole county. A rich heritage of crafts, and folk arts has been preserved through the years. Miss Watt's friendliness and pound thinking have made her loved and respected throughout the area. She is a longtime member of the Council of Southern Mountain Workers and has served often on its executive boards. She is still actively planning for the future of her school. N o T S o o N E N 4 U G H !! ,~,~ THIS IS YOUR EDITOR, Charles Drake, who had no idea that he would greet you folks in this perfect likeness and from this page (he thought that this was to 6e a fullpage advertisement of Berea Customers' Service. We have saved that, with their permission, for a later issue.) So far as is known, this is the first time anyone has slipped anything by Charles since he assumed responsibility for Mountain Life _and _Work and its future way back in March of 1950. He's the man who has produced the magazine we have today. It has come from only three issues totaling around 1,800 copies in 1950 to the regular four issues in 1952 totaling over 9,000 copies. His is a volunteer job, too! Charles, and his wife i1farjorie, believe in Appalachia and its people. They ought to! He is of and from Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, with a little time out in New York and Vermont for study, viewpoint and balance. Greetings to you, Charles, from us all! Craftsmen build for peace M~~- 17ZA L~ ~"' SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN CRAFTSMEN MAY SEEM far removed from the conflict and cold war that is going on in the world today, but the the craft movement in general, and several craftsmen in particular, are helping their foreign neighbors in underdeveloped areas find a better way of life. Few of us here in the Mountains are aware of the tremendous interest the whole craft movement in the Southern Highlands holds for the rest of the world. International interest in the Fair grows every year. A movie made about one of our craftsmen, and the Fair, is being shown widely all over the world. The Penland School of Handicrafts over the past year has trained craft workers from Haiti, Finland, Northern Rhodesia, Korea, Philippines, Japan, China, Bolivia, India, Germany, Scotland and Canada. Some of the craftsmen came through United Nations fellowships. Not only has the school given these students technical help, but it has also given them a chance to see that America is more than New York City, and that the friendliness of the small community extends across national lines. The craft movement has provided expert leadership recently to several areas outside our country. Frank Long, an exhibitor at the Fair and at other craft gatherings, is now working among the native peoples of Alaska, helping them develop their crafts as a means of added income. Amy Woodruff is now in La Paz, Bolivia, working in the Point Four Educational Program among the Indians. (See IdLW, No. 1, ~52 for a report about her work.) She is the former director of Craft Education Program of the Guild. One of the most recent workers to enter the field of foreign aid is Mir. Charles Churchill who went last summer to work in the fields of weaving and ceremics among the native craftsmen of Otavalo, Ecuador. Mr. Churchill has written an account of both the crafts he ECUADOR Straddling the equator on the west coast of South America, Ecuador is rich in relatively undeveloped mineral resources-notably silver, copper, iron, lead, coal and sulphur. Two parallel ranges of the Andes Mountains which traverse the country are studded with spectacular volcanic peaks, a dozen of which rise above 16,000 feet. found in the Ecuadorian Highlands and his own experience of attempting to use the old crafts as the basis of an expanded program of economic development among the natives there. He says: WE ARE DOWN HERE in Quito, Ecuador, for a two year stint, or longer, under the Point Four Program for technical aid to backward countries. This program is administered in Latin America by the Institute of International Affairs,. My particular ,lob is to be in charge of promoting Manual Arts (handicrafts) ana small industries wherever it seems necessary in Ecuador. This sounds like a tall bill of goods, and it is. But you must remember that only Uruguay is smaller than Ecuador and only Paraguay is more backward. At present my work is centered at Otavalo, a little town about 70 miles northeast of Quito, where the Indians have been way ahead in the weaving of woolens over any other section of Ecuador for about 30 years. In this town of about 4,000, we are attempting to make a laboratory-workshop where we study the present Indian methods of producing yarn and cloth, then we try to improve on it with new techniques. We hope it will develop into a combination school for teaching better methods and also for furnishing better equipment and services, (such as dyeing with fast colors, or putting a good finish on the cloth with modern methods) to those who can't afford to put in their own equipment. Ecuador reminds me very much of India where I was born and lived until I was 14 ....The same one-room, dark, smoky houses... The same slow way of making everything used in day to day living by artisans who have real skill in manipulating their simple home-made tools. a For example, the Sierra Indian's main outdoor garment is his poncho, nearly square, made of two pieces of handspun and handwoven wool cloth, with a slit in the middle for his head and neck. It drapes quite gracefully on the bias when worn, with points nearly touching the ground. This entire costume is spun and woven generally, with the weavers using nothing but a small bundle of sticks of various sizes and shapes, but all small enough to be encircled by the thumb and middle finger of one hand. The weaving is done on a back-strap loom with the weaver sitting on the floor. The warp is skillfully fashioned (but, oh! so slowly) around stakes and large nails driven into the mud floor or front walk. Then it is stretched between horizontal poles, one of which is fastened to the wall of the house, and the other is fastened to a strap or belt which goes around the weaver's hips as he is seated. By leaning back slightly he keeps the warp quite tight for weaving. The weaving is done without reed or heddles, by an extremely ingenious system of leases. The better ponchos are even woven of "double" cloth, solid blue on one side and a tan and dark brown plaid on the other. But it takes a week to make one such poncho, starting from scratch with the wool sheared frim the Indian's own sheep, through the processes of carding, spinning, dyeing, weaving, finishing and, finally, brushing the cloth with teasels, a plant with hooked thorns that grows nearby. OUR WEAVERS IN Otavalo recently took part in the big Craft Exhibition here in Quito. It was put on by an organization that is sort of a combination Chamber of Commerce and Metropolitan the M w G w t Museum of Art for these parts. It was the first ever held, but will be an annual affair from now on. It was long hours, like the Guild Fair at Asheville, and lasted twice as long in days, so we were all worn out by the time it was over, but it was well worth the effort. Handicrafts from all over Ecuador were exhibited, and it was the sort of thing we just had to take part in, even though I had just arrived on the scene and had no time to prepare the sort of exhibit I would have liked. Fortunately, since teaching weaving in the public schools is part of our goal at Otavalo, we were able to set up the table looms we have been building for the schools, and the whole Exhibition committee was pleased by the practical nature of the exhibit. Later they insisted we take the main entrance hall so that not only were we able to show off our weavers and our looms but we were able to put up a display of 250 yards of our Casimeres ( we would call them tweeds or woolen coating.) Our display won first prize in the textile division. It was very gratifying and certainly put our Otavalo project on the map with the general public, for according to the manager of the show, Senor Tejada, there were 50,000 paid admissions and some 30,000 school children saw it. We have orders for 15 table model looms and could have sold more, but I want to make certain improvements before letting them out of our jurisdiction. Our loom making will not be confined to table models, but people here weave many narrow items, and they are good as a starter, and in the schools. We expect to make a floor model with pedals soon. In designing looms to take the place of the very primitive Indian backstrap loom, we are on pioneering ground and have to make up our own designs. Our biggest problem here is getting enough handspun wool to conduct a school and experimental laboratory. There are only three woolen spinning mills in the whole country of Ecuador, and they use all the yarn they spin in their own power looms. The only wool yarn available for our Otavalo project, or any other similar project, is the handspun yarn obtained from the Indians. They seem to enjoy a monopoly on it and at least the Otavalo Indians are very independent, and will spin for you