PUBLICATIONS RELATED 1950 Roscoe Giffin People of the PMS School District Part 3 (090-129)

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 18: PUBLICATIONS RELATED
1950 Roscoe Giffin
People of the Pine Mountain School District,
Pine Mountain Community Study
Harlan County, Kentucky
PART 3 (090-129)

“Arthur Dodd” far left interviewing family for admission to PMSS. c. 1947 [kingman_009a]

TAGS: Roscoe Giffin, People of the Pine Mountain Settlement School District, 1950, Appalachian sociological studies, Appalachian communities, poverty, Appalachian migration, Appalachian lifestyles 1950, Harlan County employment, Incline, Big Laurel, Isaacs Creek, Pine Mountain, Gabes Branch, household income, health, family size, community relationships, religion, public assistance,

ROSCOE GIFFIN
PEOPLE OF THE PINE MOUNTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICT,
HARLAN COUNTY, KENTUCKY
PART 3 (090-129)

TRANSCRIPTION

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RESIDENTIAL AND OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY

Residential Mobility We have available two separate sets of data, which describe the general phenomena of residential mobility In both cases, the data are for husband and wife considered together. Data for households lacking a husband are available, but they have not been analyzed.

The data in table 29 portray the obvious tendency of these pairs to have lived in the Pine Mountain area the same length of time. And by. implication, though not by evidence, to be natives of the region. Of the 96 cases for which we have this information, we find 56 in which the husband and wife have lived in the area between 16 and 20 of the past 20 years. The. fact that in. 79 cases Both persons have resided in this area, the same number of years of the past 20 indicates clearly that there has been very little moving from the area. For a period of time by one of the persons and then returning.

Although the number of cases is too small for any generalization, it is worth noting that in four cases, men who had lived in the area for over 17 of the past 20 years were married to women who, in all but one case, had been in residence only three years. In the other case, the residence for the woman was seven years. The. implication of these data is that men are more apt to marry women from outside the region than for the reverse to be true. A further implication of these data, in general, is that there has been little immigration into the area. This conclusion is well substantiated by even a casual scanning of the population roster for place of birth.

The other side of the data relating to residential mobility, centers on the number of different places in which the husband and wife have resided

[1.] Computed from a more detailed table, not included in this manuscript.

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TABLE 29 NUMBER OF YEARS IN PAST 20 HUSBAND AND WIFE HAVE LIVED IN PINE MOUNTAIN AREA

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……… during the past twenty years, as shown in TABLE 30. Here we have a picture of a pronounced tendency for stability in the place of residence. Over 60% of the pairs had resided in two or less residences during that portion of the last 20 years, they had lived in this area. In only 10 cases had there been any moves in excess of four. The data ass presented do not support the following statement, but from another analysis, we have a further suggestion that women migrate into the area as a result of marriage more than do men. This interpretation is derived from the fact that, in 12 cases, the wife had made more moves than has the husband, while the reverse is true in but five cases.

As a final bit of evidence of the similarity of residence patterns for husband and wife, it is interesting to note that by totaling the cases showing the same number of places of residence, we include 85 of the 100 couples.

Although the data to be described as follows and shown in TABLE 31 do not relate directly to the question of residential mobility, they are further support in establishing the conclusion that this population is marked by a high degree of immobility — although we lack any norms or comparisons to quantify the words, “high – degree”. In response to the question of traveling within and outside the state of Kentucky, we found 37 answers of “none” Husband and wife considered together, plus nine additional for such persons considered separately. “None” was defined in this case as meaning travel limited to immediately adjacent towns and counties. If “out of state ” be recognized as requiring some degree of” In – state. ” travel, we can then say that in 61 cases there was” in – state travel. Whether or not this is a lower level of travel than would be characteristic of people living elsewhere, this writer is unable to say with certainty or by citation, but in view of the fact indicated previously ……..

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TABLE 30 NUMBER OF DIFFERENT PLACES IN WHICH HUSBAND AND WIFE HAVE RESIDED IN PAST 20 YEARS

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TABLE 31 TRAVEL EXPERIENCE OF HUSBAND AND WIFE

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………. that less than 50% of the households had either cars or trucks, and since there is approximately one car for every family unit in the nation as a whole, it appears logical to conclude that people of the area have traveled considerably less than is true of the general population.

Occupational Mobility Several measurements might correspond to the concept of “table”occupational mobility”. We are limited in this case to depicting the number of changes in occupation within a 20 year. such as from farming to mining. Another measure of this concept might involve the actual number of different jobs held within the given time limit. Now that the interviewing is a thing of the past, and in the light of additional information gathered during the summer of 1951 the writer is of the belief that information showing the number of different jobs held would be quite helpful in more adequately describing the adjustments made by this population to an unstable employment situation. But this is but wishful thinking. f Hello. Wanna go walking? Yeah, I think I better do that. I’ve been too much sitting focused. O Bye. Bye.. K. Give me about. I have 1/2 a page to do here and it’ll be really fast. So Susan finish that I will be there. or the moment. And we must turn to verbally describing the data in TABLE 28. as they relate to the number of jobs held in relation to the number of years in the labor force.

