PUBLICATIONS RELATED 1950 Roscoe Giffin People of the PMS School District Part 4

Pine Mountain Settlement School
Series 01: HISTORIES
Series 18: PUBLICATIONS RELATED
1950 Roscoe Giffin
People of the Pine Mountain School District,
Pine Mountain Community Study
Harlan County, Kentucky
PART 4 (PAGES 131-157)

Jumping Rope 6-1950 Pine Mountain Settlement School, Community School. [Jumping-Rope-6-1950.jpg]

TAGS: Roscoe Giffin, People of the Pine Mountain Settlement School District, 1950, sociological study, Appalachian communities, population, families, economy, social organization, Labor Unions, sociological studies, poverty, migration, values, attitudes, Appalachian lifestyles 1950, Appalachian religions, employment, household income, health, family size, community relationships

ROSCOE GIFFIN People of the Pine Mountain Settlement School District 1950

TRANSCRIPTION Part 4

p. 131

TABLE 40 –
ATTITUDES TOWARD THE PINE MOUNTAIN AREA AS A PLACE TO LIVE – BY NEIGHBOR

Neighborhood	Very Good Place	Pretty Good	Only Fair	Poor	No Information	TOTALS
Incline	2	10	3	6	0	21
Divide	9	7	5	4	0	25
Pine Mountain	3	4	1	1	0	9
Isaacs Creek	4	3	1	1	0	9
Greasy	3	3	0	1	1	8
Little Laurel	6	3	3	2	3	17
Big Laurel	8	14	3	1	0	26
Gabe’s Branch	0	1	2	1	2	6
TOTALS	35	45	18	16	7	121

The same general question of the value placed on the area as a residence place was approached through the question: “Do you want to move away from Pine Mountain?” The data are shown in Table 40 by neighborhoods and in general show the same results as the preceding information. 66% did not want to leave and 28% did. One noticeable variation appears in that the largest proportion expressing a desire to move away was found in the Divide area, rather than Incline. Although more regard Incline as an unsatisfactory area, the alternative available to them are perhaps such that there is no intent to move away. 1. The relatively small number of “no information” and “uncertain” responses obtained in this and the previous question would appear to point to rather well-established and firmly held attitudes regarding the area as a place of residence.

Along with the bare ” yes”, and “no” responses to the question of moving away, we also inquired as to the reasons. Because of the complexity of the tabulation and the relatively slight amount of information it would add, we have chosen not to present the data. Thus, the following comments are based on information in the files of the writer. Among the 28% who wanted to move away, the most commonly stated reasons were, “to be nearer the husband’s work” and “want a good farm – better than here”. Eight other reasons were expressed, such as, “lack of work”, and “poor roads and no busses”. Among the 80% cent who wanted to remain 3 reasons were dominant: the most common was that of “own our home here”. In order of importance, the next two were: “it’s peaceful and quiet here”, and “we have many relatives and friends here”. The experience of the writer and information obtained in this survey is such that he [Giffin] would strongly affirm the truth of both these statements.

[1.] During the summer of 1951 we were told by one of the Pine Mountain teachers that a desperately poor family had moved from Incline but had returned. One of the children explained this in terms of their being treated derogatorily at the other school because of their poor clothing.

p. 132

TABLE 41
ATTITUDES TOWARD MOVING AWAY FROM PINE MOUNTAIN BY NEIGHBORS

Neighborhood	No Information	Yes	No	Uncertain	Total
Incline	0	5	13	2	21
Divide	0	10	14	1	25
Pine Mountain	0	1	6	2	9
Isaacs Creek	1	1	6	1	9
Greasy	1	1	6	0	8
Little Laurel	1	4	12	0	17
Big Laurel	0	4	22	0	26
Gabe’s Branch	1	2	1	2	6
TOTAL	5	28	80	8	121

Evaluation of the Land for Farming. The resource potentials of the land for farming purposes Are reflected both in the attitudes expressed and recorded in Table 42. And by the infrequencies in which we found farming a major source of income. as the totals in this table show., the evaluation as. quote, pretty good was most common. But the only. but the only fair and poor tallies totaled a majority who gave an unfavorable judgment to the land for purposes of farming. 1. When the data are examined on a neighborhood basis, we find a pattern rather similar to the judgments recorded for the area as a place of residence.