when they wish, and won't when they don't. Our Indians spin only about four ounces a day so far, and the looms we have use it up in about two or three hours. ##### ( bfr. Churchill was connected with Churchill Weavers before going to South America. His: address is: Charles Churchill, LI.A.A., The American Embassy, QUITO, Ecuador, S. .4. the New Guild Members Two new craftsmen have been added to the list of Honorary Life Members of the Southern Highland Handicraft Guilds John Hall and R. Ben Hall, Warne, N. C. Life membership is awarded only to those who have devoted many years of their lives to their craft and to the craft movement. Both of the men honored are carvers at the John C. Campbell Folk School. In addition to these two new Life Members, sixteen other craftsmen were accepted as members of the Guild at its annual fall meeting. Those accepted Miss Violet Anderson-POTTERY Cherokee, N. C. Miss Dorothy Arnold-JEWELRY 1510 West Clinch Knoxville, Tenn. Mr. Dean B. Bingham-CABINET & 709 E. Main CHAIR MAKING Boone, N. C. Miss Bertha Dunham-WEAVING Box 77Y, Route 2 Hendersonville, N. C. Mr. Lynn Gault-POTTERY Brasstown, N. C. Miss Virginia King-JEWELRY 11 Cedarcliff Rd. Biltmore, N. C. Miss Muriel B. Lievsay-METAL741 Young High Pike CRAFT Knoxville, Tenn. Miss Anna Louise Smith-JEWELRY Pi Beta Phi School Gatlinburg, Tenn. include: Mrs. Ruth Szittya-WEAVING Cherokee, N. C. Miss Aaltje VanDenburg-JEWELRY 1620 West Clinch Knoxville, Tenn. Mr. David Weinrib-POTTERY Black Mountain College Black Mountain, N. C. Mrs. David Weinrib-POTTERY _ Black Mountain College Black Mountain, N. C. Mrs. Grace Neal-WOOD PRETTIES Celo, N. C. Mrs. Evelyn Lee-SHUCK DOLLS Route 1 Murphy, N. Mr. Don Potts-JEWELRY Box 8303 Knoxville, Tenn. Mr. William North-WOOD CARVING Bonnie Farm, Old Haw Creek Rd., Asheville, N. C. TH WO FR NO Conference Meets Feb. 19-21 THE FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE COUNCIL OF SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN WORKERS MEETS IN GATLINBURG, TENNESSEE, FROM THURSDAY NOON UNTIL SATURDAY NOON, FEBRUARY 19-21. Meetings will be held at the beautiful Mountain View Hotel in Gatlinburg. Special rates will be available both to individuals and family groups attending the conference. Dr. James D. Wyker, Bible College of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, will be the keynote speaker. He will speak on " The Community Approach to Social Problems." WATCH FOR FUTURE ANNOUNCEMENTS Good Neighbors! by Sally Edwards, Int'1. Pres., Sigma Phi Gamma Sorority ((((( For many years the work of the Council of Southern Mountain Porkers, and of many local agencies in the Southern Mountains, has been encouraged and aided by a group of friendly neighbors outside the region, the Sigma Phi Gamma Sorority. Composed mainly of women in the business and professional world, this sorority has not only aided the Council in its health and recreational work, but individual chapters have contributed great quantities of material to institutions working in the Mountains. Because the group has been so modest about publicizing itself, we thought you might like to know more about it. We asked Sally Ed wards to write about the sorority, and we are glad to share her answer with you: I am delighted that you asked me to write an article about Sigma Phi Gamma. In recent years we have become vitally interested in some of the peoples of your area, so it is only natural that you should want to know something about us. Sigma Phi Gamma International Sorority was founded at Hartford City, Indiana, on August 29, 1920. Five of the original Founders are still active in the Sorority today. The Purposes of the Sorority are threefold: 1. To promote true friendship between women and girls in towns and cities of the world. 2. To work for higher social standards among young people. 3. To assist in social service work whenever possible 13 To promote true friendship, we have 166 Chapters, organized in 21 states and Canada. The Chapters are organized into Provinces, and a two day Province meeting is held near the ' beginning of each year. An International Convention is held each year, usually in June, with from 300 to 500 members in attendance. Welfare work is an integral part of our Sorority. Each Chapter has individual projects within its own community. Many of the Provinces have projects, and the International Sponsorship is in the Southern Mountain Area, where we work closely with the Council of Southern Mountain Workers. Last year our total welfare contributions were $28,567.70, with $6,327.61 going into the Mountain work. The money is used in clinics and health education, as well as in recreation. We are indeed grateful for the opportunity of working with these fine Mountain folk, and are proud of our past performance. For many years our International President and International Welfare Secretary have attended the Council Conference in Gatlinburg, and we have been privileged to have a speaker from your area at our Annual Conventions. These meetings have given us a chance to meet many of you in person, and we have enjoyed this fellowship very much. ##### THE FAMOUS Larry Eisenberg FUN BOOKS The Family Pleasure Chesl~ The Pleasure Chest Skit Hits SPaper $1.00 207 pages of all kinds Cloth $1.25 °f fun at home-fun for the whole family. f Paper $ .75 154 pages of games. tCloth $1.25 parties, mixers. A real "treasure of pleasure." $ .75 New collection of Skits and Stunts for all occassions. The End of Your Stunt Hunts - $ .50 zz Stunt hunts in 4s pages. Promenade All (1952 Edition)-$1.00 Full piano accompaniments and more folk games than ever before. order from Council of Southern PAountain Workers Box 2000, College Station, Berea, Ky. THE JOHN C. CAMPBELL Folk School of Brasstown, N. C., has just issued a book dealing with the philosophy of the School, and the story of its founding. Written by Dr. Frederick L. Brownlee and illustrated by Betty Denash's photographs, the book tells the story of how John C. Campbell, after working many years in the Southern Highlands, dreamed of a new kind of school where mountain boys and girls might receive an education especially suited to their needs. After Campbell's untimely death, Mrs. Campbell and Miss Marguerite Butler carried his dream into reality by starting the Folk School, patterned after the folk schools they had studied in Denmark. After much study, they decided to start the school in Cherokee county, N. C., in 1925. Georg Bidstrup came from Denmark to provide leadership and direction in developing the school farm as a teaching center. Handicrafts, recreation and other activities have been developed as the school grew. Following is a story of the activities at the School as told by Dr. Brownlee. Writing about the early days of the School when the work was just beginning, he says: 15 THE FARM Farming in the Brasstown area had reached a low ebb. There was no distributing center for farm produce, hence the farmers were not disposed to improve their knowledge of farming together with their land and stock. Care had been taken to make sure that the small farm with which the school started could be built up and made productive. The agricultural and extension workers in this section recommended at the beginning that the farmers change from corn and small grain farming to hay and pasture crops, dairying, livestock and poultry farming. The Folk School pioneered in following these recommendations. As funds became available, modern poultry houses and Grade A dairy barns were built. New grasses and clovers and new varieties of grains were introduced. The farm now has 200 acres of farm land and 165 acres of timber land. There is a herd of 60 registered jerseys, 40 hogs, and a flock of 2000 New Hampshire Red hens. This year the school received a certificate of recognition from the North Carolina Forestry Association for its development of woodlands and reforestation. In all these projects there has been close cooperation between the School, The Tennessee Valley Authority and the county and state extension workers. When the School started, the dairy industry was for a sour cream market. The State Extension Department was promoting jerseys as most desirable for that section. Now, the chief market is for Grade A fluid milk. Selling Jersey milk on a fluid market is not economical. Holsteins are therefore being added to the herd. The school is interested also in tree crops, such as honey locusts, nut bearing trees, persimmons and mulberries as a supplementary food for hogs. A good start has been made but progress is slow due to the lack of hog fences. This woodland, which is chiefly hillside land, is poorly adapted to -crop farming. There is much hillside land, in the Brasstown area, which the school hopes to prove to the farmers is good for tree crops and grasses. Poultry farming in this section has become a major industry. Eggs produced here have a higher percent of hatchability than those produced in other southern regions. Another important factor is proximity to Gainesville, Georgia, one of the great broiler centers of the United States. YOUNG FARMERS Young men who love cattle and like