The conclusions concerning these data are readily noticed. One is that over 50% of the heads of households have worked at two or less occupations. The other is that 83 or 68.5% of the cases. Have been members of the labor force, as here defined for between 15 and 20 years. [1.] It follows from this that relatively few young persons have entered this labor force in the past 14 years or less.

Is this to be expected? Increasing length of time in the labor force is directly related to the number of different occupations. Thus, by summing. The relevant data in table 32 we find that of the 26 cases involving three or more occupations. Eighteen of these persons have been in the labor force between 15 and 20 years.

[1.] Since we have focused our attention on families and households, we have chosen to define the labor force as including heads of the household, whether they were actually employed. for….[indecipherable – bottom of page is cropped]

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TABLE 32 RELATION OF NUMBER OF YEARS IN THE LABOR FORCE TO THE NUMBER OF OCCUPATIONS OF HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD

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WELFARE PROVISIONS

Public Welfare Assistance. In the United States public assistance programs designed to aid individuals and families to cope with some of the vicissitudes of modern life have been expanding rapidly in recent years. One of the maladjustments at which these programs are aimed is almost antiquity itself, and that is poverty. But several other aspects of the problem. Have become important, particularly with the rise of urbanism and industrialism. Dependence upon a wage – job for the means of subsistence in an economy which we are either unable or unwilling. To stabilize has meant economic insecurity for most of the labor force. The passing of the “great family”, And the increasing proportion of older persons has confronted both the older persons. and society with a serious problem of providing income for those no longer employable. In who no longer belong to a familial system whose members are willing to assume responsibility for aged persons. It appears also that with urbanism and industrialism has come a weakening of the bonds of marriage. One. result of which has been an increase in the number of cases of mothers with dependent children, but lacking a husband. Another phase of public assistance applies to those who have served in the military forces and are recipients of pensions, medical attention, educational grants, et cetera. Yet another category of assistance, which is a derivative of the present industrial order, is that of compensation for industrial accidents. despite all the seeming “rurality” Of the region here under study, we found all of the above aspects of public assistance.

As may be seen from TABLE 33 there were, in all 57 cases to be] [involving the various types of public aid. Old age pensions were being received by at least 18 persons. There were 35 persons in the area of age 65 or older. A number of these persons could not meet proof of need requirements for old age assistance, and it is highly probable that the interviewer did not….

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TABLE 33 RECIPIENTS OF PUBLIC AID BY TYPE AND AMOUNT

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….. obtain the information in several other cases. There is reason to believe that information is to requirements and benefits had not been made known to some persons who were eligible.

There were several cases known to the writer in which aid.’- 2 – dependent – children should have been available; Thus, the figure of 15 as shown in the table, understates the actual need for this form of public aid. From a monetary point of view, the largest payments in any category were those to veterans. The average for this group was well over $1000.

Family Provision of Assistance and Security Another approach to the description of Social Security and welfare is to consider the cases in which there are dependents in the household, other than the non – adult children of the parents. As shown by the data in TABLE 34 descriptive of the number and types of dependents approximately 35% of the households were providing security and assistance in this special manner. It is obvious that older persons are living in the homes of their children, far less than their children and their offspring are living in the homes of the older persons. There were 25 cases of children and their children, living in the parental households. Only three cases of parents living with children were discovered. Thus it is evident. That even in this non – urban area, the art of living alone or with an aged companion is required.

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TABLE 34 DISTRIBUTION OF DEPENDENTS BY NUMBER AND TYPE

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SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND PARTICIPATION

In all societies, there are various other organizations in addition to the families of the households. The characteristic common to all of them, as well as the family, is that they are interaction sets. Those other than the family involve interaction that is usually of less intensity. Frequency and duration. these interaction sets may be classified in various ways according to the extent of formality, kinship, geographical proximity, Class similarity, etc.. Those which we shall consider are kinship in informal groups, neighborhoods, social classes, trade center relations, and formal organizations.

Kinship Groups Among the most important of the informal groupings in any society are the kinship groups. They are important for nothing else than in determining what persons are accessible to each other for purposes of marriage. In addition, the kinship system is important as a source of social and economic security and opportunity.

As one talks with the people of the Pine Mountain area, he may conclude at first that everyone is related to everyone else. In truth, there is a very complicated pattern of family relations. But it is true also that it may be structured into a few family systems between which there are few or no marriage relations. If one looks closely enough, he will find a few families unrelated to any other families of the area.