Desires of Parents for Place of Residence of Children. Both as an index of the value assigned to the area as a place to live. And as a means of getting some idea of the importance of family life and children. We. asked the informant where he or she would like the children to live when they reach adulthood. As our discussion will indicate. These responses also probably point to another attitude or value based on the hopes and expectations of the parents, as well as their knowledge of what life might be like elsewhere. These data are again classified by neighborhoods. In table 43 we again find some interesting contrasts.

The results considered within. regard to neighborhood in the. end in the same direction as the results of our previous analysis of the value placed on the area for resonance. That is the most common answer given was that they wanted the children to live around here. This occurred in 39 cases as compared to the next most common answer of quote to live elsewhere. as given by 28. However, if we combine the last two categories …

This interviewer recalls that on several occasions older informants defined the land as of satisfactory quality and then went on to explain the decline in usage by the claim that young people were not as ambitious or hard working as their elders had been.

p. 134

TABLE 42
ATTITUDES TOWARD LAND FOR FARMING PURPOSES BY NEIGHBORS

Attitude toward Farm Land	Incline	Divide	Pine Mountain	Isaacs Creek	Greasy Creek	Little Laurel	Big Laurel	Gabe’s Branch	TOTAL
No Information	3	3	0	1	2	5	6	3	23
Very Good	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	6
Pretty Good	6	7	2	1	3	5	12	2	38
Only Fair	5	7	2	4	2	2	3	1	26
Poor	7	8	4	2	1	4	4	0	30
TOTAL	22	26	9	9	8	17	26	6	123

P. 135

TABLE 43 WHERE PARENTS WOULD LIKE THEIR CHILDREN TO LIVE BY NEIGHBORHOOD

WHERE ?…	Incline	Divide	Pine Mt.	Isaacs Cr.	Greasy	L. Laurel	B. Laurel	Gabes Br.	TOTALS
Around Here	5	8	2	0	4	6	13	1	39
Elsewhere	8	5	3	3	0	6	3	0	28
Don’t Care	3	2	0	1	0	1	1	0	8
Don’t Know	1	4	1	0	0	0	2	1	9
Where They Can Do Best	1	2	0	1	1	1	1	0	7
Where They Want	0	0	1	2	0	0	3	1	7
Not Applicable	2	3	2	1	1	1	1	0	11
No Info	1	1	0	1	2	2	2	3	12
TOTALS	21	25	9	9	8	17	26	6	121

NEIGHBORHOODS

P. 136

… of “where they can do best” and “where they want” with “to live elsewhere” as indicating probably an orientation away from the area, we have a total of 42, exceeding, slightly, those preferring that their children should live near them. Perhaps we can say that there was approximately an even balance of attitudes in this connection.

The neighborhoods which gave the largest vote for their children to live nearby were Big Laurel and Greasy. These people appeared rather possessive of their children, as indicated by over a 2 to 1 ratio of ” around here” to the classifications, which pointed away from the area. Of the 18 cases in the Pine Mountain – Isaacs Creek neighborhoods, only two preferred that their children should live “around. here”. Incline, Divide, and Little Laurel were about equally divided.

Parent’s Desires for Education of Their Children. The responses we obtained to our question as to the amount of education parents want their children to have, seems to reflect a common belief in America that education is the remedy for a lot of ills. The data have again been tabulated on a neighborhood basis and are shown in Table 44.

