>> THESE PEAKS ARE PART OF A MOUNTAIN RANGE THAT STRETCHES FROM MAINE TO GEORGIA. APPALACHIA -- A WORD THAT LABELS MORE THAN JUST A TOPOGRAPHICAL REGION. FOR GENERATIONS, THIS WORD HAS BEEN A LABEL FOR A WAY OF LIFE, AND THAT LABEL HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN A POSITIVE ONE. IN THE EARLY 1960'S, MANY AMERICANS HAD THEIR FIRST LOOK AT A REGION CALLED APPALACHIA IN FILMS AND MAGAZINE ARTICLES DIRECTED TOWARD AMERICA'S WAR ON POVERTY. VIEWERS SAW IMAGES OF FILTHY MOUNTAIN SIMPLETONS LIVING IN POOR CONDITIONS, IGNORANT, SOMETIMES HOSTILE, AND INVARIABLY SUBSTANDARD HUMAN BEINGS. MORE THAN 40 YEARS LATER, THESE ARE THE STEREOTYPES THAT RESIDENTS OF APPALACHIA CONTINUED TO BATTLE, SORTING THROUGH THE MISCONCEPTIONS, RECOUNTING THEIR LIVES, TRADITIONS, AND HERITAGE, TELLING THE REAL STORY OF THE FAMILIES AND COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE GROWN UP IN THESE MOUNTAINS, AND TRYING TO AFFIRM THE WEALTH OF CULTURE THAT LIES ALMOST HIDDEN IN "THE MOUNTAIN'S SHADOW." ♪ >> THIS IS REALLY A LONG -- A LONG STORY. IT GOES BACK BEFORE --EVEN BEFORE APPALACHIA, I THINK. JAMES FENIMORE COOPER, AND, YOU KNOW, THE IDEA OF THE MOUNTAIN PERSON, THE NATURAL MAN, AND SO FORTH. SOMETIMES THESE WERE LOOKED ON POSITIVELY. SOMETIMES WITH FEAR AND LOATHING, AND I THINK ANY TIME PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT, YOU HAVE A CERTAIN FEAR OF THEM, AND SO YOU SOMETIMES DISTANCE YOURSELF FROM THEM, AND THEY BECOME "THOSE PEOPLE." BUT APPALACHIA -- A LOT OF STUFF WAS WRITTEN, AND THERE WAS A LOT OF VIOLENCE IN APPALACHIA. THE FEUDS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR CREATED AN IMAGE -- THE HATFIELD-MCCOY FEUD, THE BAKER-WHITE FEUD, THEY FASCINATED WRITERS WHO CAME AND WROTE THESE LITTLE 10-SENT -- 10-CENT NOVELLAS ABOUT THESE VIOLENT AND FIERCE PEOPLE DOWN HERE, AND IT WAS ALMOST AS IF WE HAVE TO GET RID OF THESE HILLBILLIES AND THEIR STRANGE AND VIOLENT WAYS BEFORE WE CAN DEVELOP THIS LAND AND BECOME CIVILIZED PEOPLE, YOU KNOW? PEOPLE TEND TO STEREOTYPE FROM A FEW INSTANCES. THEY SEE ONE PERSON WHO IS DRUNK, OR TWO PEOPLE IN A FIGHT SOMEWHERE IN APPALACHIA AND THEY EXTRAPOLATE FROM THAT THAT ALL OF THESE PEOPLE ARE VIOLENT OR DRUNKARDS. YOU CAN COME INTO APPALACHIA, OR YOU CAN GO INTO A CITY AND FIND THE SAME TYPE OF PEOPLE, THE SAME TYPE OF STORIES, BUT BECAUSE IT IS NOT ACT -- BACK IN THE MOUNTAINS, BECAUSE IT IS NOT INVOLVING COUNTRY PEOPLE, YOU DO NOT NOTICE IT AS MUCH. BUT, I THINK THE EARLY PEOPLE THAT CAME IN, THE EARLY CHRONICLERS IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY, EARLY 20TH CENTURY, FOR SOME REASON ZEROED IN ON THOSE THINGS THAT THEY FELT WERE REALLY QUAINT, EVEN BACKWARD, IF YOU WILL. AND I DO NOT THINK THAT THEY WERE BACKWARD. I THINK WHAT IT WAS IS THE SOCIETY HAD NOT CHANGED HERE. THEY WERE STILL REVOLVING AROUND THE SEASONS, AROUND MAKING DO, KNOWING