The complexity of the kinship system, which may develop in isolated areas of the Kentucky Mountains, has been portrayed in…..

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…… Detail by dr James S Brown of the University of Kentucky. In his study of the social organization of the people of a mountain valley. [1.] The study we have made in this case has not gone into the kinship system with sufficient detail to set forth the genealogy of the people involved, but enough has been learned to give us the impression that the pattern is similar to that found by Dr Brown.

Our data limits us to presenting a brief statistical picture of the number of close relationships among the families. The data are shown in TABLE 35.

It is a suspicion of the writer of this document that there are few areas in the United States inhabited by a 121 families in which one would find 34 families. Who are each related as closely as first cousins to five other families. One way of describing these family relationships is to think of the kinship bonds. For some 14 families, there was only one such bond; for 18 there were two; for 24 families, there were three; and so on. It must be recognized that kinship relations are not necessarily social or economic. For all of us are aware that antagonisms may develop such that there may be mutual rejection, rather than the ” ties that bind”.

We are confronted with considerable difficulty in depicting the informal group organization of a social system. But among the types of evidence which can be used to delineate such systems, Are those of family visits with ken and non – ken with those in the same or other neighborhoods. Something of the intensity of the social interaction or extent of informal group participation can be gathered from data on the types and numbers of visits in social contacts.

[1.] Brown, James S. Social Organization in a Kentucky Mountain Valley, Ph.D Dissertation, Harvard University, 1950.

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TABLE 35 HOUSEHOLDS BY NUMBER OF FIRST COUSINS OR CLOSER FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS

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As one phase of the interview, the question was asked as to the three families visited most often and as to their being kin or non-kin. These data are presented in TABLE 36. Entitled. ” Families Visited With Most Often.. [1.] The importance of kinship in establishing social visiting patterns is made apparent by an analysis of these data. We find that in 73 of the 121 cases the three families named as visited most often were kin. In only 34 cases were non – kin visited most often. although as shown in table 35 there were ten there were 10 households in the area with no relation to others as close as first cousin. We find 21 cases in which there was no visiting with kin. It is thus apparent that in at least 11 cases where there are relations there was number visiting either for reasons of distance or of antagonism.” But to close the discussion on a “kinly note”, it must be stated that in 58 cases, all the families visited with most often were kin.

The importance of geographical proximity in determining visitation patterns. May be shown by considering the results of the question indicated in the preceding paragraph. For the further identification of those visited according to neighborhoods. as shown in TABLE 37 “Family Visits According to Neighborhood”, We find that visiting is largely an intra – neighborhood affair. In 49 cases, no family in another neighborhood was named as among those visited most frequently. As compared to only 39 cases of visiting in other neighborhoods. In 79 cases, the most frequently visited were limited to the neighborhood within which the given family was living. The possible influence of…..

[1.] To aid in the interpretation of this table, we suggest that the reader note that this is a 2 – way classification which tells us, for example, that of the 23 cases listing 1 kin family as visited. There were 9 who stated no important visiting relation with non – kin, 6 who visited with one non – kin, 3 with 2 non – kin, and two with three non – kin.

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TABLE 36 FAMILIES VISITED WITH MOST OFTEN

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TABLE 37 FAMILY VISITS ACCORDING TO NEIGHBORHOODS

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….. The amount of time available for such leisure activities as visiting may be seen. By noticing that among the 36 naming only 1 family within the neighborhood, there were 21 who visited elsewhere. Among the 29 naming 2 families within their neighborhoods, as most often visited, there were only 8 cases in which families elsewhere were named.

An interesting question, which we have sought to answer, is that of the comparative importance of kinship and neighborhood as determinants of the visitation patterns. We have organized the data to answer this question by cross – classifying visits so as to distribute the kinship visits according to neighborhood and non – neighborhood and the non – kin. visits in the same manner. the results are shown in TABLE 38. “Visits by Kinships and Neighborhood”. It rather appears from this table that kinship is a more important factor in determining visits than is proximity. The evidence for this conclusion is of two sorts; , First, we note that within the neighborhood classification. 78 of. 120. Visits were with kin.; and secondly, we note that among kin, the number of intra – neighborhood visits exceeds only by 8 the number of non – neighborhood visits. Our data are not in such a form that we can determine the extent to which a given neighborhood is composed of kin families. Thus, we cannot say with certainty that kin is actually more important than non – kinship in determining visits, for it may be that in some neighborhoods there are very few households which are not related, or there may be very few which are related. However, since in the entire area, kinship and visitations extend across the neighborhood lines, we may presume that, in total, the neighborhoods contain a considerable proportion of non – kin families. On the basis…….