The most striking conclusion about these responses is the large number in favor of a college education. For our data on the educational status of the population, we found only one person who was a college graduate. It thus comes as something of a surprise to find 40 percent. specifying college education. It is possible that our questions were not sufficiently definite to elicit more specific answers from some of the remainder, and thus our next largest response was the 33 persons who preferred “as much as they can get ” [education]. It is highly possible that many of …

p. 137

TABLE 44 PARENTS DESIRES FOR EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN BY NEIGHBORHOODS

Amount of Education Desired	Incline	Divide	Pine Mountain	Isaacs Creek	Greasy	Little Laurel	Big Laurel	Gabe’s Branch	TOTAL
No Information	3	2	0	1	2	1	2	3	14
Not Appliable	2	3	2	1	1	1	1	0	11
Don’t Care	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
None	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Three R’s	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Thru 8th Grade	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
High School	2	7	0	0	1	2	2	2	16
Go to College	7	7	4	7	3	7	14	1	50
Other	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
As Much as They Can Get	10	6	2	0	1	6	8	0	33
TOTALS	24	25	9	9	8	17	28	6	126

p. 138

… those who responded in the foregoing manner were actually uncertain of their attitude and this particular statement of “as much as they can get” came nearest to fitting their particular state of mind. The fact that 16 informants were satisfied with high school for their children in itself points further to the high value placed on education among the people who have had relatively little schooling, as measured by urban standards, particularly.

Careful examination of the data on a neighborhood basis again impresses one with the striking differences present in this rather small population. Of the 18 cases in the Pine Mountain – Isaacs Creek neighborhoods, 11 preferred college education for their children, only two were in the “as much as they can get” category, while high school was not chosen by any as a stopping point. Seven of the nine cases in Isaacs Creek specified college education. The balance between college and the “as much as they can get” choice is about equal for Incline, Divide, and Little Laurel. A larger proportion indicated “high school” in the Divide area than in any other. Big Laurel parents came through with almost a 2-1 ratio of college “as much as they can get”, with but two specifying ” high school”.

The relation of these data to those in the preceding section, where we describe the attitudes of parents toward the question of where they thought their children should live, warrants further comparison and interpretation. In such a socio-cultural setting as that of Pine Mountain, there are relatively few opportunities for such specialized skills as might be obtained through college education, nor is the culture of these people of such a nature as to require this type of advanced education in order to acquire the knowledge and behavior patterns to….

p.139

make possible a satisfactory adjustment. Thus, there is a faint hope that those who attend college will return to this area to live. The obvious meaning of these data as a first approximation is that we have a case of values in conflict: parents cannot hope to achieve both values of having their children live nearby, and yet have them attend college. There is the possibility, however. that our informants were more consistent than this crude treatment of the data indicates. The real test of inconsistency is to determine if the persons who wanted a college education for their children, also wanted them to live nearby. The results of our analysis of this relation are presented in TABLE 45 and discussed in the following paragraph.

Analysis of the data indicates that there were some parents on both sides of the issue. Among those who wanted their children to live around here, 17 or 41% also wanted them to go to college. But among those who indicated that they hope their children would live elsewhere, we find 17 or 59 per cent who wanted them to go to college. When we sum the relevant totals for “elsewhere”, “where they can do best”, and “where they want to” as indicating an orientation of parents away from Pine Mountain, we find 60% who favor a college education. In summary, we can say that a size of a majority of those who hope their children go to college have expectations of their living at some other location. However, there was a noticeable number who held what seems to the writer as being conflicting values.

p. 140

TABLE 45 EDUCATION DESIRED FOR CHILDREN RELATED TO RESIDENCE DESIRED FOR CHILDREN WHEN GROWN

Education Desired for Children	Residence Desired for Children When Grown
Education Desired for Children	No Info.	Not Applic.	Around Here	Elsewhere	Don’t Care	Don’t Know	Where Do Best	Were Want	TOTAL
No Information	9	0	1	1	2	0	1	0	14
Not Applicable	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	11
Don’t Care	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
None	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3-R’s	0	0	0						0
Through 8th Grade	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
High School	2	0	9	1	0	2	0	1	15
College	0	0	17	18	3	4	6	4	52
Other	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
As Much As They Can Get	2	0	12	9	3	3	1	3	33
TOTAL	13	11	41	29	8	9	8	8	127 *