HOW TO MAKE DO WITH VERY LITTLE. >> IT WAS THESE PEOPLE WHO WERE MAKING DO WITH VERY LITTLE THAT PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY CAME ACROSS IN CAMPAIGNING FOR OFFICE IN THE APPALACHIAN REGION. AS A RESULT, HIS CONCERNS ABOUT THE REGION GENERATED SEVERAL OUTREACH PROGRAMS IN STATES LIKE URGING YOU, WEST VIRGINIA, -- IN STATES LIKE VIRGINIA, WEST VIRGINIA, AND KENTUCKY, AND WITH THE PASSAGE OF SEVERAL BILLS IN THE MID-1960'S, AMERICA'S WAR ON POVERTY BECAME OFFICIAL. IN APPALACHIA NEW ROADS WERE CONSTRUCTED TO PROVIDE BETTER ACCESS AND NEW INDUSTRIES. WATER SYSTEMS AND NEW SCHOOLS WERE BUILT. AS AMERICA WAGED WAR ON POVERTY, APPALACHIA FOUND ITSELF UNDER SIEGE. CECIL BRADFIELD, A NATIVE OF THE MOUNTAIN HAMLET OF ARKANSAS, WEST VIRGINIA, LEFT HIS HOME TO ATTEND COLLEGE IN OHIO, BUT RECALLS THAT PERIOD OF OUTREACH THAT LAYS LIKE A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD IN APPALACHIA'S HISTORY. >> I RETURNED TO WEST VIRGINIA AS A RURAL PASTOR IN 1965, JUST AS THE WAR ON POVERTY WAS GETTING INTO FULL SWING, AND ACTUALLY, SOME OF THE TIME I WORKED WITH VOLUNTEERS THAT WERE COMING IN IN LARGE NUMBERS IN THE AREA I WAS WORKING IN WEST VIRGINIA NEAR FRANKLIN. WE LOOK BACK ON THE WAR ON POVERTY -- IT WAS BASED ON A MODEL -- A DEFICIENCY MODEL OF PEOPLE. THE REASON THAT YOU ARE EXPERIENCING POVERTY AND DEPRIVATION IS BECAUSE YOU ARE DEFICIENT IN OTHER WAYS. YOU ARE DEFICIENT IN EDUCATION. YOU ARE DEFICIENT IN AWARENESS OF THE REST OF THE WORLD, AND SOME OF THOSE THINGS. SO, I THINK IN SOME RESPECTS THAT THAT HAD A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE SELF-ESTEEM OF PEOPLE WHO WERE LIVING IN APPALACHIA. I WOULD RECEIVE CALLS FROM SOME OF MY COLLEAGUES, SAY IN SUBURBAN D.C., AND THESE ARE CHURCH COLLEAGUES, PASTORS, AND THEY WOULD SAY SOMETHING LIKE "WE WOULD LIKE TO BRING SOME OF OUR YOUNG PEOPLE UP TO SEE POOR PEOPLE." THEY WERE SEEING THE NATIONAL PUBLICITY, AND ISN'T IT TERRIBLE THAT THESE PEOPLE 145, 100 40 -- 140, 150 MILES AWAY FROM US WERE LIVING IN THESE CONDITIONS. SO, THERE WAS SOMETHING ABOUT THAT IT DID NOT STRIKE ME RIGHT. HERE I AM. I AM AN APPALACHIAN. I AM WORKING IN APPALACHIA AND HERE, PEOPLE, FROM AN AREA CONSIDERED TO BE VERY WEALTHY, THEY ARE SAYING CAN WE BRING SOME OF OUR KIDS TO SEE POOR PEOPLE, AND WHAT THEY DID NOT SAY WAS YOU POOR PEOPLE. >> THESE NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES DID NOT REFLECT THE APPALACHIA THAT CECIL GREW UP IN AND REMEMBERS FONDLY, AND LIKE MANY OF THE APPALACHIANS WE MET IN PRODUCING THIS PROGRAM, HE WAS EAGER TO SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON WHAT LIFE IN APPALACHIA WAS AND IS REALLY LIKE. >> ARKANSAS IS A HOLLOW. IT HAS ONE ROAD IN AND ONE ROAD OUT. AT THE CENTER OF THE COMMUNITY THERE IS A CHURCH AND A SCHOOL, A ONE-ROOM SCHOOL THAT I ATTENDED FOR THREE YEARS. GROWING UP THERE WE NEVER THOUGHT OF OURSELVES