Reformers to Radicals

by Thomas Kiffmeyer

  29. William Wells to Vernon G. Wills, Wilmington College, December 4, 1964, AV Papers, box 22; [Appalachian Volunteers] Eleventh Progress Report, January 1965, AV Papers, box 3; Otis Johnson to Tom Rhodenbaugh, April 2, 1965 (quote), AV Papers, box 70.

  30. Weekly Report for Week of March 19 to March 29, [1965] (first quote), AV Papers, box 30; Appalachian Volunteers Information Sheet for Programs in County School, Bill Marshak, Earlham College [Project], Decoy, Knott Co., March 15–29, 1965 (second quote), AV Papers, box 70. See also Wiley Smith, Earlham College, to Bill Wells, February 21, 1965, AV Papers, box 30; and Bill Wells to Wiley Smith, February 24, 1965 (for the Decoy project), AV Papers, box 30.

  31. Queens College Appalachian Summer Program, [ca. 1965], AV Papers, box 22.

  32. Ibid.

  33. Thomas Rhodenbaugh to Larry Qualls, March 9, 1965, AV Papers, box 28; Thomas Rhodenbaugh to [University of Kentucky AV Spring Break Project Participants], March 6, 1965, AV Papers, box 28.

  34. Appalachian Volunteer Information Sheet for Programs in County Schools: Larry Qualls, Spruce School, Knox County, March 15–20, 1965, Appalachian Volunteers Information Sheet . . . Benjamin Kutnicki, Spruce Pine School, Knox County, March 15–20, 1965, Appalachian Volunteers Information Sheet . . . Carol J. Powell, Spruce School, Knox County, March 15–20, 1965, Appalachian Volunteers Information Sheet . . . Frank McCough, Ligon School, Floyd County, March 15–20, 1965, Appalachian Volunteer Information Sheet . . . Lainy Grosscup, Bruin School, Elliott County, March 15–20, 1965, Appalachian Volunteer Information Sheet, Dave Keller, Bruin [School], Elliott County, March 15–20, 1965, and Appalachian Volunteers Information Sheet . . . Joseph A. Blazie, Wellhope School, Rockcastle County, March 15–20, 1965 (quote), AV Papers, box 28.

  35. Appalachian Volunteer Information Sheet . . . , Tongam H. Loebis, March 15–20, 1965 (first quote), and Appalachian Volunteer Information Sheet . . . , George Dritsas, March 16, 1965 (second quote), AV Papers, box 28. Both these individuals visited four schools. For information on mountaineer attitudes toward education, see chapter 3.

  36. Appalachian Volunteer Information Sheet . . . , Lainy Grosscup, . . . March 15–20, 1965 (first quote), Appalachian Volunteer Information Sheet . . . Frank McCough, . . . March 15–20, 1965 (second quote), and Appalachian Volunteer Information Sheet . . . , Dave Kelleher . . . , March 15–20, 1965, AV Papers, box 28.

  37. The biographical data sheets are in AV Papers, box 28.

  38. [Appalachian Volunteer Biographical Information Form], [ca. March 1965], respondents G, B, and Y, respectively, AV Papers, box 28 (all emphasis added). Because federal law protects the privacy of those who worked in publicly funded programs, the individuals in question cannot be identified by name. The letters correspond with the order in which the forms are filed in the AV Papers.

  39. Ibid., respondents T, C, S, and J, respectively.

  40. The twelve counties, and the communities in which VISTA volunteerss operated, are listed in Appalachian Volunteers VISTA Schools, [1965], AV Papers, box 12. See also Appalachian Volunteers Progress Report, January 1–March 31, [1965], AV Papers, box 3.

  41. For the number of summer volunteers and their states of origin, see High-Lights of Appalachian Volunteer Program, [ca. 1965], and Memorandum, Milton Ogle to William Lawrence, OEO, July 16, 1965, AV Papers, box 20. Loyal Jones to Burton Rogers, October 18, 1965 (first quote), AV Papers, box 25; AV Distribution of VISTA Application, Sister Eileen to Milton Ogle, September 9, 1966, AV Papers, box 31; Bill Wells to Forrest E. Simomeau, September 10, 1966 (second quote), AV Papers, box 31; Thomas Rhodenbaugh to Miss Jean Schnall, May 12, 1967 (third quote), AV Papers, box 31; [Memorandum], To the Members of the A.V. Board from Mark Cheren, n.d. (last quote), AV Papers, box 7; and Kim [Hashizumi] to [Appalachian Volunteers], February 3, 1967, AV Papers, box 24. See also Bill Wells to Cleveland Sellers, April 14, 1967, AV Papers, box 31.