In six cases two answers were given as to the amount of education desired, bringing the usual total of 121 to 127

p. 141

Types of Employment Considered Undesirable for Their Children by Parents
Coal mining has become one of the most important sources of income and employment in southeastern Kentucky in the past 20 to 30 years; particularly has this been true in Harlan County. And yet, as the data in TABLE 46 show, coal mining employment was rejected by parents for their children more than any other occupation. Apparently, the physical dangers, the seasonality, the frequently unsightly coal camps and the violence associated with unionization have developed in many of these parents a deep-seated aversion toward the industry. Although but 20 persons were occupationally attached to the coal mining industry, far more than that had had experience in this industry; thus this attitude has been formed out of a direct living experience. (1.)

Second to the rejection of mining is timber-employment which ranked first in the area of employment in the summer of 1950. Again, this attitude has been formed from direct contact for such work experience has been part of the life-history of nearly all of the men. This employment is also similar to mining in its physical hazards, seasonal and cyclical uncertainty and with the more intense uncertainty due to rapid resource exhaustion.

It is to be noted that “moonshining’ received seven votes of opposition. Knowledge of the consequences of such employment has been readily available to these people for the operation of stills has been and is yet an occupation of a few, though unknown number.

Since it was expected that most of our informants would be women, we had added a question inquiring whether the answers here given were agreed to by the husband. Very few cases of a difference in attitude were found.

p. 142

TABLE 46 TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT CONSIDERED UNDESIRABLE FOR THEIR CHILDREN BY PARENTS

UNDESIRABLE JOBS		NUMBER OF REPLIES
Don’t care; none		11
Don’t know		17
Some		84
	Mining	49
	Timbering	19
	Moonshining; Liquor	7
	Dance Hall	2
	Other	3
	No Info	4
No Info		23
Not Appliable		10
TOTALS		145 *

More than one answer in some cases.

p. 143

ATTITUDES TOWARDS LABOR UNIONS.
The history of unionization in Harlan County can be written in terms of violence and bloodshed. Certainly it has been one of the most difficult struggles in the United States. But it is difficult for this writer to conclude that the longtime results have been anything but beneficial for the union members. And the experiences of the people. interviewed in this study has been such, apparently, to endow them with generally favorable attitudes toward unions, as is indicated in TABLE 47. Less than 10% of all interviewed disapproved of unions. Of those expressing an opinion, there was a 5 to 1 ratio on the side of approval.

It is interesting to note further from these data that those who were not union members produced a large majority of the total ” no opinion and ” disapprove” answers. But in the nonunion households, there was nearly a 2 to 1 vote in favor. Among union member households, the vote in favor was a ratio of 12 to 1 among those expressing an opinion.

The interviewers also attempted to obtain some evidence as to the intensity with which the opinions were held, either by direct questioning or from the manner of speaking and words chosen by the informant. Our estimate of the intensity was then marked on an opinion scale. We recognize that this procedure injects the interviewer’s judgment more than might be desired, and more than has been true of the other data. However, that may be the results of our data (not shown here) are that those approving held the opinion more intensely than those not approving. Those who were union members exceeded the approval-intensity of non-union members by a small, though noticeable margin.

p. 144

TABLE 47 ATTITUDES TOWARD LABOR UNIONS

How Do Yu Feel About Labor Unions	Union Member of Head of Household
How Do Yu Feel About Labor Unions	YES	NO	NO INFO	NOT APPLICABLE	TOTAL
Approve	46	16	0	1	63
Disapprove	4	7	0	0	11
No Opinion	2	17	4	1	24
No Info	2	2	11	8	23
TOTAL	54	42	15	10	121

p.145

Acceptance of the Consolidated School.
The consolidation of the district schools of Divide, Incline, Isaacs Creek (Creech School), Little Laurel and Big Laurel, into the one school plant on the grounds of the Pine Mountain Settlement School, has brought this institution into a new relation to the surrounding populace. Since one objective of this study is to accumulate information with which future comparisons can be made, it was important to discover how the parents and others were responding to the new program.