AS BEING DEPRIVED IN ANY WAY, AND REALLY FOCUS ON SOME OF THE POSITIVE ASPECTS OF FAMILY AND BEING IN A COMMUNITY. THERE WAS NOT A SENSE OF DEPRIVATION OR POVERTY. WE HAD ENOUGH. >> I GREW UP IN NORTH CAROLINA IN THE MOUNTAINS, IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE, AND OF COURSE, AT THAT TIME, I WAS BORN IN 1928 -- SO, I WAS AN INFANT WHEN THE GREAT DEPRESSION CAME. WE LIVED ON A FARM. WE WERE SUBSTANCES -- SUBSISTENCE FARMERS, AND I DO NOT THINK WE NOTICE THAT THE DEPRESSION AS MUCH AS OTHER PEOPLE BECAUSE WE GREW FOOD AND WE HAD OUR OWN -- WE WOULD MILK COWS, AND CHICKENS, AND EGGS, AND THAT SORT OF THING, SO -- IT WAS A RATHER SPARSE EXISTENCE IN A WAY. AS A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID, WE WERE POOR, BUT WE DID NOT KNOW IT AT THE TIME. >> PHYLLIS STREET HAD A SIMILAR UPBRINGING, RAISED IN WEST VIRGINIA. >> SO MANY PLACES WERE REMOTE. IN FACT, WHERE I GREW UP, THE CAUSE OF THE DEPRESSION BEING THE START OF WORLD WAR II IN THE LITTLE COMMUNITY WHERE I WAS RAISED, WE DID NOT HAVE ELECTRICITY UNTIL 1949. TIMES WERE REALLY HARD HERE ON THE MOUNTAIN. THERE WAS NO PUBLIC WORKS. THEY -- MOST OF THE WAY THAT PEOPLE MADE A LIVING WAS THROUGH GARDENING, FARMING, AND THEY WERE SELF-SUFFICIENT, JUST LIKE WE WERE WHEN WE WERE AT HOME. WE RAISED PRACTICALLY EVERYTHING THAT WE ATE. >> WHEN I WAS GROWING UP THERE WAS A LOT OF SMALL FARMS IN THE AREA, TOBACCO FARMS. COAL MINING WAS THE BIG INDUSTRY WHEN I GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL IN THE LATE-19 70'S. COAL WAS KING. GUYS THAT I WENT TO HIGH SCHOOL WITH -- AFTER THEY FINISHED HIGH SCHOOL THEY WOULD GET A JOB DRIVING A COAL TRUCK AND MAKE MORE THAN SOMEONE THAT WENT ON TO -- OR JUST GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE. >> COAL MINING WAS DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS WORK. MAKING A LIVING IN THESE MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES WAS NOT AN EASY TASK. LIFE IN APPALACHIA HAS CREATED A CULTURE OF HARD-WORKING, SELF-SUFFICIENT, AND INVENTIVE PEOPLE. FOR GENERATIONS, VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING HAD TO BE GROWN OR HANDMADE. FOODS, THE CLOTHING, TOOLS, AND EVEN MEDICINES AND CURES HAD TO BE CREATED IN THE IMAGINATION WHEN THE NEAREST HOSPITAL OR DOCTOR WAS MILES AND MILES AWAY. >> MY WIFE AND I BOTH MAKE A POINT OF TELLING THE GRANDSON STORIES ABOUT GROWING UP IN WEST VIRGINIA, AND SOME OF THE REMEDIES FOR CERTAIN CONDITIONS. NOW, THEY BOTH HAVE -- OUR GRANDSONS HAVE YOUR INFECTIONS, SO THEY GO TO THE PEDIATRICIAN TO GET A BOX OF SILOAM, OR SOMETHING FOR THOSE YOUR INFECTIONS, AND IT KIND OF >> -- CRACKS THEM UP A LITTLE BIT WHEN WE TELL THEM -- FOR ME, MY MOTHER HAD A CORNCOB PIPE. WHEN WE HAD YOUR ACHES -- WE DID NOT CALL THEM -- EAR ACHES. WE DID NOT CALL THEM INFECTIONS. WHEN WE HAD THEM, SHE WOULD BLOW SMOKE IN OUR EARS AND WE GOT OVER