farming come to the winter school ( to be described later). Some tarry for one, two or three years at work on the school farm. They meet and later marry girls of similar tastes who come to learn home-making. But they have practically nothing with which to get started on a home and farm of their own. Five thousand dollars was secured from the Sears Roebuck Company, to which two trustees added $4,000. This became a revolving loan fund which, in fourteen years, has turned over to the amount of $35,000. Twelve student families now own or are buying their own homes and farms. Six have paid in full; the other six have not missed a payment. Loans for the purchase of land pay 2 % ; for buildings and equipment, 3 % . The original $9,000 is intact; $1500 has been collected as interest. In most cases the young people have done much of the work themselves. WINTER SCHOOL From December through March what is called the Winter School is in session. Students learn about American history and culture, farming, living creatively, mountain songs and ballads and folk dancing. They learn to carve ducks, geese, cows, pigs, chickens, horses, dogs and other creatures out of native woods. They learn to dye wool and weave beautiful rugs and runners. They learn to farm, cook, and keep house, and to use modern appliances. They learn, through critical discussions, the meaning of the American way of life, and come to possess a personally satsifying philosophy, of living. Young Farmer's Home a~ it 1/ SLIMMER SCHOOLS In June two short courses are given annually for various leaders who come from a dozen or more states to learn about recreation, folk singing, folk dancing, carving, puppet making and weaving. They discuss the philosophy of the School, farming, American education, social and economic problems; how life may he enriched and made more delightful and satisfying. 1-hey are teachers, recreation leaders, college professors, students, and business men. FOLKWAYS AND CRAFTS Emphasis is placed on the heritage of the people and continued development of the sturdy character and fine natural ability of the pioneers. Hence, folk dancing and folk singing are common and much is made of mountain handi,:rafts. Work, play and song are interspersed with discussions on the historical background of the people and this rightful and necessary place in the wider needs of their country, state, nation and the world. This, plus living together as a family where everyone contributes to the welfare of all, makes learning natural and easy. Craft, farm and home life activities also serve as laboratories where farming and home-making are learned through dayby-day participation. These practices are integrated with class room discussions. Other related subjects, together with certain cultural themes, are discussed. In handicrafts there are wood carving, weaving, furniture making and blacksmithing which provide objects of beauty and utility for farms and homes as well as cash income for farmers. For the crafts there was built a well equipped woodworking department which specializes in hand-and-machine-made furniture. As accessories thereto are a sawmill, lumber yard and a dry-kiln. There is also a blacksmith shop, which in addition to serving the neighborhood farmers in many ways, also produces attractive wrought-iron craft products. COMMUNITY NIGHTS On Friday nights the people of the community come for moving pictures, now and then a lecture, and always folk singing and folk dancing. They vary in number from sixty to seventy-five, to almost two hundred. Their ages range from three year olds to great grandparents. The spiritual effect is as vital as the evenings are delightful. Back home, work and chores seem lighter. Men who have worked from sun up to sun down, who come into the kitchen and say to their wives, "I'm just too tired to go out tonight," nevertheless go and are refreshed. Georg Bidttrup PRESENT DIRECTOR No two folk schools are alike. They reflect the personalities of their leaders. On New Year's Day, 195 2, Georg Bidstrup became director of the John C. Campbell Folk School. There was much rejoicing by the staff and neighbors. Mr. Bidstrup came to Brasstown from Denmark to develop the farm. He has grown up with the school, weaving his way naturally and inspiringly into its entire life. He is an American citizen who seeks to find American ways whereby the School may do for the people of the southern mountains what the Danish schools have done aid are doing for the people of his homeland. Recently, an American educator reviewed his sixty-odd years of teaching with this searching question in mind: "What is most worthwhile?" His answer was, "The overwhelmingly important thing is the performance of the distinctive functions of personality." Such performance is the high purpose of the John C. Campbell Folk School, shared by staff, students, and trustees. Country Dance Society By FRANK Cecil J. Sharp, a famous collector of folk songs and dances, visited the Mountains about thirty-five years ago in quest of ballads. He found what he was looking for, and found it in abundant beauty. Besides that, on the porch of Laurel House at Pine Mountain Settlement School, he saw a dance while "the moon streamed fitfully in lighting up the mountain peaks." This was a dramatic atmosphere in which to see the native square dancing of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The neighbors, it seems, had said, " We will run a set." Mr. Sharp collected the dance figures and published them under the title, The Kentucky Running Set. Mr. Sharp's visits to the United States among other things led to the formation of an American Branch of the English Folk Dance and Song Society. The square dancing that he had seen at Pine Mountain, Hyden, and elsewhere in Kentucky, became a part of the repertoire of the Society. It was, and still is, danced enthusiastically not only in America but in England as well. The American Branch of the English Society certainly has had a very interesting evolution. It is now The Country Dance Society of America, Inc., with headquarters in New York. The change is not merely one of having acquired a new name; on the contrary, a constant transformation has been going on for many years in the range of material used and in dance technique. Extensive and effective use is being made of American dances; square dance callers 20 like Ray Smith of Texas and Ralph Page of New England have cooperated with the Society to bring this about on authentic lines. The Society has been successful, too, in using its long artistic experience for the improvement of American square dancing and square dance music. Readers of Mountain Life and Work could scarcely lack knowledge of the folk dance movement in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Feature articles on the Mountain Folk Festival and stories about Regional Festivals have commonly been seen in its pages. The Berea Christmas Dance School and the Brasstown Short Course are known widely, not only in the mountains but in many parts of the United States. The Craftsman's Fair, combining native crafts and folk arts, is reaching a new and growing public, including summer visitors to the Great Smokies. What relationship, if any, exists at the present time between the Country Dance Society and the Southern movement? Actually there is a direct and vital connection. In the first place, I believe it would be correct to say that there is wide acceptance in the South of good artistic standards of folk dancing. This is not the case in all parts of the United States. Dancing in any form is inescapably a musical and artistic activity. The question of standards is absolutely basic. It may be asked, "How has it been possible to achieve good standards in the South?" We owe this, in my opinion, primarily to the Country Dance Society of,America. The Country Dance Society has unique leadership training facilities at Pinewoods Camp each August. Many of our leaders have gone there. And besides that, May Gadd, National Director of the Society, has taught for years at the Christmas School held at Berea College. Miss Gadd and her associates who teach at Pinewoods Camp have devoted many years of professional experience to the art of folk dance teaching. We have also limited the yjfR traditions danced to three: American, English, and Danish. This has paid high dividends. We do not imply a superiority in these as compared to other traditions. But in folk arts it seems to be a necessary condition of growth in a technique leading to the joy of mastery over the material, for the objectives to be limited. Traditional dancers have always been characterized by specialization. English sword dancers, such as the Royal Earsdon Dancers, dance only one tradition. In the Danish material Georg Bidstrup is our guide and teacher. He has a deep love of the Danish dances and has had a lifelong devotion to the Danish tradition, beginning in the days of childhood on his native island of Bornholm. The present article is not offered as a comprehensive study of folk dancing in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Its purpose is rather to