In TABLE 48 will be found the tabulated responses to the question of whether or not the school was as good as in other years, plus suggested changes in the program. As indicated by these replies, the school staff has evidently succeeded in the first year of this new arrangement in providing an acceptable substitute. In only nine cases were the results viewed as less satisfactory than in previous years although we did not try to obtain any recorded information as to the intensity of the opinion, or whether they believed the school was not just “as good as” but, perhaps, superior. The writer [Giffin] has a distinct recollection of having heard many laudatory comments concerning the program.

In order to determine points at which parents thought there should be changes or improvements, we asked for suggestions. The change most frequently desired was the establishment of a high school which is of course, no criticism of the new program through the 8th grade. Among the actual changes suggested, which might be thought of as a criticism, we find “more discipline” stated in seven cases. (1,)

The large percentage of “no information” and “none” in the changes in the school program section of the table should probably be interpreted as dominantly indicative of no express desires. The interviewers had a tendency to omit recording anything when no opinion was expressed. Those who coded the questionnaires therefore found a large proportion of “no information”.

p. 146

TABLE 48 ATTITUDES TOWARD THE SCHOOL CONSOLIDATION AND CHANGES DESIRED IN SCHOOL PROGRAM

CHANGES IN SCHOOL PROGRAM YOU WANT		WAS THE SCHOOL AS GOOD AS THOSE OF OTHER YEARS?
CHANGES IN SCHOOL PROGRAM YOU WANT		No Info	Yes	No	Don’t Know	TOTAL
NONE		2	20		4	26
SOME		2	58	7	3	70
	Boarding High School		6		1	7
	High School	2	39	1	1	43
	Need Experienced Teachers		2	1		3
	More Discipline		5	2		7
	Other		2			2
	Uncertain		4	3	1	8
NO INFORMATION		8	14	2	4	28
TOTAL		12	92	9	11	124 *

*. There is a total of 124 instead of 121 because there was more than one answer in some cases.

p. 147

Parents View of the Hot Lunch Program.
Since most of us like to eat, it’s hardly any surprise to find that no one disapproved of hot lunches served to the school children. Put the question of whether or not the children had learned anything from eating at tables with teachers is of more interest because it affords evidence of altered behavior and cultural diffusion sufficiently marked as to be apparent to the parents. In 84 cases, it was stated that the children had learned from eating with the teachers. It is entirely possible that those interviewed may not have responded to this in terms of altered behavior — Manners — so much as in terms of the teachers having influenced the children to consume foods new to them. ( 1.) The success of the teachers in getting the children to eat a variety of foods as well as the skill of the cooks in preparing them, in an attractive and tasty manner was evidenced by the “folk knowledge” (2.) around Pine Mountain School to the effect that the scraps from one meal for the approximately 175 students were not enough to keep one hog alive.

The writer now wishes that he had kept a record of the number of times he was informed that the children had learned to eat carrots, which were. apparently not a common vegetable in the homes.
Not used in any derogatory manner, but as. a symbol for non-scientifically developed conclusions.

p. 148

TABLE 49 ATTITUDES TOWARD HOT LUNCH PROGRAM AND ESTIMATES BY PARENTS AS TO EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF CHILDREN EATING WITH TEACHERS [link]

HOT LUNCH PROGRAM	HAVE CHILDREN LEARNED ANYTHING FROM EATING WITH TEACHERS?
HOT LUNCH PROGRAM	Not Applicable	No Information	Yes	No	Don’t Know	TOTAL
APPROVE	6	8	83	3	2	102
DISAPROVE	0	0	0	0	0	0
NO OPINION	1	9	0	1	0	11
NO INFO	2	4	1	0	1	8
TOTAL	9	21	84	4	3	121

p. 149-150 [List]