THE INFECTION OR WHATEVER IT WAS. >> SOME OF THE CURES THAT CAME DOWN TO US SEEMED FUNNY TO US LIKE SMOKING DURING -- GREEN LEAVES IF YOU HAD A IRRITATION IN YOUR THROAT, BUT MODERN SCIENCE HAS SHOWN THERE IS SOMETHING IN THE MOLTEN LEAVES THAT ACTUALLY DOES SOOTHE AND IRRITATED THROAT IF YOU SMOKE IT. >> THE EARLY SELF-SUFFICIENCY OF THE MOUNTAIN PEOPLE HAS LED TO A UNIQUE APPALACHIAN HERITAGE. ITEMS THAT WERE ONCE MADE OUT OF NECESSITY HAVE NOW BECOME ART FORMS. >> ONE OF THE BEST THINGS THAT I CAN REMEMBER GROWING UP WAS MOTHER WOULD -- SHE SEWED HER CLOTHES A LOT, AND ANY SCRAPS SHE HAD LEFT OVER SHE WOULD WORK INTO A QUILT. IT WAS NOT NECESSARILY A PIECE OF ART, IT WAS JUST A FUNCTIONAL QUILT, BUT I REMEMBER LAYING ON THE BED AND GOING THROUGH THE SQUARES ON HER QUILT AND THINKING THIS WAS THIS, THIS WAS THAT, AND THIS WAS SOMETHING ELSE BECAUSE IT WAS JUST BITS AND PIECES OF CLOTH THAT SHE HAD SAVED FROM OUR CLOSE AND THAT TYPE OF THING -- CLOTHES AND THAT TYPE OF THING. THE OLDER I GET, THE MORE I APPRECIATE THAT SOMEDAY I WILL NOT HAVE MY MOTHER. I CAN TOUCH THESE THINGS THAT SHE MADE AND THAT WILL MAYBE KEEP ME CLOSER TO HER. THAT HAS MADE ME REALIZE A LOT OF THINGS. >> JEANNIE SAYS ONE OF THE THINGS SHE REALIZED WAS THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESERVING HER HERITAGE. AFTER GRADUATING FROM EAST TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY, SHE RETURNED HOME TO SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AND BEGAN WORKING FOR PACE -- SURELY APPALACHIAN CRAFTS EMPOWERMENT. SHE NOW SPENDS HER DAYS EDUCATING PEOPLE ABOUT APPALACHIAN CRAFTS AND HERITAGE AND -- HERITAGE AND MARKING THE BEAUTIFUL ART THAT COMES OUT OF THE REGION, AND NOT JUST VIRGINIA. SHE RECENTLY ACCOMPANIED APPALACHIAN ARTISTS AND THEIR WORK TO LONDON FOR AN EXHIBITION. IT WAS DURING THIS PROJECT THAT SHE MET PHYLLIS STREET, A COAL MINER'S WIDOW WHO HAD LEARNED QUILTING FROM HER MOTHER AT A VERY YOUNG AGE. >> ONE THING THAT I REALLY, REALLY ENJOYED WHENEVER I WAS SMALLER WAS WHEN MY MOTHER WOULD GET HER BAG OF SCRAPS OUT IN THE WINTERTIME TO MAKE QUILTS, AND I WOULD PLAY WITH THOSE. IN FACT, MAMA HAS SAID I THINK YOU WERE BORN WITH A NEEDLE IN YOUR HAND. [LAUGHTER] AND, MAMA MADE QUILTS FOR US TO SLEEP UNDER WITH WHAT WAS AVAILABLE. OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, AT THAT TIME FEED FOR THE CATTLE AND HOGS AND SO FORTH -- CHICKENS -- USUALLY CAME IN PRINTED SACKS, AND OF COURSE, THOSE WERE USED FOR EVERYTHING -- CLOTHING, AND WHATEVER. AND SCRAPS OF THOSE WERE USED FOR PIECING QUILTS, AND I JUST USE WHATEVER MAMA WAS NOT USING, AND I JUST PICKED UP WHATEVER COLORS AND PUT TOGETHER, BUT IT WAS -- IT WAS MINE. IT WAS SOMETHING I HAD CREATED, AND TO ME IT WAS SPECIAL. >> PHYLLIS USED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL DRESS MAKER AND RAN HER OWN FABRIC SHOP, BUT SHE SAYS THAT QUILTING, WHICH