Book description
In his inaugural address, President John F. Kennedy challenged
Americans to do something for their country. Thousands of young people
answered his call, launching an era of flourishing social activism
that eclipsed any in U. S. history. Citizens rallied behind an endless
variety of social justice organizations to change the country's social
and political landscape. As these social movements gained momentum,
the severe poverty of the Appalachian region attracted the attention
of many spirited young Americans. In 1964, a group of them formed the
Appalachian Volunteers, an organization intent on eradicating poverty
in eastern Kentucky and the rest of the Southern mountains. In
Reformers to Radicals: The Appalachian Volunteers and the War on
Poverty, Thomas Kiffmeyer documents the history of this organization
as their youthful enthusiasm led to radicalism and controversy. Known
informally as the AVs, these reformers sought to improve the everyday
lives of the Appalachian poor while also making strides toward lasting
economic change in the region. Considering themselves "poverty
warriors," the AVs helped residents by refurbishing schools and
homes and by offering much-needed educational opportunities, including
job training and remedial academic instruction. Their efforts brought
temporary relief to the Appalachian poor, but controversy was soon to
follow. Within two years of the group's formation, they faced
nationwide accusations that they were "seditious" and
"un-American." Kiffmeyer explains how these activists, who
worked for a worthy cause, ignited a firestorm of public criticism
that ultimately caused their mission to fail. Before the decade was
over, the Volunteers had lost the support of the federal and state
governments and of many Appalachian people -- an irreversible setback
that caused the group to disband in 1970. The Appalachian Volunteers'
failure was caused by multiple factors. They were overtly political,
attracting divisive reactions from local and state governments. They
were indecisive in defining the true nature of their cause, creating
dissension within the group's ranks. They were engaged in a struggle
to "integrate" the poor into mainstream American culture,
which alienated the AVs from many of the very people they sought to
help. They were also caught up in the unrest of the civil rights and
anti--Vietnam War movements, which distracted them from their core
mission. Reformers to Radicals chronicles a critical era in
Appalachian history while also investigating the impact the 1960s'
reform attitude had on one part of a broader movement in the United
States. Kiffmeyer revisits an era in which idealistic young Americans,
spurred on by President Kennedy's call to action, set out to remake America.
""The treatment of the clash of cultures the War on
Poverty brought to the mountains is the strongest aspect of the
book?Kiffmeyer does a nice job fitting the story into the context of
the sixties." --William Clayson, Register of the Kentucky
Historical Society" --
Thomas J. Kiffmeyer is associate professor of history at Morehead
State University. He is the author of numerous reviews and articles.