SELECTED LIST OF CULTURE PATTERNS AND INFERRED VALUES ON REASONS

	Observed Culture Pattern	Inferred Value or Reason
1	Large families.	L Level of children.: Means to status.. (Doubtful and accident or lack of information.)
2	Equal division of land.	Equality of children.: Parents responsible for giving children equal start in life.
3	Religious behavior in churches relatively informal non. institutionalized.	Individuality of behavior prized and respected.
4	Generally small amount of formal education.	Limited skills in three R’s sufficient.:” responsibility of child to family. requirements of homework. predominant
5	Separate houses for each biological family unit.	I Independence and limited responsibility; Last conflict in social relations.. Seems to be associated with equal division of land as a sort of.” equal, but separate treatment” doctrine.
6	Greater social freedom and mobility for young men than women.	Double standards of conduct.; Girls must be protected more than boys during adolescence because of consequences to them and family in pregnancy outside of marriage.
7	Houses are small, usually unpainted and cheaply constructed.	Decision perhaps dictated by scarcity of income relative to other needs. Status, perhaps not derived from housing differentiation. May reflect the frontier view of.”” moving on. and is this but temporary. of construction is achievable by most any family with limited skills.
8	Little evidence of esthetic activity As in house design and decoration music, etc. Some evidence seen in a few gardens.	may be a result of time, resource or the pressure to exist or maybe one of the results of an apparent. premium placed on leisure and informal association. Required skills lacking.
9	Much informal visiting and loafing.	Might be a result of low energy diet, or may reflect actual preference for conversation, sitting and socializing, compared to material well being, activity, And work one. economic interpretation is that leisure activities develop after the marginal cost of work is not equal to the marginal return.
10	Continued residents in area although economic opportunities limited and much travel is required to obtain employment.	Attractions of peace and quiet home ownership relatives and friends and perhaps social norms which can be achieved relatively easily.
11	; Simple and rather unveried. work clothes seem to be the rule.	status and prestige apparently not derived from dress and adornment.” A response to fact that much of activity around household is agricultural with attendant requirement of ” getting.” dirty.” ; other jobs are of a manual type
12	Saving of money very uncommon.	” Here today and gone tomorrow..” Future too uncertain to warrant the planning saving involves.; Money needed to satisfy immediate needs. Life after death more important than present.; saving involves too much stress on importance of this life.
13	Low level of income.: Little enterprise of economic nature.	Relative unimportance of present life compared to future.. people only recently accepted necessity of.”” public. work.; lack skills and resources to earn in keeping with urban centers.. Personal achievement success, etc. not emphasized.

p. 151

The Relation of Religion to the Attitudes and Values.
In searching for the main springs of the way of life of these people, we must. seek to discover the influence of their religious beliefs. After one draws in the picture of many people in relation to a small amount of resources, little education and a lack of a sense of community, we intuitively feel that there is yet something missing in the picture. This feeling is prompted by the knowledge that in other situations of a very similar natural condition, there have developed cultures and societies in marked contrast to that of the Southern Mountains and of Pine Mountain, in particular.

There are no careful scientific studies of this problem, of which we have knowledge. There are, however, several documents in which concerned and observant persons have recorded their experiences and interpretations of the role of religion.

Anyone who has traveled or lived in the Southern Appalachian region can hardly fail to be impressed with the importance of religion in the lives of these people. Although church attendance is probably even less common and regular here than elsewhere in the United States, it is entirely probable that attitudes and beliefs related to religion are more nearly at the focus of their lives. Testimony for this view includes such as the ubiquitous Summer Revivals. and the signs of various religious portent which are so common along the highways of this area as well as the conversations of the people.

In saying earlier that our search was for the mainsprings of the way of life of these people. We were in effect saying that we want to know what activities and ideas are considered of first-rate importance;

p. 152

… what are the themes and issues on which their lives are focused and what are the almost. unconscious premises or values of their culture. We have already set forth the belief that their religious heritage is of vital significance in their lives. We now want to consider some of the specific answers which their religion gives to the question of what is important in life and to the unstated premises which it provides.