touch on the question of background, and in particular to draw attention to the debt we owe to the Country Dance Society of America. MOUNTAIN FOLK FESTIVAL The eighteenth Mountain Folk Festival will be held at Berea College April 16-18, 1953. The Festival is held to encourage the preservation and use of folk material: dances, songs, games, music, tales; and to unite groups in non-competitive recreation. Groups are asked to register early. Full information may be obtained from Frank H. Smith, Chairman, Box 1826, Berea College, Berea, Kentucky. THE THIRD KENTUCKY FOLK FESTIVAL, sponsored by the University of Kentucky and the Lexington Folk Dance Center, will be held in Lexington, April 10-11. Everyone who is interested in the folk arts is invited to attend. R $1.00 registration fee is charged. R 100 page book of Festival Dances has been published giving full details about the material to be used. This book may be ordered for $1.00. Address all orders for the book and requests for information to Miss Jean Marie McConnell, The Kentucky Folk Festival, Dept. of University Extension, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky. 22 School & Home Play Equipment By JOHN F. SMI TH The material used in constructing outdoor play equipment should, if possible, consist of black locust or cedar for posts, and oak, ash, hickory or sassafras for crosspieces. The thing to do, however, is to use any kind of durable wood at hand. Nearly all the pieces described may easily be made from fresh material cut from the woodlot. It should be cut between November and March while the bark is tight and should season for three or four months before it is erected. The apparatus may be placed on the lawn at home, on the school playground, or on some spot set aside for play purposes. The holes in which posts are set should be from 30 inches to 3 feet deep, and all posts should be thoroughly tamped after they have been set. This will prevent them from becoming loose from constant usage. All joints, knots and braces should be carefully made and fitted to insure stability and safety. Each piece should be thoroughly tested before children are allowed to use it. The following instructions will enable any man or boy who can use ordinary farm tools to make the pieces or direct others while the work is under way. 1. See-Saw Set two posts 30 inches apart 30 inches above the ground. Do not tamp until the other work is $ completed. Bore a 2 inch hole through the top of each post. On each end of a piece of hickory 32 inches long and 5 inches in diameter, cut a 6 inch shaft small enough to turn easily in the 2 inch hole. Fasten this with bolts or pegs to a substantial piece of timber 2Jz by 10 inches by 12 or 14 feet long. Set shaft in.position and tamp the posts. 2. Swing Set two posts securely 14 feet above the ground and 5 feet apart. In a substantial crossbar 6 feet long put rings or hooks 30 inches apart and fasten on the top of posts as shown. Attach the ropes securely to insure safety. They may be of any desired length. 3. Merry-Go-Round Set a post three feet above the ground. Bore a 2 inch hole in the top 10 inches deep. Make a 23 hickory peg 16 inches long and drive it firmly in the hole. In the middle of a piece of timber 2Y2 by 10 inches, by 12 or 14 feet long, bore a 2 inch hole. Put three 1 inch pegs protruding 3 inches in each end and 15 inches apart. Set the rider in position on the post. 4. Giant Stride On a substantial pole 21 feet long fasten a discarded thimble from a wagon axle. Set on this a discarded wheel with tire and attach four % inch ropes 18 feet long to the rim of the wheel at points equally distant. Set the post firmly in position. Trim 16 handles 10 inches long, bore a % inch hole in the middle of each. Draw each rope through four of these and tie knots in the ropes to hold handles about 15 inches apart. ((Mr. John F. Smith was a teacher at Berea College 1911-31. He was a man of wide interests and a pioneer in the field of rural recreation. The excerpts above are from "Home Made Play Apparatus for the Rural Playground " (now out of print) and are reproduced with the permission of Mrs. Smith.)) 24 LEONARD RCBEFtTS SHARES WITH US... 10A takj /0" te1111irt~ THE FOLLOWING STORY has what is called the carte fable form; that is, a " singing story, " a story told partly in prose and partly in verse. The problem of its origin is imbedded in the obscure origin of Western fairytale and ballad. It is thought that all stories were once sung or chanted. Then came explanatory interruptions in the form of prose paragraphs. In oral transmission the two parts got separated, to give us, on the one hand, rhymes, riddles, ballads; on the other, short magic stories and anecdotes. Some students of the old English ballad feel that the sudden transitions in the narrative are due to the loss of the prose explanations. The carte fable form may be traced from medieval romances, from the Arabian Nights, down through German and British folklore. Even the present day guitarist sometimes likes to talk off a few lines, or the verses of a song, and sing the chorus. Parallels of the tale below are found in NORSE, No. 17; MORE INGLISH, No. 21; GRANDFATHER TALES, No. 2. This version was told by Grandma McDaniel, aged 78, at her home on Big Leatherwood Creek, Perry County, Kentucky. bag o' gold THERE WAS AN OLD LADY had two daughters and she laid down to take her a nap of sleep. She hung her bag of gold up in the chimley and told her daughters not to look up the chimley: If they did her 25 bag of gold would fall down. As soon as she laid down and went to sleep one of them looked up the chimley and it fell down. She grabbed it and run out to the fence and said, Pray, fence, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born. It said, "I won't if you'll lay me up." She said, " I hain't got time." She went on to a peartree and said, Pray, peartree, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born. It said, "I won't if you'll climb me and shake the rotten pears off of me." She said, " I hain' t got time." She went on to a horse and said, Pray, horse, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born. The horse said, "I won't if you'll put me up and feed me." She said, " I hain' t got time." She went on to a cow and said, Pray, cow, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born . The cow said, " I won't if you'll milk me." She sr:id, " I hain' t got time." She went on to the mill and said, Pray, mill, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And zll the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born. It said, " I won't i f you'll put me to grinding." She said, " I hain' t got time." BACK AT THE HOUSE, the old woman waked up and missed her gold and set out to find it. She come to the fence and said, Pray, fence, have you seen ary gal here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag 26 And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born ? A rail in the fence pointed down the road. She went on till she come to a peartree and said, Pray, peartree, have you seen ary gal here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born? The peartree leaned down the creek. She went on till come to a horse and said. Pray, horse, have you seen ary gal here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born? The horse whinnied down the road. She went on till she came to a cow and said, Pray, cow, have you seen ary gal here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born? The cow mooed down the creek. She went on till she come to a mill and said, Pray, mill, have you seen ary girl here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born? The mill opened its door and there was the gal. The old woman took her gold back and beat that gal to death. SHE TOOK IT BACK to the house and put it up the chimley again and told the other gal not to look up the chimley. If she did her bag of gold would fall down. And she laid down and went to sleep, and the gal went and looked up the chimley and the bag of gold fell down. And she grabbed it and run out to the fence, and said, Pray, fence, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born. It said, "I won't if you' 11 lay me up. " And she laid it up. She went on to that peartree and said, Pray, peartree, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag she And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born? It said, " I won't if you'll climb me and shake the rotten pears off of me." She clumb it and shook the rotten pears off of it. She went on to the horse and said, Pray, horse, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born. It said, " I won't if you'll put me up and feed me." She put him up and fed him. Then she went on to the cow and said, Pray, cow, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born. She said, " I won't i f you'll milk me." She milked hex, and went on then to the mill and said, Pray, mill, don't tell her I've been here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born. It said, "I won't if you'll put me to grinding." She put the mill to grinding. THE OLD ROMAN GOT UP and missed