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TABLE 38 VISITS BY NEIGHBORHOOD AND KINSHIP

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…… Of his impressions, the writer is of the opinion that there are some neighborhoods such as big Laurel in which kinship dominates.; But there are others such as incline, in which non- kinship dominates.

Friendship, Clique, and Mutual Aid Groups. We gathered little data, which can be presented in a quantitative manner regarding these informal groupings. Thus, our comments are limited principally to statements based on personal observations.

The friendship and click groups are noticeable around the various stores, churches and school grounds. To a large extent, they are mainly a male affair since such groupings require. A degree of mobility and freedom which is not available to females of the area.

On week days, women who live close to one of the stores combined purchasing with visiting and both proceed in a very leisurely manner. Many of the stores are located near the churches and on a Sunday. Church attendance is mixed with the visiting Inn and around the stores. In the summer, such stores do a thriving business in the sale of cold.”pop”, candy gum and tobacco.

The greater attachment of women than men to church attendants is readily noticeable at such occasions. For it seems the women are the principal occupants of the church views. And the men of the porches and grounds of the stores. On Sunday afternoons, it is quite common for a sizable group of young men to come to the grounds of the Pine Mountain Settlement School. And when weather permits engage in baseball and other diversions, On the occasions that we have observed the participants were drawn from the remotest parts of the area.

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Although those living near the school predominate. the mores of the area do not permit young women the same freedom of movement as the men. Consequently, one seldom observes such friendship groupings beyond the household. The efforts of the Pine Mountain staff to develop heterosexual recreation programs for these young people have been largely frustrated by this pattern.

Among children, the clicks and the friendship groups are determined largely by age, sex and proximity factors. And they appear to be manifested in about the same ways as in most other parts of America.

Another manifestation of friendship groupings is indicated in the data we obtained concerning the informal visits among householders. We are not showing this information in tabular form, but are reporting on data available from our files. To this urban dweller, it was quite impressive to discover 45 cases among the householders who estimated that they had received over 275 visitors in the preceding year. In another 32 cases, over 350 social calls were estimated. In the remainder of the cases, there was no noticeable pattern or clustering, with the exception of some 12 who indicated having received no visitors in the past year.

The fact is controlling the formation of the groups here, considered, are those related to location, occupation schedules, physical- psychological development, In the cultural determination of sex roles.

Several decades ago, when agriculture was of more importance than at present, mutual aid groups were apparently rather common. These were known as “workings” In consistent of groups who collectively worked in their respective fields at various stages of the cycle of……

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…. corn production in particular. ” To listen to the description of these affairs, as related by older residents, it is quite apparent that they were far from being. all work and no play.” Events. These descriptions indicate that entire families were involved in the work exchanges, which were often followed by all – night parties. And apparently important outcome of these. Occasions was that of bringing young men and women together, where the preliminaries to many a Marriage were carried on. At present, there is no comparable arrangement where people may come together for social diversion as well as work. The nearest approach to the social diversion aspect of this observer’s. Judgment may appear a bit sacrilegious to the reader. However, it does seem that a major function serves by the various church meetings is that of an opportunity to catch up on the news, swap stories, and for young people of both sexes to get acquainted.

Neighborhoods. The information which was presented earlier in this section concerning visitation patterns, according to kinship and neighborhood, points to the existence of various neighborhoods. As being distinguishable social units within the area of the Pine Mountain consolidated school district data. are presented and discussed elsewhere in this study with respect to specific characteristics of these neighborhoods. We shall here only refer to this information in a summary manner, as a part of the intent to present a reconnaissance view of the neighborhoods. This choice is dictated to a considerable extent by the fact that we have not been able to afford the time necessary to organize all the data on the basis of neighborhood classifications.

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Were delineated by the use of information provided by those interviewed Each was asked the name of his neighborhood. The identifications were found to be. In substantial agreement, although there were some overlapping and uncertainty at the boundaries. Due to this fact, there is a small amount of arbitrariness in the drawing of the boundaries by the rider. The neighborhood represents an area which is given a common name by its residence. It is usually also characterized by a store and less frequently by a post office. In church. Previous to the school consolidation, there was a grade school in each except Gabe’s branch and Greasy. The only neighborhood which even begins to approach the definition of a community or village is that of Big Laurel. Here at the junction of big Laurel and greasy creek. Are several stores, post office, school building and a church, plus the most densely clustered group of housing in the entire area. The names and locations of the various neighborhoods. Were cited as a part of the earlier description of the Pine Mountain School District.

as measured by the number of households, the most populous is probably big Laurel. Although it had only one more than ivide. Big Laurel contained 26 households, while Divide had 25. Incline adjacent to the west of Divide embraced 21 households. The Little Laurel area contained 17 households. The neighborhoods immediately surrounding the settlement school are Pine Mountain in Isaacs Creek, each with nine households. At the northwest section of the district is the neighborhood of Greezy, with its eight households. This. smallest neighborhood is that of Gabe’s branch containing six households in a remote and thinly settled valley which drains into Greasy Creek and Leslie County.