Before drawing on some of the documents written about religion in the Appalachian region. it is necessary to emphasize several cautions. One is that we have not directed any portion of our interviews toward these questions. But since religion seems to be so important, we are attempting to set forth some limited statements inferred from our own observations and the reports of others. Secondly, just as we have observed, marked variations in income, size and type of home, education, attitudes, et cetera, so we must recognize that there must be variation present in these religious beliefs as well as the intensity with which they are held.

The principal source on which we have to draw is a report on. “Religious Attitudes and Ideals in the Cumberland Plateau” by Edwin E. White, who had lived there as a minister for a considerable number of years. (1.) His impressions and insights seemed to offer a number of suggestions relevant to our problem. White points to the significance of religion. In this general area by saying that “Religion permeates the mountains” and that Religion plays a chief role in the life of the people.” It is as much a topic of conversation, as is the weather and the Bible characters and stories are very real.

1, The Land and the Rural Church in the Cumberland Plateau: A report. as the Result of a Conference held at Scarritt College, Rural Center, Crossville, TN November 27- 29, 1945 The Farm Foundation, Chicago. (mimeographed)

p. 153

The reality of religion to these people. as White shows clearly, is as a personal experience of God, which is almost always divorced from the events of mortal life. For them religion is a matter of a future life and salvation, which will be free of the hardships and troubles of this life. The Bible and such religion does [do] not have to do with life here and now. From this promise, White derives a relation which offers an explanation of some of the poverty and destruction of resources. Life is clearly divided into the sacred and secular, with God thought of as being outside of nature. From this may come the lack of care of soil and timber resources. Such religion does not implant the idea of the abundant life here and now, nor a dissatisfaction with poverty and ignorance. Satisfaction comes from contemplating a better life in heaven. And as perhaps a rationalization of their condition has come, the corollary whereby “people equate poverty with virtue, riches with evil; the poor are good, the well-to–do are bad.”

Richard Niebuhr has surmised in a similar manner the characteristics of the religion of the disinherited:

“Ethically, as well as psychologically, such a religion (of the poor) bears a distinct character. The salvation which it seeks and sets forth is the salvation of the socially disinherited. Intellectual naivete and practical need combine to create a marked propensity toward millenarianism. With its promise of tangible got goods and of the reversal of all present social systems of rank. From the first century onward, apocalypticism has always been most at home among the disinherited.” [1.]

Niebuhr, Richard H., The Social Sources of Denominalizationism, New York: Henry Holt& Co.,1929, pp.30-31 [1922] (Richard Niebuhr is the brother of Rheinhold Niebuhr, a strong influence on Glyn Morris, Director of PMSS 1932-1942.]

p. 154

The relation of the more extreme forms of emotional religion to the systems of social rank has been demonstrated by a more recent study of a Kentucky Mountain community, but which applies particularly to those of the lowest class status: “… as members of the lowest class, the class which every other class looked down on and oppressed, there was a vital need for relief from the feeling of inferiority and frustration, which were almost inevitable in such a position. The Holiness Church by establishing a ‘society of the saved’ (consisting of. of the members of the Holiness Church), enabled the low-class people to turn the tables, so to speak, and to become the elite. [1.]

White continues this line of thought by showing the extent to which religion in the mountains has to do with dying and life after death, although it is in terms which are essentially. materialistic. To give emphasis to this thought, he quotes from a revival preacher:

“Heaven is 1500 miles long and 1500 miles wide, and 1500 miles high. And don’t you worry if you cannot run around these highways in a fine car, as other people do. When we get. to heaven, we’ll ride in the Golden Streets, in Chariots that will make these cars look cheap.”

The emphasis on a concern for man’s soul and his future life is further illustrated by the deeply and widely held conviction that the end of the world is near at hand, or as the signs along almost any of the highways have it, “Jesus is soon coming”. White relates this view to their life system with the comment.:

“In a region where most people hold this view of the future, it is not natural that there should be much enthusiasm for long time, patient movements like improving the soil and bettering the processes of Agriculture for the sake of developing better men and women.”