HAD BEEN A PART OF HER FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS, WAS A PART OF HER THAT JUST HAD TO COME OUT. SHE BEGAN MAKING QUILTS FOR FAMILY MEMBERS AND EVENTUALLY DECIDED TO MAKE QUILTS FOR SALE. >> DOING A QUILT IS KIND OF COMPARATIVE TO HAVING A CHILD -- IT IS HARD TO TURN LOOSE ONE. WHEN I SELL A PIECE, AND I KNOW IF SOMEONE IS WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE FOR MY QUILT, THEN IT IS GOING TO BE TAKEN CARE OF, AND THEY ARE GOING TO APPRECIATE IT. IN FACT, THE FIRST ONE THAT I SOLD WAS -- I TRADED IT TO MY GYNECOLOGIST. HE DID A HYSTERECTOMY FOR ME. [LAUGHTER] I SWAPPED THE QUILT FOR THE -- [LAUGHTER] >> TODAY PHYLLIS' QUILTS SELL FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS A PIECE. SHE SELLS TO PEOPLE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, BUT IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING AN INCOME, THE COURT -- THE QUILTS PROVIDE A WAY TO PASS ON HER HERITAGE. EVERY QUILT HAS A TITLE AND MANY TELL THE STORY OF A PERIOD IN HER LIFE. >> MY MOTHER LOVED FABRICS AND COLOR, AND EVERYTHING. WHEN I WAS MAKING THAT QUILT, EACH PIECE THAT I SEWED DOWN, I WOULD THINK "OH, MOTHER WOULD HAVE LOVED THIS. MOTHER WOULD HAVE LOVED THIS." AND IT WAS MORE OR LESS A COMMUNION WITH MOTHER WHENEVER I WAS MAKING IT, AND THAT IS WHY I NAMED IT "MEMBERS OF MOTHER." >> LIKE ANY OTHER ART FORM, PHYLLIS'S QUILTS ARE AN EXPRESSION OF HERSELF, HER PERSONALITY. SHE HAS PASSED ON THE QUILTS TO HER FOUR DAUGHTERS, AND ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE OTHER CAREERS, THE TRADITION WILL LIVE ON IN HER FAMILY. GAY NOW MARSHALL -- GAILNELL MARSHALL HOPES THE SAME CAN BE TRUE OF HER CRAFT. SHE MAKES THESE DOLLS OUT OF CORN STOCKS, WHERE STORE-BOUGHT TOYS -- COMING OUT OF THE APPALACHIAN TRADITIONAL WERE STORE-BOUGHT TOYS WERE A REALITY AND MANY PLAYED WITH WHAT WAS ON HAND, IN THIS CASE, THE SHOCKS FROM MANY YEARS OF CORN. >> THE WAY I GOT INTO THE CORN SHUCK DOLLS WAS MY MOTHER IN LAW, WHO I CALL MOTHER. MOTHER MARSHALL BEGAN MAKING THE CORN SHUCK DOLLS IN AND AROUND 1945. SHE NEEDED -- NOT SOMETHING TO DO, BECAUSE SHE HAD PLENTY TO DO -- SHE HAD SIX CHILDREN AT THAT TIME -- BUT SHE NEEDED A SOURCE OF INCOME. WHEN SHE DID START MAKING THEM, SHE GOT $.25 APIECE FOR THEM, WHERE I NOW GET $15, $20 A PIECE FOR THEM. >> HER DOLLS DEPICT EVERYTHING FROM STORYBOOK CHARACTERS TO BIBLICAL FIGURES, TO VARIOUS ASPECTS OF APPALACHIAN LIFE. >> I HAVE NOT DONE ONE STIRRING APPLE BUTTER, BUT THAT IS ONE THAT I'M GOING TO WORK ON. I THINK THAT WOULD BE GREAT, BECAUSE I REMEMBER MYSELF SERVING APPLE BUTTER -- STIRRING APPLE BUTTER ALL DAY LONG OR MAMA DOING IT IN EARLY YEARS. SHE WOULD PUT HER BONNET ON AND SIT THERE AND STARE APPLE BUTTER. >> LIKE MANY APPALACHIAN ARTISTS, SHE HAS TAKEN ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PRESERVING HER HERITAGE, BUT SHE SAYS SHE REALIZES