The Great Depression is so named because of its widespread and devastating effects across the United States, and globally. The average American struggled to find employment, affordable housing, and food that was not severely impacted by inflation. For much of the country, the Great Depression began somewhere around Black Tuesday, when the stock market crashed over 25% overnight October 28-29, 1929. However, for much of Appalachia (the mountainous region extending from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania down through northwest Alabama), the Depression began years earlier. Across the mountainous region, major industries and employers such as lumber, textiles, and coal floundered during the 1920s. The areas of Appalachia that relied heavily on coal mining experienced significant overproduction and lower wages than other industries. This trend was further exacerbated when coupled with the fact that most people relied on a self-sustaining or community-founded subsistence. The land had been overfarmed and overproduced for decades, similar to the land of the Southern Plains where the Dust Bowl intensified the Depression there. “Fifty years of industrial abuse of the environment and the lack of a scientific approach to agriculture and forestry had left much Appalachian land exhausted.”[1]
By the 1920s, many Appalachian families who had previously farmed small plots of land were forced to obtain sources of income outside of their property. This meant both men and women entered the workforce during this era. My great-grandfather, John Patton, was one of these men who sought to provide a steady income for his family by working in local mines. It would ultimately contribute to his emphysema and eventual move to New Mexico for the drier climate. However, in the 1920s, mining simply meant a means to an end. Papaw’s father had died very young, when Papaw was only 2 years old. The family was stable, but by no means wealthy. Living in the East Tennessee coal mining region, John Patton joined the ranks of his peers by working in the local mines such as Windrock and Cannon Creek. My great-uncle recalls an instance where the coal car got stuck on the track, and he and his teenage friends were all pushing with all their might to get it back on the correct track. He remembered Papaw just quietly walking up, pushing his back against the coal car, and using his knees and back to single-handedly push the car back on the track. He noted, “That was just how strong those miners were.”
Although mining opened up a new industry and job opportunities for many isolated regions of Appalachia, there were incredible pitfalls of the jobs. These included the aspects already mentioned, as well as the requirement to leave the household and farm for other family members to tend. Often, this fell to women and young children to perform all of the farm chores. Topping this off was a severe drought in the southern region of the United States in 1930. The overproduction of the land meant that many farms began to fail, or give less productive crop returns. The meager subsistence of mountain families over several years led to an increase in malnutrition and diseases such as typhus and pneumonia, while the isolated communities of the mountains lacked proper healthcare options.[2] Sadly, this was true of John Patton’s experience as well. Just a few short years prior to the widespread availability of penicillin, John and his wife, Mildred, lost their infant son. The causes listed on the death certificate—acute ear infection, diarrhea, and malnutrition—confirm the conditions of Appalachia during the Great Depression.
By the early 1930s, when other parts of the country were just entering the Great Depression, farmers and miners in the Appalachian regions were moving from the rural mountainous areas to larger cities in search of employment. This was the case for John and Mildred Patton as well. The couple had two children in the small community of Pikeville, TN, before moving their growing family closer to the city of Chattanooga. At the time, Chattanooga was a burgeoning leader of industry, centrally located along the Tennessee River. The city offered more income opportunities for both men and women, while the labor industries of the Appalachians were almost strictly reserved for men. Although John and Mildred would move the family back to the Appalachian county of Roane by the 1940 census, they were able to better provide for their children in urbanized areas throughout the Depression.[3]
[1] “Impact of the Great Depression on Appalachia,” Encyclopedia.com (March 28, 2022), https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/appalachia-impact-great-depression.
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