James S. Brown, Social Class, Intermarriage, and Church Membership in a Kentucky Community”, American Journal of Sociaology, Vol. LVII, No. 3, November, 1951, p. 241.

p.155

We have not made a careful enough study of the role of religion in the culture of the people of the Pine Mountain area to say whether or not it is accurately described in terms of the foregoing summarization. But we are certainly prone to assert that the similarities are very marked. A religion which promotes the view that the good life is to come after death amidst an abundance of material goods, and that the end of the world is not far off, is certainly casually related to the low levels of material well-being of the mountains.

However, we are here faced with a profoundly different and perhaps insoluble problem. And that is the direction of causation. Is such a religion, a compensation or a rationalization for those low levels of living? an opiate which makes an apparently hopeless situation tolerable? Or does it really place the focus of life for these people on the hereafter so firmly that the principal task is to achieve salvation while paying only a minimum of attention to the needs of body and mind?

This is not the first time for this question to be raised: It is an old one in the effort to ascertain the relation between Christianity and Capitalism. Did Christianity — particularly Protestantism — provide the attitude and values which made possible the accumulation of investments on which Capitalism depended? Or did Capitalism demand a religion which would place emphasis on present consumption and thereby help harness more and more people to the engines of industrial society? [1.]

] R.H. Twaney, Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, N.Y.: Penguin Books, 1947.
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, London: Alan and Unwin, 1930.

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American Value Systems.
From a sociological viewpoint, the most satisfactory analysis of the American value system we have seen is that of Robert M. Williams Jr., as presented in his recent book, American Society: a Sociological Interpretation. [1.] William sets forth in the view that there are essentially two value systems in the United States because of their oppositional character, are a source of tension. He writes:

It becomes apparent that a very important part of the conflict of value systems in the United States can be economically summarized in terms of tension between values centering around the concept of the responsible individual personality versus values organized around categorical organic conceptions…[2.]

Entering into the “concept of the responsible individual personality” system of values are such orientations as achievements and success activity and work, humanitarian mores, efficiency and practicality, progress, material comfort, equality, freedom, external conformity, science and secular rationality, nationalism-patriotism, democracy, and individualism. [3.]

Williams does not develop the “values organized around categorical organic conceptions” with anything like the documentation he devotes to the other system. However, with the help of a few quotations, both the reader and the writer can construct it in more detail. This powerful counter current in modern America ….

“…has centered around those diverse patterns, which have, in their common element, the ascription of value and privilege to individuals on the basis of race and particularistic group membership according to birth in a particular ethnic group, social class, or related social category.”. (1.)

1.New York:Alfred A. Knopf, 1931
2.Ibid., p.440.
3.Ibid., pp.388-438

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” It is enough to say that categorical discriminations are widespread in established practice. and are often crystallized into whole systems of legislation.” [2.]

” We must agree with Opler, however, that these facts, — only a tiny sample of other similar manifestations –reflect a view of society that, in its extreme forms, implicitly rejects ‘freedom’ and individual ethical responsibility, certain conceptions of progress and rational mastery of culture.” [ 3.]

The purpose of introducing these materials on values systems in America, is to throw into sharp contrast the information presented previously regarding religion and the value system of Southern Mountain people. This comparison also suggests that this religious value orientation represents perhaps a third system in America. We need not repeat the previous statements other than to suggest a few of the key characteristics of the system. In contrast to the individual and group centered pattern, the religious system might be thought of as salvation centered on “other worldly”. The poverty of this life becomes a virtue, but with the home of great material reward in the life after death. The hardships of this earth are to be accepted, not struggled against, because Heaven is the individual’s ultimate home and for the race the end of the world is soon at hand.

Although elements of the other systems are certainly to be found in the mountain country, this writer is quite convinced that the hypothesis of a salvation centered value system is of considerable use in helping us understand the reasons for some of the culture patterns this study has revealed among the people of the Pine Mountain School District.