IT HER SPECIAL BRAND OF ART IS TO CONTINUE, SHE WILL HAVE TO EDUCATE PEOPLE OUTSIDE OF HER OWN FAMILY. >> I HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN THAT BECAUSE I DID HAVE JUST THEY SON, AND I ALWAYS TAUGHT THROUGH THE SCHOOLS. ANY TIME THE SCHOOLS HAVE WHAT THEY CALL APPALACHIAN HERITAGE DAYS, THEY PULL YOU IN THE LOCAL CRAFTERS, AND I HAVE DONE IT MORE IN THE EARLIER YEARS THAN I HAVE IN THESE LAST YEARS, BUT FOR -- FROM THE FOURTH GRADE ON UP, THE CHILDREN ARE REALLY INTERESTED IN IT. THEY JUST NEED TO BE EXPOSED TO IT ON A MORE FREQUENT BASIS INSTEAD OF JUST ONCE A YEAR. >> IT GIVES FUTURE GENERATIONS A CONNECTION TO THEIR PAST. I WOULD LOVE -- I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MY ANCESTORS THAN WHAT I DO, BUT WHAT LITTLE I DO KNOW, I APPRECIATE IT. AND TO RETAIN OUR MOUNTAIN HERITAGE OF HARD WORK, AND DOING FOR OURSELVES, THAT IS PART OF PASSING IT ON, AND THERE IS, MAYBE MORE OF IT BEING PASSED ON, AT LEAST I HOPE SO. >> ONE ASPECT OF APPALACHIAN CULTURE THAT HAS BEEN PASSED ON AND HAS BECOME VERY MUCH A PART OF MAINSTREAM AMERICA IS THE MUSIC. >> JUST OLD-TIME MOUNTAIN MUSIC. SOME PEOPLE CALL IT OLD-TIME MUSIC NOW, AND OF COURSE, BLUE GRASS IS DIFFERENT THAN COUNTRY MUSIC, ESPECIALLY NOW BECAUSE IT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT. BECAUSE BLUE GRASS MUSIC USES ACOUSTIC INSTRUMENTS. THE UPGRADE RACE. -- THE UPPER RIGHT -- UPRIGHT BASS. COUNTRY MUSIC USES STEEL GUITAR, ELECTRIC GUITAR, DRUMS, AND THAT SORT OF THING. IT MAKES IT A VERY DISTINCT, DIFFERENT SOUND. ♪ MY GRANDFATHER PLAYED THE BANJO, SO JUST BY WATCHING HIM, HE TAUGHT ME MY FIRST FEW TUNES ON THE BANJO. MY GRANDMOTHER PLAYED, AND MY GRANDFATHER PLAYED, BUT I THINK MOST OF MINE WAS SPENT PLAYING WITH GUYS MY OWN AGE IN THE AREA . WE HAD A LITTLE GROUP WHEN WE WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL. >> MY FATHER WORKED IN THE COAL MINES, AND WE USED TO GET THE LESTER FLATT AND EARL SCRUGGS SHOW, AND WE HAD SOME OF THE OLDER RECORDS BY JIMMY MARTIN AND RALPH STANLEY. HE WOULD PLAY THEM, AND HIM AND MOM WOULD DANCE IN THE LIVING ROOM. AND I USED TO TAKE MY MOTHER'S BROOM HANDLE, AND WOULD TRY TO MAKE THE COURTS AS LESTER FLATT DID, SO MY DAD FINALLY WENT TO THE RAVEN DRUGSTORE AND HE BOUGHT ME MY FIRST GUITAR WHEN I WAS ABOUT EIGHT YEARS OLD. >> MILLARD EDWARDS AND 10 TOLIVER ARE PART OF A GROUP CALLED THE CROSS TIES. THEY TRAVEL UP AND DOWN THE APPALACHIAN REGION PLANE OLD-TIME, BLUE GRASS, AND GOSPEL MUSIC. THEY SAY THAT THIS MUSIC THAT TELLS SO MANY STORIES ABOUT LIVING IN AND GROWING UP IN APPALACHIA IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE POPULAR ACROSS THE COUNTRY. >> IT HAS BEEN HERE FOREVER SO LONG, EVEN BEFORE THEIR WAS ANY INSTRUMENTS -- EVEN BEFORE THERE WAS EVER ANY INSTRUMENTS. YOUNG PEOPLE JUST SANG AT THE APOLLO. -- A CAPPELLA. >> ♪ I DO NOT WANT TO REPORT I SO. >> IT HAS BEEN