Southern Mountain life...

[Vuhginyuh]

There have been a few threads concerning period Southern Appalachia lately.

The following site presents a fair picture of the quality of life of the region’s white inhabitants

http://www.aca-dla.org/site-templates/logessay.html

The Garrison houses,#5, are personal favorites…

[markj]

Re: Southern Mountain life...

Ah, but we're likely forgetting the fact that many blacks lived in Appalachia too:

Crowder, Steve. Black Folk Medicine in Southern Appalachia. 2001, M. A. Thesis, East Tennessee State University.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Southern Mountain life...

Mark, the rural black population in the mountains of NC and VA was very small, and still is today.
I understand that all the structures in the site I posted are attributed to white inhabitants. They made the distinction or omission, not me.

''...German, Scotch-Irish, English, and Scandinavian cultures in the Southern Highlands''.

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Crowder's thesis concerns modern residents and practices.
From his brief;

''This study is an exploration of existing informal health care beliefs and practices of blacks in Southern Appalachia and how they compare with the majority white population..."

(The italics is mine.)

[markj]

Re: Southern Mountain life...

Noted, although how small does a "very small" population have to be? You'd never know the population was "small" judging from the JSTOR literature review I just did. I merely checked various African American Studies and history journals in their holdings and got over two dozen hits of various kinds. There are undoubtedly others, perhaps dozens of others, that have appeared in other popular publications and professional journals.

For whatever it's worth, here are some articles that look particularly intriguing:

Free Black Populations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains: 1860
Robert P. Stuckert
Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3. (Mar., 1993), pp. 358-370.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=002...3E2.0.CO%3B2-V

Black Populations of the Southern Appalachian Mountains
Robert P. Stuckert
Phylon (1960-), Vol. 48, No. 2. (2nd Qtr., 1987), pp. 141-151.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=003...3E2.0.CO%3B2-Y

More on the Free Black Population of the Southern Appalachian Mountains: Speculations on the North African Connection
S. D. Allen
Journal of Black Studies, Vol. 25, No. 6. (Jul., 1995), pp. 651-671.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=002...3E2.0.CO%3B2-G

The Black South and White Appalachia
James C. Klotter
The Journal of American History, Vol. 66, No. 4. (Mar., 1980), pp. 832-849.
Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=002...3E2.0.CO%3B2-6
(Note: This primarily deals with Reconstruction onward)

In any event, thanks for the comments on the thesis. I can scratch that one off my comprehensive list of theses and dissertations covering 1993-2003--at this point, I'm mainly working off title information to save time (and my fingers while typing).

Yours, &c.,

Mark Jaeger

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Southern Mountain life...

Ethnic population size was not my point. The free black population in NC was small enough that there is no extant black structure from the period.

Though my original post was intended to present interesting images of building styles I now feel inclined to post these additional references.

http://www.zanesville.ohiou.edu/library/appalachia/level3.asp?Level1=Social+Environment&Level2=Ethnic+Groups

Some do not load but can be used as search titles.

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The frequency of JSTOR documents does not reflect a large population, just an academic trend. In fact, race and gender roles are the most widely applied and accepted topics today.

I am a member of JSTOR, you may need to join to read Mr. Jaeger's excellent references.

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Southern Mountain life...

The Free Black population of the high mountain counties of North Carolina in 1860 is one hundred ninety-one (191) with a margin of error of 28, which is the average Free Black population of the mountain counties.

Any numeric discrepancy comes from inclusion or deletion of a county being defined ''High Mountain'' or ''Appalachia''.

Historically the term Appalachia has defined the culture of the white inhabitants only.

Source; 1860 US Census, NC Counties.