Prior to the 20th century, the people of Appalachia were geographically isolated from the rest of the country. As a result, they preserved the culture of their ancestors (most of them Scots-Irish, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, German, and English) who settled the region in the 18th century. The region’s culture includes a strong oral tradition (including music and song), self-sufficiency, modesty, and strong religious faith. Coal deposits in the region were tapped in the latter half of the 19th century and drew a new wave of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and Central Europe. With this industrialization came increased urbanization.
The creation in 1936 of the Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine, also helped open the area to hikers and outdoor enthusiasts from all over the world.
Long characterized as economically underdeveloped, Appalachia has received more sympathetic treatment by historians and anthropologists in recent decades. Groups like the Foxfire project, an anthology of writings that began in 1972, appealed to the counterculture and gave the region new visibility in academia.
Though the region is often characterized as educationally deficient, the inhabitants of the region have preserved much historical lore. For example, Appalachian people have preserved a lot of historical medical knowledge. People in the community know where to find, identify, harvest, and prepare various herbs that are medicinally used. Ancient arts, such as beelining, would be more likely to be familiar to an Appalachian person than one from other areas.
A long-running series of documentary films by Appalshop takes a historical and critical view of the region, especially the effects of coal mining, poverty, and other aspects of local life.
In 1965, the US Congress established an economic development agency called the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). In the terminology of this agency, “Appalachia” applies to the whole territory of its mandate, in recognition of similarities of lifestyle and culture throughout the region. This similarity may come from the great migration of people from the northern to the southern part of Appalachia in the 19th century.
In the 20th century, many from the area migrated to northern & midwestern cities such as Detroit, and Chicago in search of jobs, and these cities still contain enclaves of Appalachian culture.
In the 1940s through the 60s, Wheeling, West Virginia became a cultural center of the region because it had a clear channel AM radio station WWVA, which could be heard throughout the entirety of eastern USA at night.
As a scientific technical term, “Appalachia” may be used to describe some (particularly the central section), or all, of the Appalachian mountain range, for example as a geological formation, or an environmental habitat. 
Appalachia as an academic interest was the product of a critical scholarship that emerged across the disciplines in the 1960s and 1970s. With a renewed interest in issues of power, scholars could not dismiss the social inequity, class conflict, and environmental destruction present in Appalachia. Appalachia’s emergence in academia is a result of the intersection between social conditions and critical academic interests, and has resulted in the development of many Appalachian studies programs in colleges and universities across the region, as well as in the Appalachian Studies Association.
Economy
The economy of Appalachia traditionally rested on agriculture, mining, timber, and in the cities, manufacturing. In the late twentieth century, tourism and second home developments have assumed an increasingly major role.
Coal mining, the industry most frequently associated with Appalachia in outsiders’ minds, remains important; however, its economic role should not be overstated. Coal is mined only in some portions of the area traditionally thought of as Appalachia [2] [3]. Coal mining employment across the country has generally dropped over the last several decades with increased mechanization, notwithstanding a spike in employment accompanying the coal industry boomlet that started in about 2004 [4]. While with annual earnings of $55,000, Appalachian miners make more than most other local workers, Appalachian coal mining employed just under 50,000 in 2004. [5], [6] Restrictions on high sulfur coal in the 1980s resulted in the closure of some mines. The high, continuing “legacy” costs associated with earlier mining activities — retiree health care, environmental reclamation, and black lung disease compensation — impact Appalachian coal economics. The region still has very large coal reserves [7], however the least expensive, most accessible, thickest seams have largely been mined out, complicating the area’s ability to compete with very low cost Colombian, Western U.S. and especially Powder River Basin strip mines. About two-thirds of Appalachia’s coal is produced by underground mining, the rest by surface mining. [8], often referred to as strip mining. Mountaintop removal, a form of surface mining, is a highly controversial mining practice in central Appalachia due to its negative impacts on the natural and human environment.
Poverty in Appalachia
Poverty in this region has been a problem for many years but was not brought to the attention of the rest of the United States until 1964 when US President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a speech from a sagging front porch in a poor Appalachian mining town.
In Appalachia, severe poverty and desolation is paired with the necessity for careful, cultural sensitivity. Many Appalachian people fear that the birth of a new modernized Appalachia will lead to a death of their traditional values and heritage. Because of the isolation of the region, Appalachian people have been unable to catch up to the modernization that lowlanders have achieved. In the 1960s, many people in Appalachia had a standard of living comparable to third world countries. Lyndon B. Johnson was the first president to bring attention to the growing problem of poverty in Appalachia. Standing on the front porch of a family suffering from a problem that had been so long ignored, he declared his “War on Poverty“. The Appalachian Regional Development Act (1964), which created the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), stated that Appalachia was a shambles:
- The Appalachian region of the United States, while abundant in natural resources and rich in potential, lags behind the rest of the nation… its people have not shared properly in the nation’s prosperity.
Since the creation of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) in 1965, the region has seen dramatic progress. New roads, schools, health care facilities, water and sewer systems, and other improvements have brought a better life to many Appalachian residents.
In 1960, 219 counties in the 13-state Appalachian Region were considered economically distressed. Now that list has been cut in half, to 108 counties, but these are “hard-core” pockets of poverty, seemingly oblivious to all efforts at improving their lot. [1]
Nevertheless, after 40 years poverty remains undefeated in Appalachia. Martin County, Kentucky, the site of Johnson’s 1964 speech, is currently ranked as “distressed” by the ARC. (Distressed is the worst ranking.) Martin’s average income is US$ 17,152, and 37% of its residents live below the poverty line.
On 5 July 1999, President Bill Clinton made a public statement concerning the situation in Tyner, Kentucky. “I’m here to make a simple point,” Clinton told the enthusiastic crowd. “This is the time to bring more jobs and investment to parts of the country that have not participated in this time of prosperity. Any work that can be done by anybody in America can be done in Appalachia.” Like Johnson, Clinton also brought attention to the areas of poverty in Appalachia. [1] On the other hand, some Republicans point to the fact that the number of children living in poverty has increased since Johnson’s poverty policies in the 1960s, and while many Republicans agree with the intentions of these policies they disagree about their results and efficacy.[2]
Source:Wikipedia