HERE LONG BEFORE WE WERE HERE AND I'M SURE IT WILL BE HERE LONG AFTER WE ARE GONE. >> A LOVE IS IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN PART OF APPALACHIAN LIFE, IN CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, COMMUNITY GATHERINGS, AND EVEN INFORMAL GET-TOGETHERS. APPALACHIANS WERE ALWAYS RECALLING TUNES FROM THE OLD DAYS. JOHN HEATWOLE RECALLS AN INTERVIEW WITH AN AVALANCHE AND WOMAN WHO TOLD HIM ABOUT HARVEST DAYS IN THE FALL WHERE NEIGHBORS WOULD GET TOGETHER TO HELP BRING THE CROPS IN. >> PEOPLE WOULD BRING IN BANJOS, FIDDLES, GUITARS, AND PLAY MUSIC WHILE THE CORN HUSK IN WAS GOING ON, AND SHE WOULD JUST SING SNATCHES OF SOME OF THE OLD SONG. SHE COULD NOT REMEMBER ALL OF THEM, BUT LITTLE PIECES. ONE OF THEM WAS "MCDONALD HAD AN OLD GRAY MULE, AND HE DROVE THEM AROUND IN A CARD. HE LOVES THAT MULE, AND THEN YOU'LL LOVE HIM, WITH ALL THAT MULISH HEART." >> IS A WAY OF TELLING STORIES FROM THE PAST OR BRINGING OUT THE CHARACTER OF A COMMUNITY. >> IT IS ALSO A WAY TO COMMENT ON INEQUALITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN, MAYBE APPALACHIA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD, YOU KNOW? SO, WE LIKE TO TELL STORIES THAT HAVE US COMING OUT, KIND OF, ON TOP, LIKE THE FELLOW WHO WANDERS INTO TOWN FROM UP IN THE HILLS AND HE SEES THEY ARE A AGAIN A BIG HOLE IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN AND HE WATCHES, AND THE MAYOR OF THE TOWN COMES OUT TO CHECK ON HIS WORKMAN AND HE SAYS WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO PUT IN THAT WHOLE -- HOLE, AND HE DISMISSES THE FELLOW BY SAYING WE ARE GOING TO ROUND UP ALL OF THE SOB'S IN TOWN AND WITH THEM IN THAT HOLE. AND THE COUNTRY BOY SAYS WHO IS GOING TO COVER THEM UP? [LAUGHTER] >> THAT IS A GOOD ONE. >> FOR A LOT OF AMERICANS, IF YOU MENTION APPALACHIA, OR HILLBILLY, OR REDNECK, OR WHATEVER, THEY ALREADY HAVE AN IMAGE THERE. IT IS HARD TO CRACK. THERE WAS A BOOK A FEW YEARS AGO ABOUT PICKNEY BENEDICT, WHO WAS FROM WEST VIRGINIA, A SHORT STORY WRITER, AND HE WROTE ABOUT PEOPLE AND THE COAL FIELDS, AND MANY OF THEM WERE PRETTY HARDLUCK PEOPLE AND HAD DIFFICULT LIVES AND SO FORTH. AND THIS REVIEWER REVIEWED IT BY SAYING THESE PEOPLE ARE TOO BROKEN TO BOND WITH ANYTHING MORE DEMANDING THAN A BEER CAN. THIS WAS A "NEW YORK TIMES" REVIEW BY A SOUTHERN WOMAN WHO REVIEWED IT, AND SHE SORT OF EXTOLLED THE NORTH OF INDUSTRY AND COMMERCE, AND THE SOUTH OF HISTORY AND ROMANCE, AND THAT WE ARE THE CUSP BETWEEN THE TWO THAT HAS NEITHER. YOU KNOW, I MEAN, EVEN DENYING US -- DENYING US EVEN CULTURE. SO, SHE COULD HAVE LEARNED SOMETHING ABOUT THE REGION IF SHE WANTED TO COMMENT ON THE REGION, BUT SHE MADE IT SEEM AS IF ALL OF THE PEOPLE OF APPALACHIA WERE LIKE THESE PEOPLE. STEREOTYPES -- THEY ARE CONVENIENT. THEY ARE LITTLE THINGS THAT WE STICK ON SOMETHING TO IDENTIFY IT WITHOUT HAVING TO