her bag of gold. She went out to the fence and said, Pray, fence, have you seen ary gal here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born? The fence fell on her and broke her leg. 27 28 She went hopping along to the peartree. She said, Pray, peartree, have you seen ary gal here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag find all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born!, It fell on her and broke her back. She limped on then to the horse and said, Pray, horse, have you seen ary gal here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born? The horse kicked her brains out. She made it on to the cow. Said, Pray, cow, have you seen ary gal here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born? The old cow hooked her guts out. She managed to get to the mill and said, Pray, mill, have you seen ary gal here With a wig wig wag and a great big bag And all the gold and silver in it That's been made since I've been born? The mill, hit ground her all to pieces. CRAFTSMEN... Do You Know? WHERE TO GET WHAT "The National Directory of Crafts Suppliers." LEONARD ROBERTS PINE MOUNTAIN. KENTUCKY List;ng more than 300 addresses of firms which sell equipment and materials for the artist, craftsman, school shop, hospitals, institutions and others engaged in art or craft work. Classified and alphabetical, easy to use., No craftsman should he without it. Send 25c for your copy Penland School of Handicrafts Penland, North Carolina loft 29 //~// LI? :J:1 /ON JCnGZCI'L o ~r Whistle Bob Leistershire Carol My boots are very dirty My hands are very clean. I have a little pocket To put a penny in. Recite: I have a little whistle bob, Made out of holly tree. The finest little whistle bob That ever you did see. Chorus: For it is a Christmas time lend we travel far and near. I wish you good health And a happy New Year. Christmas is coming The goose is getting fat. Please put a penny in the old man's hat. If you haven't got a penny, a ha . penny will do, If you haven't got a ha'penny, God Bless you. (This carol was brought back from England last summer by Mrs. Raymond McClain.) 30 Regional Festivals Grow ONE OF THE MAST significant developments within the recreational movement in the Southern Highlands has been the rapid growth of Regional Folk Festivals. These Festivals, usually of one day's duration, came into being during the Second World War when travel was restricted. They proved to be so valuable that they have grown steadily during the past few years. Regional Festivals draw dancers and singers usually from short distances around the school or insitutions sponsoring them. Ease of travel, however, means that many boys and girls who could not attend the larger Festivals can enjoy the wholesome fellowship of a larger group. These Regional Festivals are now being herd in many parts of the Mountains. Reports from a few are included here: The Annual Southeastern Kentucky HAZARD Mountain Regional Folk Festival 4 was held in Hazard's new Memorial Gymnasium September 20, with Miss Roberta Stidham as festival chairman. The Lothair Folk Dancing Club, the host club, is composed of elementary students. This club was organized several years ago under the direction of Miss Stidham after she attended the Berea Christmas School of Folk Dance. Since that time it has grown until now it includes from 40 to 50 active members. About two hundred festival participants heard the welcoming address given by Mr. Roy G. Eversole, Superintendent of Hazard City Schools. The first dancing session opened at nine o'clock. Throughout each session the dances were'very beautifully done, an indication that the various groups had practiced faithfully on the festival dance list. Mr. Frank Smith of Berea College entertained the group with Giants in the New Ground, a story from the well-known Jack Tales collected by Richard Chase., Miss Edna Ritchie, a member of the singing Ritchie family of` Viper, Kentucky, led the singing session in several ballads, including the Lolly-too-dum she interprets so well. Regional groups attending were the following: Stuart Robinson--Mr. William L. Cooper and Mr. Pat Napier, leaders; 31 Hindman--Miss Ruth White, pianist for the festival; Homeplace-Miss Edna Ritchie, leader; Pine Mountain--Miss Ruby Yocum and Miss Dorothy Nace, leaders; Whitesburg--Miss Ann Dugan, leader; Lothair--Miss Roberta Stidham, Mrs. Cynthia E. Bowling and Mrs. J. B. Nichols, leaders. A group from the Lexington Folk Art Center included Mr. Jim Brown, Mr. Pheane Ross and Mrs. Ann Wright. A business tea was held at the home of Mrs. J. B. Nichols. Officers elected for the coming year were Miss Ritchie, president, and Mrs. Nichols, secretary. Hyden was selected as the site for next year's festival. An audience of about three-hundred-fifty enjoyed the closing session, which was highlighted with exhibition dances. Mr. Frank Smith and Mr. Pat Napier each did a Morris jig in native costume, while groups from Hindman and Stuart Robinson did sword and Morris dancing. For the closing dance each festival member went into the audience for a partner, and as Miss Ruth White played the last measures of Circassian Circle the dancers, ranging in age from three to seventy-three were beaming with joyl Thus the'1952 annual Southeastern Kentucky Mountain Regional Festival closed. The Southern Regional Festival TRION was held this year at the Trion School and Community Center at Trion, Georgia, on October 25th. With about 75 people in attendance, the program of folk dances, singing, puppets, slides and folk tales was varied and interesting for everyone. Mr. and Mrs. Georg Bidstrup directed the program of activities, with the help of other leaders in the area. The evening program was enlivened by the spirited piano and fiddle music of Marguerite and Otto Wood. One of the highlights was the performance of a boys' sword team from Brasstown, including a hobby horse. Judy Richardson, as usual, kept us in stitches with her Tall Tales. The group especially appreciated the fine work of Lois Peacock and her committee in charge of arrar._gements and accommodations. L NDON The fourth annual Adult Festival was held at Sue Bennett College Nov. "14-15, with about fifty people in attendance from Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina. 32 The program consisted of folk dancing, group singing, and discussion. There were also entertainment features, such a s a movie taken by May Gadd, showing Morris dancers in various parts of England. Mrs. Raymond McLain played some charming and interesting folk song records; Appalachian songs were sung by Edna Ritchie, Jane Nauss and Rosemary McLain, and Frank Smith told a tale. A general discussion period took up the pros and cons of the folk arts program sponsored by the Council of Southern Mountain Workers. The group voted to meet next year at Fontana Dam if details can be worked out satisfactorily. Conference Recreation THE RECREATION COh11NITTEE of the Council has been asked to arrange a recreation hour for each of the two nights of the Annual Conference in Gatlinburg. There will be a varied program with such things as stories, dramatizations, quiet games, group singing, and folk dancing. A11 members of the Conference will find this occasion one of relaxation and entertainment. In the past many groups and individuals have made delightful contributions to the program. Let's do it again. Write to Georg Bidstrup, John C. Campbell Folk School, Brasstown, N. C. and tell him what your contribution will be.##### HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR COPY OF The Youth Problem In America Today IT SHOWS CLEARLY THAT I. Juvenile Delinquency is a very small problem in America. 2. American youth have much larger and more important problems. $LOO It ordered with YOUTH LEADERS DIGEST ($3.00) and PROGRAM Each PEPS ($2.00) From YOUTH SERVICE, INC. PUTNAM VALLEY, N. Y. TEACHERS RECOMMEND IT! THE COPYRIGHT 1948 BY HENRY TURKEL 11 tl THINK it's Differmt! A BRAND NEW GAME FOR KIDS AND GROWN-UPS! PLAY IT JUST LIKE "RUMMY" WITH 52 COLORFUL CARDS. PLAY IT WITH TWO, THREE OR FOUR PLAYERS. MAKE WORDS from the scrambled letters in your ha id - and those words are the spreads you lay on the table. Lay down "ALL" your cards in words and you win! Bonus points, too! Have fun! Thinking, spelling and learning a bigger vocabulary at the same time! There are lots of combinations to tickle your fancy . . . . Youngsters love it . . . . Grownups are fascinated by it! ••..•..,, Individuals may order these educational cards from the `•R~Z5 •: Council of Southern Mountain Workers, Box 2000, College ~i : Station, Berea, Ky. Wholesale prices are available to \.PER.SET/ : groups and institutions wishing to sell them locally. "THINKING CARDS" ARE THE FIRST AND NEWEST "REAL AID" TO OUR YOUNGSTERS' EDUCATION! 