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In addition to the previously mentioned characteristics, these neighborhoods are marked by rather definite social and economic differences. [1.] The following represents a profile sketch of each of them as based on both the writer’s observations and statistical data.

Incline: Median annual cash income of $1100 and relatively little household production; wide contrast between a few rather well -to – do families in the remainder; large proportion of tenants living in small dilapidated houses; quite a low score on the socio-economic status scale; generally unfavorable attitudes towards the neighborhood.

Divide: Median annual cash income of nearly $2000 and fewer extremes of income; relatively little tenancy; Income contrast with Incline not reflected proportionately in the quality of housing, nor in the socio – economic status score; generally more favorable attitudes toward the neighborhood than found in Incline.

Pine Mountain: Median income of approximately 2000.$300 the highest in the area and with few extremes.; Housing somewhat superior to Divide; little tenancy; Socio – economic status score, second only to Isaacs Creek; general satisfaction with the neighborhood.

Isaacs Creek: Median annual income a little less than $2200 housing most adequate as compared to the other neighborhoods; ; Very little tendency. : educational level above average ; highest socioeconomic status scale score ; General satisfaction with the living conditions.

LIttle Laurel: ; Median cash income of $1120. Only a little more than that of Incline; housing generally poor and many residents…..

[1.] Treated in more detail in other sections.

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….. Isolated away from roads and transportation ; little tenancy; Lowest socio – economic status score; Considerable satisfaction with living conditions, however.

Big Laurel: ; Median annual cash income of $2180 and no great extremes. housing above average and little tenancy; Status score about the same as Divide, although considerably less than Isaac’s Creek; general satisfactory attitude toward the neighborhood.

Greasy: Median Cash income of $750 lowest in area.; Several widows and pensioners among the nine households; housing quite inadequate but little tenancy; second to the lowest status score ; attitudes toward the neighborhood generally favorable.

Gabe’s Branch: Median annual cash income of 1005.; hundred $500 is below average for the area. ; housing below average; next to the lowest status score; remote and isolated; attitudes toward the neighborhood rather unfavorable.

The writer is aware that many of these characteristics are impressionistic statements which cannot pass off as scientific description. The. differences among the neighborhoods. Are so obvious, however, that we are confident of the general picture as presented. We have enough data that if time avails, it will be of considerable interest to develop these characteristics. With more accuracy and to extend the description to include other factors so as to present a more complete cultural and social profile. In general, these neighborhoods seem to be as distinctive as the ecological zones of towns and cities.

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Social Classes In addition to the conjugal families, The families of orientation or kinship groups. The various. friendship and click groups and the neighborhoods. It is usually possible to distinguish another social entity “class”. This category refers to people who may be said to be relatively equal, as measured in various ways, to which we will refer in the following comments. However, the various measures of relative equality are indicators or reflectors of facts which are significant from a sociological point of view. These facts concern classes as categories of people among whom there is interaction and between whom there is little interaction.

The original intent of this study did not include that of a careful delimiting of the various social classes, It is necessary to develop what we can in this regard by assembling various bits of information from here and there, within the general framework of the project. The variables which may be used to indicate the groupings of. Equals our numerous but we are here limited to discussion of a selected few. One measure to which we previously referred in this section in connection with the description of the neighborhoods is that of the scores on a scale of socio – economic status. Another measure is that of cash and home produced income and their relation to family size. Others to consider our occupation state, tenure status, and land holdings.

It is common in the U.S. to refer to three major classes as upper, middle, and lower. Since the nation is so heterogeneous. The scale of judgment or measurement must be relative to each situation, or must apply only among populations which are quite similar. Thus, the characteristics which make for “upperness” and “lowerness” We’ll differ according to community, etc. This means that one attempting to portray the class structure of a given population must choose the…..

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…. Point at which he draws the lines of separation. One approach may be to observe the variables for which he has statistical data. And look for rather sharp and obvious clusterings.

Our most important single measure of class is the socio – economic status scores, which were presented in detail in TABLE 26. It will be recalled that this score is a summation of points awarded for the possession of selected items of household equipment, for the level of education, and for the extent of participation in church activities. The 14 items were carefully selected for a considerably larger list of observed. observable characteristics. Consideration of the data on this subject indicates that there are rather sharp brakes in the distribution of the households along the status scale. In the two lowest classes, covering the score range of 31 – 40 there were 3 and six cases, respectively, The next interval of 41-45 Jumps to 19 cases.; From this point, there are 16 cases in each interval until the drop to 13 in the class of 66 – 70. Then follows a sharp drop to 8 into five cases in the last two intervals ending with 80. in social class terms, we might then say that the lower class as here measured includes nine cases, the middle class 96 and the upper class 13 cases.

