Appalachia

Appalachia is a geographic region associated with the land, people, and culture of the Appalachian Mountains in eastern North America. The region extends from Mount Carleton Provincial Park in New Brunswick, Canada southward into the northern parts of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. In the USA, West Virginia is the only state located entirely within Appalachia. The part of the region within the USA contains three federally recognized and five state recognized Native American tribal communities. Quotes The Appalachian mountains are located entirely within the temperate zone, from about 33 to 48 degrees north latitude. The significant climatic difference between the valley floors, some at less than one thousand feet and the peaks at six thousand feet and more, assure a great variety of natural life. All of the area enjoys adequate rainfall, from 40 to 120 inches annually. The diversity of life that has developed in these mountains is spectacular. Varieties of azalea, laurel, and hundreds of other plants may have originated here. Bird life is as varied in Appalachia as anywhere in the world. And in pre-Columbian times, deer, bison, mountain lion, fox, wolf and beaver roamed the mountain forests in great variety and quantity. Humans too came to these mountains, initially in quest of game and fish and the nuts, berries, and seeds that could be gathered. Richard B. Drake, A History of Appalachia pbk. reprint, illustrated University Press of Kentucky 2003 9780813190600 https://books.google.com/books?id=ySs5-78yrVoC&pg=PA3 3 (292 pages; 1st edition 2001, 9780813121697) The history of Appalachia is one of exploitation and extraction — and dogged resistance to both. This region, my family’s home for seven generations, has literally powered American life since the 19th century. There is no song, labor union or machine built east of the Mississippi that does not arguably owe its existence to Appalachia or that at least engages with our culture and ecology. The ecosystems of the mountain South, its uniquely influential art and its interdependent communities (particularly communities of color) have been systematically misrepresented and pillaged for centuries now. In these hills, “we’re accustomed,” says Elizabeth Catte in her debut nonfiction book, “What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia,” “to serving as passive subjects for others.” Leah Hampton, review of What you are getting wrong about Appalachia Los Angeles Times July 18, 2018 https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-reading-appalachia-20180718-story.html Our farm is an Appalachian hollow, about 80% deciduous forest, 20% garden and pasture. Our farmhouse was built in 1904, and the land has been farmed continuously since then. We grow food here because we like the products and the process, and because we believe land like this should feed people. It’s a precious resource. We’re surrounded by good agrarian neighbors, mostly younger than we are, who all help each other out when someone travels or needs extra hands. Barbara Kingsolver as quoted by Martha Schubert in: A Whetstone to the Spirit: An Interview with Barbara Kingsolver. 'The Poisonwood Bible' author on mothering, farming, ecology, and life Spring 2023 Orion Magazine https://orionmagazine.org/article/barbara-kingsolver-interview-spring-2023/ Since Hillbilly Elegy came out in 2016, I’ve experienced countless people claiming to now “understand” where I come from and what Appalachian people are like. But they don’t think of my childhood watching my dad lose himself while arranging music on his piano or my grandfather tenderly nurturing plants in his ridiculously large garden. Instead, they imagine the stereotypes of J.D. Vance’s version of Appalachia, where the entire region is made up of poor rural white people consumed with violence who have no one to blame but themselves for their life circumstances.Back when the book was first released, Book Riot published an excellent piece about why Hillbilly Elegy is problematic. It’s been over four years since Vance’s memoir hit the shelves, but now we have to contend with the Hillbilly Elegy (film) movie of Hillbilly Elegy, directed by Ron Howard and starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams. Many of the issues from the memoir carry over to the film version of Vance’s story, presenting his harmful portrait of Appalachia to a whole new audience. Kendra Winchester, 15 Books About Appalachia to Read Instead of HILLBILLY ELEGY July 22, 2024 Book Riot (bookriot.com) https://bookriot.com/books-about-appalachia/ (reprint of article first published in December 2020) Members of the Hernando de Soto#De Soto's exploration of North America Spanish de Soto expedition (1539–43) provided the first European descriptions of the Appalachian Mountains mountains. Following the golden rumors he heard in Florida, Hernando de Soto led his been north and east until he reached what today is called the Piedmont (United States) Carolina Piedmont. Then somewhere in the Catawba River valley, the expedition turned westward and crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains Blue Ridge and the Black Mountains (North Carolina) Black or Great Smoky Mountains into the valley of East Tennessee, probably following a route not unlike the modern path of Interstate 40. John Alexander Williams, Appalachia: A History pbk., illustrated University of North Carolina Press 2002 9780807853689 https://books.google.com/books?id=vKJhyDF8UsUC&pg=PA20 20 (473 pages) External links Category:Regions of North America Category:Geography of the United States Category:Geography of Canada