34 This fascinating account of life in the Southern Highlands at the turn of the Century was "narrated " to Mrs. Mary Bierly, upper grades teacher at Jack's Creek School in eastern Ky., by a residen'l of that community who is now in his late sixties. of d-ti mey ha ppen i n's a As Told to MRS. MARY BIERLY " YES, I'LL TELL YOU ALL I KIN, though I reckon there's plenty others could tell you more'n me and mayhap do hit more interestin'. I'm j ist an old feller ' thout much schoolin', but I'll do the best I know. I was borned in Bell County an lived betwixt there an Harlan County til I was 21 years old. Then I come here and I been a continuous citizen of Leslie County ever since. I've allus been teached my father's people come from North Caroling an my mother's from Ioway. We lived in a log cabin which didn't have no floor. I never had no shoes to wear til I grooved big enough to plough em out. My mother weaved me a pair of jeans pants, the first ones I ever had. Before that I weared a long shirt like the other littleuns in them days. Some might think as how them's pretty pore ways, but when a body does the best he kin, he needn't be ashamed nohow. Times was hard an grooved man could work hard all day and get only a quarter. I remember one night Mammy was ma,kin' a bed kiver out of some cotton which she grooved, picked an carded, an had made into a bat. I was in my shirt tail an was holdin' the candle for her to see. I got so sleepy, I got to noddin' an let the candle fall right in the middle of that bat of cotton. I didn't lose no time gettin' out, hollerin' as I run, " Come on, Mammy, git out of that house. You'll git burnt up. Oh, Lord, Mammyy, come on." But Mammy was slappin' at the far an finally put hit out. Then pay day come fer me, an with a strop! Mammy set me on far. I didn' t~ have nothin' but my shirt tail to pertect me neither. Then I had to stand an hold the candle till she got the burnt place patched up. I never forgot hit no more. Tk clod then in wt WE Schoc mono letti Sc scho we bi most come. like Tk them sist~ I' 11 stif: I ova; was i There was eleven children in our family an Mammy, weaved all our clothes out of wool, an cotton an flax. She spinned the thread and then weaved the cloth. Sometimes she took indigo roots an biled 'em in what was knowed as a blue pot. She dyed some of the cloth in this. We didn't have no roads hardly---fist foot paths and trails. School was jist fer three months, but later hit lasted fer five months. I never got no schoolin' much an I never could git one letter of the alphabet---that was Z. Sometimes a preacher would come by an hold a meetin' in the schoolhouse, but we didn't have no regular church. When folks died, we buried them an had the funeral later when hit was convenient for most, an a preacher could come. Sometimes several preachers would come. Our memorial meetin's, which is our custom hereabouts, is very like an started in them times no doubt. There was log rollin's and bean stringin's an such like. When there was a marry in' they had a shivaree soon after. My brother an sister was both married at one time an they had a shivaree fer them. I'll never fergit, my brother had new pants which was so long and stiff they made a scr-sh, scr-sh sound as he hopped around the floor. I was so busy lookin' at them pants I didn't see no thin' else that was go in' on. 36 My grandfather was knowed as " Fiddlin' Jim." He used to play fer gatherin's of all kinds. Ole Man Gilbert Garrard who lived back yonder in Clay County would git him to come an stay fer as much as three weeks, playin' fer log rollin's, an clearin's an such. He shore could play the fiddle. I got my likin' fer music from him. You ask me how old I am? Let me tell you like I told Crook Neck Jim Lewis one time. I was campaignin' the county fer my brother. He was tannin' fer jailer an had been a preacher an still is. Crook Neck Jim had a store an quite a sizeable crowd was there one day as I stopped to git some dinner. They was doin' a lot of talkin' an someone said Nathan Napier was the ugliest man in the county. I says, "I'll never git old nor ugly nary one." They couldn't see no way into that an wanted me to tell how that could be, but I says, "I'll leave the riddle an hit will onravel hitself in your minds." An I rode on. Three weeks later I was back that way. Here come Crook Neck Jim a-tannin' an says, " I can't git that riddle settled in my mind no way. I'll give you your dinner if you will onravel hit fer me." So I said, "Hit is given fer the practice of human bein's fer to git old, an sometimes they git ugly. Now I says I'll never git old nor ugly an that's right fer I am already old, an I was borneok ugly." Then they see an knowed I was right in my speakin'. Yes, I'm old an hain't much learnin', but the Lord teaches that a man, tho' a fool, need not err in his ways an that is a comfortin' thing. ))))) PENLAND ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR 1953 The Penland School of Handicrafts will offer at least 60 craft courses during the coming year. Main courses will be in weaving, art metal work and pottery. Courses are open to all ages and degrees of skills among adolescents and adults. Last year student ages ranged from 14 to 94. Regular spring courses will begin May 11, and new courses will start June 1, June 22, July 13 and August 3. Each session will last three weeks. Mrs. Chester Marsh will offer a course in book binding August 31 thru September 19. Joe Clark, a free-lance photographer from Detroit, will teach a course in photography October 7 to 17. For information regarding any of the above courses, or any special courses desired by craftsmen, write Miss Lucy Morgan, Penland School of Handicrafts, Penland, N. C. ##### fer IN THE NEWS... .s A Resume of Current Articles and Books Dealing With Our Area and Its People THE SATURDAY EVENING POST of Nov. 8 told about Ted Richmond ( !off.W, Summer 'S2)and his work in the Ozarks. Written by Hartzell Spence, and called Modern Shepherd of the Hills, the story is not only beautifully written but well illustrated with colored photographs as well. Telling the story of how Ted has brought books and help into a wide area of the Ozarks, the article is without sensationalism or sentimentality. It is a delightful account that might well be read in classroom or church youth groups to excellent advantage. We only wish that all stories of work in the Southern Highlands could be so expertly told. This story is must reading for anyone interested in our area. 37 the ~Imerican Jlfercury published a story by Alexander Marshack in its August issue, entitled, In The t Land of Dan'1 Boone, dealing with the Kentucky mountains. in' This is the kind of article which cannot be called untrue, yet the slant is obviously due to inadequate time spent in the area. Basing his story around the Cumberland river, "with head waters in the lean, difficult jutting hills of the Southern Appalachians, where there are no roads and no electricity," (italics ours) he paints a picture of waste and hopelessness. The main peg upon which the story is hung is "Old Jim Ford", a broken-down ex-miner and farmer who apparently represents to the author the majority of people in the Mountains. Only at the very end of the article are we let in on the secret that Old Jim lives on the farm of John Hendricks, a modern farmer with machinery and a desire to send all of his seven children to college. Mr. Marshack, who is primarily a photographer and a good one, unfortunately'lets creep into his article all sorts of minor errors of fact that cause questions regarding the validity of the whole story. He says, "There are six and a half million people in the nobs of eight Southern States." What he meant to say, apparently, is that "there are- six and a half million rural people in the mountains of eight southern states." The use of the term " nobs " to indicate the Southern Appalachians would certainly surprise any geographer familiar with the region. The nobs lie west of the Mountains, and extend almost as far west as Louisville and Nashville. By no stretch of the imagination can they be said to extend over the entire eight southern states, since the southern nobs are confined entirely to Kentucky and Tennessee. Again the author cites the number of animals killed by the pioneers, and says, "Today in the wild hills there are no deer, no bear, no elk, no buffalo, and of small game only squirrels, and rabbits sick of rabbit fever." Perhaps the author had an opportunity to study the deer population in the few days he spent in the area and so can prove his statements. If they are true, however, we wonder why the state highway department put up that "Warning-Deer Crossing" sign just beyond Pineville, in the very region written about by Mr. Marshack? And we wonder what other part of the country, with a comparable population density, provides a grazing ground for moose and buffalo? Have the possum and coon hunters in that area been bringing home pine knots rather than live animals all these years? And as for the Cumberland river flooding, even an amateur geologist can show in ten minutes that it was subject to floods even before the white man ever came into its narrow valley. In trying to show that folk culture is totally dead, the author writes, " I tried to get an old hill dulcimer... There are no makers left in the hills." If Mr. Marshack had gone over Pine Mountain to Hindman, he could have ordered one from Jethro Amburgey, who has made dulcimers for more years than the Mercury has been published as a magazine. Or if he had gone on down US 25E through Asheville, he could have bought a dulcimer from Wade Martin in Swannanoa, N. C. We do not claim for one instant that everything is right in the Mountains. We know that a tremendous physical and spiritual need still is unmet here. We do wish, however, that writers like Mr. Marshack would get over their preoccupation with our " ruin " and would at least examine the many progressive, constructive patterns that are emerging in all parts of Appalachia. He and others like him could do a real service by writing of these things too. Much of what you said is true, Mr. Marshack, but the greatest story is in what you left unsaid! 