The other variables relevant to this matter are, of course, all measured in different units. We can therefore hardly expect the distribution of the households to be the same as for the status score distribution However, In TABLE 17 where we find cash and home produced income cross – classified, we can see a close similarity between the status and home produced income distributions. In the latter, we find 9 cases indicating that no home production, which is equal to the 9 in the lowest two intervals in status distribution. The next……..

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…… 90 cases might be thought of as the middle class. A sharp drop in the frequencies occurs at the value interval of 1250 – 1499. The nine cases in this class, plus those above, it suggests an upper class of 16 cases as compared to 13 cases in the two top intervals on the state of scale.

Because the cash income intervals were so large, it is not possible to develop any such close comparisons. But the same general pattern is apparent. An interesting relation between the size of the household. And cash income may be observed in TABLE 28. In the less. Then $800 interval. We find the smallest families. And in the $4000 and over group, we find no family with over six members. From other information, we know that the lowest income class is composed to a large extent of elderly persons and widows with one or two children. The largest families occur in the three middle income intervals.

Occupation is a factor in the class – picture points to the dominance of farming and retirement in the group. We might think of as lower class using. cash income as our related measure. Of the 17 cases of income less than $600 9. occurred in these two categories as compared to but one each in lumbering and coal mining. Of the five cases of a cash income of $4000 and up three were occupationally associated with coal mining, but it is known that two of these were proprietors of mines.

Since agriculture is of such minor significance in this area, no very clear picture of class structure emerges from the consideration of the data regarding acres in crops, as shown in TABLE 19 or from those relating to size of land holding and tenure status. However, it is clear that of the 34 land holdings which were entirely rented, almost half of them were five acres or less in size. Among the ……..

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… entirely owned plots, less than 28% were five acres or less. of the 17 holdings over 75 acres. 10 were wholly owned, These data do suggest that both tenure and size of holding do tend to fall into the upper middle and lower categories, although the low order of importance of farming means that these factors are of limited significance in the indication of class lines.

The real ” acid test” of notion They had three classes composed of relatively homogeneous households. Are actually present. Would require considerable amount of detailed treatment of our data. It would be necessary to bring the relevant data for each household together. And to Turman, whether or not certain households tended to monopolize the low scores on each scale, Others to dominate the middle ranges and a few. others to be characterized by the higher scores, however. We believe that the distribution of households on the socio – economic status score scale supports the foregoing hypothesis sufficiently for. Us not to feel ” conscience- stricken” for the avoidance of this extra labor. as a status score, is it combined score of 14 variables? We believe the results would be closely correlated with those of the above suggested detailed treatment.

The final and certainly the most important test of the proposition that there are distinguishable classes requires evidence that the person’s who engage in various forms of social interaction are dominantly members of the same class This means that class is a mark of social cleavage, such that it rather sharply separates those who visit, exchange mutual aid, marry, etc. We do not have such data. It is important, therefore, to inquire whether or not interaction classes are associated closely with the socio- economic classes and the like.

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The research efforts of other students of this problem are most encouraging on this point. Loomis and Beegle state that it has been found that such scales. As that which we have used to measure socio – economic status are highly related to the patterns of association and ranking among people. [1.]

[ 1.] Charles P. Loomis. and J. Allen Beegle, Rural Social Systems. New York: Prentice -Hall, Inc. 1950, p. 358.

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Formal Organizations

In all human groups, there is an organizational structure, as evidenced by patterned interaction, distinguishable roles and observable status system. And commonly held values in sentiments in groups known as ” formal organizations” These aspects are relatively easy to discover. But amidst the “web of relations” Which goes to make up of society. There are innumerable groupings of people present which have no official title, a constitution of ideas and regulation, or selected officials. As we have seen, these formal groups are not so easy to discover and describe.

No special study has been made of the several formal organizations operating in this social situation and thus, such information as we have concerning them, is derived from our general knowledge, gained mainly through conversation. In the survey itself, our questions dealt only with the participation of members of the households in these formal organizations. It would be helpful to consider the question of formal organizations as such before describing the data relative to participation, but because of our lack of information and the actual paucity of such organizations, there is little to be said.