THINK. A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY I WOULD NOT GO DOWN THERE BECAUSE SOMEBODY WOULD DO HARM TO YOU. I DO NOT THINK THAT WHAT HAPPENED HERE AS MUCH AS IT WOULD IN LOTS OF THESE CITIES IN THIS COUNTRY, YOU KNOW? I THINK ANYBODY WHO IS DECENT AND POLITE AND APPROACHES MOUNTAIN PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT WAY WILL BE TREATED RESPECTFULLY, PARTLY BECAUSE THERE IS STILL THAT OLD FRONTIER ETHIC OF TAKING THE STRANGER AND, -- IN, YOU KNOW, AND PEOPLE WILL INVITE YOU TO COME IN AND EAT, AND TO HELP YOU DOWN THE ROAD. I HAVE HAD PEOPLE SAY FOLLOW ME, I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO GET THERE, AND THAT SORT OF THING, YOU KNOW? I HAVE NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEM IN THE MOUNTAINS. A TIME OR TWO I RAN INTO A COUPLE OF INEBRIATED GUYS, YOU KNOW, WHO WANTED TO KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING IN THIS STRANGE PLACE, YOU KNOW? THEY SAID RATHER CHEERFULLY YOU LOOK LIKE SOMEONE I WOULD LIKE TO BEAT THE HELL OUT OF, BUT I IMMEDIATELY ASKED THEM IF THEY KNEW WHERE SOME CHAIR MAKER LIVED. "OH," THEY SAID, AND THEN THEY STARTED TELLING ME ALL ABOUT HIM AND THEN EVEN INVITED ME TO GO ALONG ON THE DRUNK WITH THEM. >> PEOPLE SHOULD NOT JUDGE AN AREA OR A PEOPLE JUST BY WHAT THEY HEAR. IT HAS TAKEN A VERY ENDEARING, HARD-WORKING PEOPLE TO STAY HERE AND TO MAKE A LIVING IN THESE MOUNTAINS. THIS IS WHO WE ARE, OR PART OF WHO WE ARE, AND TO GET AWAY FROM THE STEREOTYPES, AND TO SEE WHAT IS ACTUALLY HERE, AND WHAT HAS BEEN HERE FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS IN THE TOWN OF OUR PAY -- AND THE TALENT OF THE PEOPLE AND THE CRAFTSMANSHIP THEY HAVE DEVELOPED, I THINK THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO GET THAT OUT THERE SO THAT PEOPLE CAN SEE WHAT WE REALLY ARE ALL ABOUT HERE. IT IS NOT WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN LED TO BELIEVE. >> IN ANY CITY, IN ANY COUNTRY, IN ANY AREA OF THE WORLD, YOU CAN FIND SULLEN FACES OF THE IMPOVERISHED. YOU CAN COME ACROSS HOSTILITY, AN AVERSION TO OUTSIDERS. THESE ARE NOT UNIQUE TO APPALACHIA, NOR ARE THEY INDICATIVE OF AN ENTIRE POPULATION. AS A TELEVISION CREW WITH A CAMERA, WE WERE OUTSIDERS TO THESE PEOPLE, AND YET THEY WELCOMED US WITH THE FAMILIARITY OF OLD FRIENDS, EAGER TO SHARE THEIR KINDNESS, THEIR HUMOR, THEIR HERITAGE WITH US. THERE IS A SPIRIT AMONG THEM, AND AFFINITY FOR EACH OTHER, AND A RESPECT FOR THE PAST, A PAST FOUNDED IN DETERMINATION, RESPONSIBILITY, FOR FAMILY AND COMMUNITY. A PAST THAT FINDS EXPRESSION IN THESE QUILTS, AND DOLLS, AND WORKS OF ART, AND IN THIS MUSIC, ALL TELLING THE STORY OF A CULTURE BORN AND NURTURED IN "THE MOUNTAIN'S SHADOW." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> WOW. VERY NICE. >> FOR A VHS COPY OF THE PROGRAM YOU HAVE JUST SEEN, PLEASE SEND $19.95 TO WVPT, OR CONTACT US FOR INFORMATION ON HOW TO PAY BY CREDIT CARD.