39 "Made in the Southern Highlands" Several new products have recently been marketed based some phase of Southern Mountain life. They are the result imagination and skill of people living and working in the Highlands today. We believe you will be interested in the story of these products and of the people who made them possible. One of the most recent products is the Red Bird napkins produced by Red Bird Mission in Beverly, Ky.The border around these napkins is made up of a dozen mountain " saying$ ", some of which are reproduced on this page. on of AO' W4-9~edjwx THE RED BIRD NAPKINS BY THE REV. JOHN BISCHOFF SUPT., RED BIRD MISSION Those of us who were reared elsewhere but rave spent ' several years of our adult lives in the Southern Mountains have come to appreciate many characteristics of mountain people--developed at least in part through the rugged pioneer type of life rendered inevitable by the mountain barriers which for nearly a -hundred and fifty years made tall but impossible intercourse with the outside world. These characteristics of individualism, genuine democracy, hospitality, love of children, respect for older people, adaptability, good humor, ability to do without, an appreciation of the simple things in life, and a homely--albeit often very astute--philosophy of life, have all made the mountaineer an interesting and indeed a provocative individual to know. We have found much to respect in that " typical mountaineer" of a rapidly disappearing era--that solid, sturdy citizen who is God-fearing, hard-working, and under obligation to no man. We feel an urge to join those who seek to preserve the finer things of this culture which is beginning to melt away before the encroachment of roads, radios, and offers of lucrative jobs in large northern cities, plus the constant wars which demand and receive much of the 40 best of the young manhood of the Mountains. It is this background of appreciation which prompted the designing of the "Red Bird napkins," so named from the Evangelical United Brethren Mission in the Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky which for 31 years has striven to give assistance in meeting the spiritual, educational, physical and social needs of the people in remoter sections of Bell, Leslie, Clay, Harlan and Knox Counties. Having seen the attempt to preserve the unique Pennsylvania colloquialisms through a similar medium, Mrs. R. E. Plowman, pastor's wife at the Jack's Creek Community Center of the Mission, and Mrs. E. A. Russell, pastor's wife at the Mill Creek Community Center, set to work on the idea. Mrs. Plowman was business manager of the project, Mrs. Russell the designer. The expressions used mere chosen by Red Bird Mission High School students and Jack's Creek Veterans' School students. It is hoped that the reaction of one mountain mother who has reared a family of ten successful men and women is typical. Upon reading the colloqualisms on a napkin on display in the Mission office, she said, " Oh, that's just the way we talk, I want one for my son in Colorado. It will make him think of Red Bird and make him homesick for his home." These napkins may be ordered from the Red Bird Mission, Beverly, Ky., in one, two and four dozen packages. They are 35d, 65~ and $1.00, postpaid. Mention ML and W when you order. P I N E M 0 U N N 0 T E P T A I N BY DOROTHY NACE A P E R THE PINE MOUNTAIN notepapers were first produced two years ago as a project of several staff members who volunteered spare time to print, fold and package them. The notepapers have been widely sold to gift shops and individuals for the benefit of the school. They were designed 6y Mary Rogers, wife of the director of Pine Mountain School, and staff artist for hff.W. The paper comes in four different design-,),, each with a dozen sheets and envelopes. They include: Mountain Sketches,(sample,left) six different pen sketches of mountain scenes and people; Year Round Notes, a series of twelve wildflowers, one for each month of the year; Dogwood Notes, and Holly Notes. The sketches are printed in black on white paper. The floral notes are dark green on white. Notepaper may be ordered from Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, Ky., for 50; per package and a 34p stamp for postage. In the case of both the Red Bird napkins and the Pine Mountain notepapers, all profits go into helping a school. "TO MAKE MY BREAD This 72 page book of Cherokee Indian Cooklore is a treasuretrove of information about Indian food. Compiled by Mary Ulmer and Samuel E. Beck, the book contains a score of pictures showing Aggie Lossiah, grand-daughter of Chief John Ross, making bean bread, a specialty among the Cherokees. Nearly 100 recipes are given for the preparation of foods, some of which are familiar, and some of which--yellowjacket soup, for example---seem very exotic. Fortunately the authors did not hesitate to include ALL the recipes they could find, and the book is richer for it. This book is not only interesting to cooks but to anyone interested in Indian life, and its price is within almost anyone's reach. Each recipe gives both the English and the Indian name for the dish, plus the Indian spelling of the name. Reproduced below are some sample recipes. These are copyrighted by the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Cherokee, N. C. EGG SOUP-We-Gi Oo-Ga-Ma MY ab$ r Beat eggs--chicken or bird--slightly and pour into boiling water. Season this with salt and grease, meat if you have it. Serve the soup hot with mush. CREASES Pick the plant when it is tender (it is tender most of the time), wash, boil and then fry in grease. rn,14 ~ Miss Ulmer, who compiled the recipes, is on the staff of the ,ey Indian School at Cherokee and an active worker in the Council of Southern Mountain Workers. 42 REA is more than kilowatts By J E S S D. W I L S 0 N Power Use Adviser, Jackson County REA, McKee, Ky. When Wm. G. Frost was president of Berea College, he and his wife often traveled into the mountain counties around the school. Through the hills and valleys of Jackson, Clay, Estill, Lee, Owsley, Laurel and Rockcastle counties they carried the message of higher education and better living. An early picture of Berea Extension Workers shows a covered wagon with the words " REA EXTENSION:' painted on its side. Someone is standing in front of the 'BE". To my mind this picture of some 35 years ago was prophetic. R. E. A. electric lines are an extension of the work of President Frost. They represent a material betterment that is slowly laying the foundation for a better and fuller spiritual life in the land the Frosts loved so well. True, neither electricity nor better roads are solving all the problems, but they are helping to hold some of our more promising young people here where they are needed. In order that these young people might grow up with the knowledge of how abundant electricity can help them build a better life here in the Mountains, our R. E. A. has started an educational program through the local schools. We are in the process of preparing an outline of practical and useful knowledge that anyone should know, and safety " Do's and Don'ts " in the use of electricity that should be of interest and help to anyone using electricity. In addition to this educational program, we are sponsoring an art poster contest in the grade schools and a publicspeaking contest in the high schools of the area served by the cooperative. Around the first of each month, the mail in our office suddenly comes alive with a multitude of packages from such places as Otter Creek, Foggertown, Shepherdtown, Quail, Cloverbottom, Royal Oak, Bright Shade, Disputanta, Needmore, Athenia, Tyner and other grade schools in the area. lge .ve. only` ;er ,ade 43 These are monthly entrees in the poster contest. Each month awards of art materials are given to the schools according to participation and quality of interest shown. You have to see the original pictures to really enjoy them. The ones reproduced with this article were not selected as being the best, but were chosen for the ideas contained in them and on the basis of how they would look as black and white reproductions. A pupil may be tied to his seat and within the walls of his school room, but with a pencil or crayons, and a piece of paper, the whole world becomes his kingdom. The latest mail order catalogue lists all sorts of cameras ranging