As of the summer of 1950, there were three churches functioning in addition to the Chapel at Pine Mountain School, which was being utilized on Sunday afternoons by a group drawn mainly from the Little Laurel neighborhood. One church at Big Laurel was of the Baptist denomination and was in the process of completing and paying for a new building. At the Creech School on Isaac’s Creek, there was a non – denominational Sunday School. The largest crowds, however, were to be found at the. national Sunday school, mid -week, prayer service, and Sunday evening services on alternate weeks. The largest crowds, however, were to be found at the……

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Holiness Church. between Divide and Incline. Those in attendance came from almost all the neighborhoods of the area. In none of these churches was there any evidence of the special organizations which are so frequently with organized religion, particularly among women.

Although there were no special organizations available to women, there were at least two for some of the men. One was the Masonic Lodge Group, which met at Creech School. Its membership was composed largely. Of the more influential men of the area. But no evidence was available to indicate that they functioned as a group in public affairs. Another special organization was the union. Membership in which was common among the men employed in wage – jobs. There were. 50 four persons belonging to a union. And in this area, this means generally, the United Mine Workers Union, which includes not only coal miners, but logging wood and sawmill employees as well as several other categories.

Our method of measuring the participation of persons in the formal organizations is that known as Chapin’s Social Participation Score”. Involves a system of weights of increasing size in order of the following levels of participation: membership, attendance at more than one quarter of the scheduled meetings, financial support, committee membership, and officer.

The lack of both formal organizations and participation in those existing. Is amply illustrated by the fact that, as shown in TABLE 39 the most common score was zero. Scores for the entire household were based on the combined scores of the husband and wife, or either alone. One further factor of note is the higher rate of participation among men than among women: more women than men had a zero score, and only three women had scores in excess of 6 as compared to 13 men. What we see betrayed here, but ………

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TABLE 39 SCORES OF CHAPIN FORMAL SOCIAL PARTICIPATION

Index by Households and by Men and Women

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…… Perhaps in exaggeration, is the tendency in all communities for organizational participation to be quite intensive for a very small proportion of the population and for a large percentage to be involved in little or nothing.

Trade Center Relations One final indicator of the social organization and participation of these people, remains to be briefly considered. This has to do with their dependence on various towns for the purchase of goods which are either not made at home or not purchased or purchasable in the neighborhood stores. Out of such dependant relations arises, of course, a highly formalized type of social participation, linking buyer and seller together. However, as any one who is familiar with the town or small city in an agricultural or rural area knows, Much also go on when such people come to town, in addition to buying and selling for many rural people, this is the major opportunity for social interaction with persons other than those of their immediate family and neighborhood.

Because of a lack of comparative data from other studies which would make a meaningful interpretation possible, because of. a large number of “no information” cases, we are not presenting the data on this point in tabular form. Informants were asked to estimate the frequency per month with which the husband and/or wife attended movies or went to town on business or for other purposes. As no attendance at movies was the most commonly indicated frequency, one conclusion to be drawn is that for a near majority of these people, a movie is not worth the cost of a trip across Pine Mountain to Harlan. Approximately a third of the men and women from whom information was. presenting the data on this point in tabular form.

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………. obtained went to Harlan on business trips, an average of one to three times per month. There were less than 10 cases of trips to town for purposes other than movies and business.

when these aspects of social participation are compared for husband and wife, we find that with one exception, they ev Almost equal rates. The one exception is that there. Are twice as many women who make no monthly visits to town on business as men, And that of the four cases involving 25 or more such trips, all were made by men. Nevertheless, in all categories of going to town for other than business or for movies, men and women participated to an approximately equal extent.

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VALUES AND ATTITUDES

Introduction: A Note on the Nature of Attitude and Values

Before attempting any description of the attitudes and values of the people of the Pine Mountain School District, it will be helpful to enter into a semantic excursion. Even though no benefit may accrue to the reader, it is hoped that the writers comprehension of this intricate subject will at least be clarified.

Every act of a human being which involves either interaction with another person or persons, or is related to objects, is a particular type of action selected from several alternative forms of behavior. Which are possible in the given situation?. the specific behavior utilized may have resulted from a process of conscious deliberation in which the relative merits of the several possible forms of action were rationally weighed and the most advantageous one was chosen. However, we are all aware that the choice is very often the result of the unconscious “taken – for – granteds” which were built into the person from infancy or by his associations. They thereby reflect the choices which have become culturally regularized.

The preceding analysis is applicable not only to past and present action, but applies similarly to anticipated future action. Every act is thus one choice from among many, which are possible within the limits of the human organism, the culture, and the habitat.

These choices are always subject to evaluation or appraisal.. included in this evaluation are both irrational and emotional. Or affective components. when we evaluate an action either of the past, present, or future as being good or bad, satisfactory, or unsatisfactory, yes or no, we indicate something of our thoughts as well as our feelings about the choice ……..

