Appalachia: What is it?

It is important to learn about appalachia because we are living in it, and it is important to understand the history and culture behind the place that you choose to live. Appalachia has a wealth of culture that is extremely valuable for people to learn.

In the 1890’s the president of Berea College, William Goodell Frost made the first real attempt at mapping out what he referred to as “Appalachian America”. Although Appalachia does not have definite topographical boundaries the region is roughly defined by 420 counties, 13 states, and 8 independent cities. An estimated 90% of Appalachia's earliest European settlers originated from the Anglo-Scottish border country. Unfortunately due to the region’s rural location it has lagged behind in economic health, and significantly in

education leading to many stereotypes about the region. Some may say that people from appalachia are “hicks”, “hillbillies” or “rednecks” but there are some aspects of the Appalachian culture that are quite valuable.

We interviewed several people wandering around Alden Library and got interesting responses concerning appalachia. Many people did not identify themselves as appalachian but said that they did know a lot o

f people that are appalachian. All interviewed did say that they knew of many of the common stereotypes of people from appalachia, but did not w

holly support them or believe them. All of the people interviewed thought it was important that students living in Athens should know a little bit about appalachian culture so that they could better interact with the people they see every day. They noted that the people of appalachia run this town and it is important to understand where they came from and their culture. Some of the people interviewed shared some interesting facts about appalachia, one of them being that the Appalachian Trail is one of the best hiking footpaths in the world and stretches 2,167 miles all the way from Georgia to Maine. Many aspects of appalachian culture, such as music, are unique to the region and contribute greatly to American Culture as a whole.

Michael, Morgan, Kathy, Jeffrey