from two or three dollars to three or four hundred dollars, yet none of them can do what Conley Hale in the Shepherdstown school can do: show both ends of a house in the same picture! (See below) Not all houses have a clock on the outside wall, but Conley's does. Conley wants a swing so he draws a tree that has a limb custom built for a swing. If he wants a table in the yard with a flower pot sitting on it, he draws it. This boy has ideas of his own! Children like to express themselves and are not above "pulling somebody's leg," so to speak, but where else. could you get a ~a,/ better testimonial for electricity than the following statements that have appeared on posters: An electric pump helps the wife to last longer. M electric paddle saves teachers time. R little house can use electricity as well as a big house. One picture from the Quail school in Rockcastle county shows a bathroom with the shower curtain drawn and someone reaching out to turn on a table lamp while standing in the wet tub. The single word message is concise and to the point...Don't!! Doris Elaine Baker from Larose school in Owsley county brings an old nursery rhyme up to date in her poster: C W4# Art cjdvuoaan0.h tAA%a IW4 in 4,V%,4 f,~9~' P1fCif4C.l t 7 az el ne R, sc fc b4 45 Another student used a rhyme on his poster extolling the usefulness of an electric fence: Farmers! Don't be late for chow Because you have to round the cow! Use electric fences. To Rosa Cramer of the Sand Springs school, wash day is no longer the saddest day in the week, because her wash is already on the line (see below) and the sun is just coming up through the electric service wire that runs to her house and it looks like it is going to be a very nice day. Because our subscribers now have more leisure time, we urge them to use part of this time for the benefit of their community. Using this same drawing, we recently wrote in our monthly magazine: "If, like Rosa, your wash is out on the line early and you are able to save some time during the day through the use of electricity, why not invest that time in your school? You are needed. Support the P. T. A. in your school. If you don't have a R.T.A., organize one. You will find plenty of work to do in your school. The walls need painting; the children need storage space for materials; they need play ground equipment; they need workbooks; they need your interest. Invest your extra time; it will `~be the best investment you ever made." t~. Val ri ASit l n~~=.~ ~. €~~N~' 46 8,000,000 of us! OVER EIGHT MILLION PEOPLE live in the Southern Highlands according to figures released'by the Census Bureau. A study made by Dr. James Brown, Rural Sociology Department, Univ. of Ky., shows that 8,081,058 people lived in the Southern Appalachians at the time the last census was taken in 1950. Dr. Brown based his study on the geographical delineation of Southern Mountain counties listed on the map prepared by F. J. Marschner of the USDA. This list includes 236 counties as properly belonging to the Appalachian region. The figures show a tremendous growth in the region, reflecting both a high birth rate and a steady influx of population into the area. The net increase between 1910 and 1950 was 65.10. The only state recording a loss of population in the mountain areas was Kentucky with a 3.2% loss between 1940-50. We hope to publish more detailed information about population changes in the near future. Population of the Southern Appalachians, 1910 to 19$0 (236 Coontlee) Change 1950 1940 1930 1920 1910 1910-1950 Humber Percent Total (296) 8,082,058 7,421,837 6,626,3455.653.737 Alnbema (25) 1,584.479 1,410,818 1,300,770 1,075 677 Georgia (21j 374,275 338.558 295.474 266,842 8ensuetq (34) 836.066 864,023 748.385 626,438 H•x71•ad (3) 189.701 177,792 164,888 149,310 R. Carolina (26) 740.709 690,444 602,492 490,026 s. 0aro1 lnn (3) 7A7,260 210,203 184.086 146,944 xenneeees (44) 1,460,162 1,261,064 1,106,204 953,532 Virginia (42) 1,140,548 1,063,209 965.327 891,091 W. Virginia (38) 1.508,858 1,405.726 1.258.719 1,053.877 4,894,286 3,187,772 891.223 693.256 256,807 117,468 518,606 317,460 132.133 57.568 435.104 305.605 121,136 126,124 860,145 600,017 837 319 303,229 841,813 667.045 65.1 77.8 45.7 61.2 43.6 70.2 104.1 69.8 36.2 79.2 Hate of Increase in Population 1940-50 1930-40 1920-30 1910-20 Percent Hvber PerceaL Humber Peroent Nub- Percent ende; such Sj pers~ char W! canm indi cons thei but An o~ The has cra: in SE L IB~ Cre iota (236j 66o,z21 8.9 795.492 12.0 972,60e 17.2 759,451 15.5 Alabama (25j 173,661 12.3 110,048 8.5 225,093 20.9 184,454 20,7 Georgia (21) 35.717 10.5 43,4 14.6 28,632 10.7 10,035 3.9 Kentucky (34) -27.957 - 3.z 115,638 15.5 121.947 19.5 107.832 20.e Merylmd (3) 11,909 6.7 12,904 7.8 15,578 10.4 17,177 13.0 R. Carolina (26) 50,265 7.3 87.952 14.6 112,466 23.0 54,922 12,6 s, Carolina (3) 37.057 17.6 26,117 14,2 37,142 25,3 25,808 21,3 2emeene• (44) 199,098 15.8 154,860 14.0 152,672 16.0 93.387 10.9 Virginia (4z) 77,339 7.3 97.882 10.1 74,236 8.3 53.772 6,4 w, Virginia (38) 103.132 7,3 147,007 11.7 204,842 19,4 212,064 25.2 47 Staff Needs (((((((((((((The Council of Southern Mountain Workers gives assistance in ~overing, for institutions and programs, trained workers who have a k:~.aine desire to serve where they are most needed. The Council also endeavors to provide the names and brief data about people who are seeking such opportunities. Such an exchange of information about program needs and available personnel will be publicized in this magazine whenever possible, free of charge. While the Council endeavors to use discretion in this publicity, it cannot imply more than the bare facts herein stated. Investigation of individual qualifications and evaluation of recomnendations must be considered the responsibility of those who find this service of help in their search. Some of these positions may have been filled by the time you read this but at press time the following places were open: GENERAL PRACTITIONER in Jackson Co., Ky. Write Jackson County Kiwanis Club, h!cKee, Kv. An opening in the teaching staff in the field of secretarial arts in Salem ege, Salem, West Virginia. Write K. Duane Hurley, President. CRAFT WORKER for' Evangelical United Brethren Community Center at Barnett Creek, Columbia, Ky. Write Dr. U. P. Hovermale, 1426 U. B. Bldg., Dayton 2, Ohio. The Council, at the request of the Federal Security Agency in Washington, has suggested several possible applicants for Point Four appointments for crafts instruction and development in foreign fields. If you are interested in this field, write the Council office. DOCTOR and NURSE at Pine l.9ountain Settlement School, Pine hfountain, Ky. Write Mr. Burton Rogers. SECRETARY at Crossnore School, Crossnore, N. C. Write Dr. Mary Sloop. aESIDENT NURSE PIC RECREATIONAL DIRECTOR at Hindman Settlement School. Write Miss Elizabeth Watts, Hindman, Ky. LISRAF,L-iv, CLASSROOM TEACHER and OFFICE ASSISTANT, or combination, at Lotts Creek School, Cordia, Ky. Write Miss Alice H. Slone. INSTRUCTOR IN BUSINESS (typing and shorthand) at Annville Institute, Ilnnville, Ky. Write to Mr. Alfred Gppeneer. cnCIAL SERVICE WORKER with Frontier Nursing Service. Write Dr. Vary Breckinde, Wendover, Leslie Co., Ky. SECRETARY and a BOOKKEEPER, VGC;ZTIGI',t,1. AUhI(:LLT(IF.E TEACHER (to qualif7 under Smith-Hughes if possible), and a PASTOR FOR THE AREA at Community Center, Sevierville, Tenn. If You would like to subscribe to this magazine, fill in your name and address on the form below, and send with $1.00 to the Council of Southern Mountain Workers, Box 2000, College Station. Berea, Kentucky. NAh1E Active individual membership Supporting membership Sustaining membership Institutional membership $ 3.00 to 4.00 5.09 to 24.00__ 25.00 or more 5.00 or more --Subscription to hl.L.b W. included in all memberships I do, not wish to join or subscribe at the moment, but I do wish to be kept informed about the program of the Council Additional questions and comments (Please detach and mail to Box 2000, Berea College, Berea. Ky.) THE COUNCIL OF SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN WORKERS works to share the best traditions and human resources of the Appalachian Region with the rest of the nation. It also seeks to help solve some of the peculiar educational, social, spiritual and cultural needs of this mountain territory. It works through and with schools, churches, medical centers and other institutions, and by means of sincere and able individuals both within and outside the area. -Participation is invited on the above bases lst Afember lssae SAl 1952 2nd . 1 '952 SGe Subscri•oti on Is t issue , edAl r 1952 issGGO' e~' 1952 a v' S is ra 1sG v .a% ,9e fi? s2 .y. 1S' o .r s l ~rsG a +,ojf or G'p ~s P ~•s ~'Is o ~ l ~. _ o~ IF THIS jssGe~~~ CORNER IS NOT TURNED UP, YOUR AFFILIATION IS UP TO DATE! For Members! According to our records, your membership and/or subscription appears to have expired as indicated. We are continuing to '.send you current issues in the belief that you do not wish us to drop you from our membership. We would appreciate your reaffiliation upon whatever basis you wish.