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……… made, Generally, the choice is made in the past are appraised in a positive manner. But often ” we do what we would not” and then negative appraisal is evoked, accompanied, possibly by guilt feelings. We designate these appraisals of choices made or hoped for among several possible alternatives as ” attitudes”. An attitude is thus a verbal indicator of the response we make to a particular line of action selected from among various possibilities. As an example, everyday society builds its diet around a relatively small proportion of the foodstuffs which are potentially available to it. And thus the members of society say ” yes” to eating rabbits, but “no” to eating snakes. A feeling of satisfaction that one has made a good buy as a result of purchasing shoes at $5 rather than $10 may be labeled an attitude. There is no need for the rider to continue with examples. ad nauseam. For the reader can certainly recognize, by this time, the general nature of the concept of attitudes and form his own illustrations.

Just as ” attitudes” Is a verbal reverent for our evaluation of a choice, there are symbols to refer to the factors or cons conditions which have directed the selection of a given choice of action.. Even a hasty survey of word – usage indicates that there are several terms which we apply to these controlling conditions. Among these terms is that of ” value(s)”. Other words frequently used are reason in criteria.. As an example, we may say that the choice of $5 rather than $10 shoes reflected the value placed on holding $5 as cash, rather than investing it. In shoes at a higher price. The economist refers to this value as “liquidity preference”. It is true that values other than that indicated may be involved in the same choice.. This last statement points to an important characteristic of values, namely that they are inferential But we also comment on this in more detail at a later point.

Before proceeding to other aspects of this problem, we want to add a very brief footnote of mental hygiene.. That is simply to say that when the attitude one holds toward either a past or expected, future action is……..

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……… Positive or satisfactory to us, it seems reasonable to conclude that behavior and values are in harmony. This seems also to coincide with one formulation of freedom. When we do what we feel we ought to do, we are free. it seems to this rider that such are the main conditions of mental health.

The foregoing diversion leads directly into a topic related both to mental health and the primary concern of this section. when. an attitude of dissatisfaction is expressed as to a given action. Or expected action, there is evidence of hierarchy of values. we are opposed to the choice at a level of subjective thought and feeling, yet we accept the necessity of the choice at the level of action.. It seems reasonable to infer that this is a consequence of their being present in the situation, a ranked system of values. Those which dictated the action are more powerful than those controlling the evaluation: “we do what we would not.”

We must turn now to the question of the nature of the evidence for the existence of values. Regarding attitudes, we tend to rely mainly on verbal assertions made by the one who acts. But the land of values is less easy to map, either by the one who acts or by an analyst. this surely is the realm of psychiatry and Psychoanalysis and we hesitate to make more than a few general statements at the portals of this dim region. However, values may be inferred by an observer from the choices which people make, from that to which they give their attention, from the statements made, and from the implicit premises involved in our social sanctions. Although this is a road marked with many obstacles, it is not one from which a social scientist turns aside.

From our understanding of a people and their culture, our efforts to propose the routes to social change will be no better than our comprehension of the values of those with whom we are concerned. For the…………

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Anthropologists this is a key in the effort to understand a people, whether they be non – literate, “primitives” Or the confused literates of “civilization”. [1.]

Your reason for this lengthy note of introduction to this subject of attitudes and values is to lay something of a foundation for an attempt at a later point to formulate a few hypotheses regarding the values of the people here studied.

[1.] For an introduction to anthropological treatment of this problem, the following is suggested: Ruth Benedict, Patterns of Culture, New American Library, NY: 1934. A particular interest is Chapter 3, “The Integration of Culture.”

For a recent attempt to formulate the values of American culture. The following is recommended: Robin M Williams, Jr., American Society: a Sociological Interpretation. NY: Knopf, 1951. (Particularly chapter 11, ” Value Orientations in American Society.”)

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SELECTED ATTITUDES AND VALUES

We have chosen to examine only a limited number of the attitudes and values of these people, which are of interest in terms of this study. It will be obvious that we have neglected far more of them than we have studied.

Pine Mountain Area as a Place of Residence The general estimate of the area is a place to live in, is shown by neighborhoods in TABLE 40. so far as two – thirds of all those interviewed are concerned, the area is a ” very good” or else a “pretty good ” place in which to live. Some 28% regarded as “only fair” and “poor”. When considered by neighborhoods, we find the greatest deviation from the above pattern in the cases of Incline, Pine Mountain, and Isaacs Creek. In the case of Incline, we find considerable more dissatisfaction, as indicated by the numbers in the “only fair” or “poor” categories. Of the 18 interviews in the other two neighborhoods, only 3 registered unfavorable attitudes, as defined previously. When we compare these results with the data showing the distribution of cash income by neighborhoods, [1.] we find that Incline had the largest proportion of families in the low income levels of any neighborhood. Conversely, Pine Mountain and Isaacs Creek had the highest proportion of upper income groups of any of the neighborhoods.

[1.] See page 56, TABLE 16.

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