  42. Memorandum, To All Appalachian Volunteers Staff from D.M.F. [D. M. Fox], [ca. 1965], AV Papers, box 25. See also Perley Ayer to Wiley R. Smith Jr., July 1, 1965, AV Papers, box 4. The Library of Community Action Styles is in AV Papers, boxes 123–25. The “library” presented certain situations to the trainees without offering resolutions. It was the potential volunteer’s job to determine how to resolve the problem contained in each particular case study. See also Oral History Interviews with Jack Rivel, February 12, 1991, and March 15, 1993, Berea, KY, and Loyal Jones, November 19, 1990, and March 15, 1991, Berea, KY, WOP Oral History Project.

  43. The responses of the Earlham students are in Appalachian Volunteer Information Sheet for Programs in County Schools, [1965], AV Papers, box 22. See esp. the forms completed by Christine DeCou, Wiley Smith, and Philip Scott. Yet another Earlham student, James Read, stated that he had “had no orientation.”

  44. John W. Hogarty, Antioch College, to Milton Ogle, March 15, 1965, AV Papers, box 22.

  45. Handwritten Memorandum, M[innie] M[aude] Macaulay [to Perley Ayer], [ca. June 1965], AV Papers, box 4; Florence Brooks to Perley Ayer, [ca. June 1965], AV Papers, box 4.

  46. Bob [Coles] to Dan [Fox], July 13, 1965, AV Papers, box 12; Harry Caudill to Mrs. [Ann] Pollard, March 6, 1965, AV Papers, box 21; James W. Haas, OEO, to Dan Fox, December 22, 1965, AV Papers, box 35.

  47. Annual Report—VISTA, [ca. 1967], AV Papers, box 28 (first quote); Council of the Southern Mountains, Inc., Report of Appalachian Volunteer Activities, 1965 (subsequent quotes), AV Papers, box 8.

  48. Council of the Southern Mountains, Inc., Report of Appalachian Volunteer Activities, 1965, AV Papers, box 8.

  49. Appalachian Volunteers Community Case Studies: Joshua: The Trumpet of Hope (Addendum to OEO Demonstration Grant Proposal), 1965, AV Papers, box 3.

  50. William Wells to Mr. Lacey, John F. Kennedy Memorial Library, November 29, 1966, AV Papers, box 26; “This refers to community work that I did in Northeast Kentucky . . . ,” by Bill Wells, [1966], AV Papers, box 21; Memorandum, Flem Messer to the Executive Staff of the Council of the Southern Mountains, [1966], AV Papers, box 34.

  51. Weekly Report from Area IV Period: 30 January–7 February, 1965, [by Bill Wells] (first quote), and Weekly Report for Week of March 19 to March 29, [1965], [by Bill Wells] (second quote), AV Papers, box 30.

  52. Activities Report—Monday, May 24–May 28, [1965], Flem Messer, AV Papers, box 29; Ivy L. Reese, Some of My Work, [ca. 1966], AV Papers, box 29; James E. Kendrick to Appalachian Volunteers, September 23, 1965, AV Papers, box 25.

  53. Sue Leek to Milton [Ogle] and Dan [Fox], n.d., AV Papers, box 34.

  54. Loren Kramer to Milton Ogle, December 16, 1965, AV Papers, box 25; Kim [Hashizumi] to [Appalachian Volunteers], February 3, 1967, AV Papers, box 24. For a discussion of the attitudes and desires of “change agents” in the southern Appalachians, see Whisnant, All That Is Native and Fine,

  55. Merrill, “Strategy in the War on Poverty.” Merrill came to the mountains as an AV-VISTA.

  56. Ibid.

  57. P[aul] D. Merrill to Dan [Fox], January 29, 1966, AV Papers, box 34.

  58. See Matusow, The Unraveling of America, 254–65.

  59. Thomas Rhodenbaugh to Walter Dillon, Assistant Editor, Kiwanas Magazine, November 16, 1965, AV Papers, box 22.

  60. Flem Messer to Marvin C. Swanson, Cushing Academy, Ashburnham, MA, February 18, 1965, AV Papers, box 31.

  61. Hoskins, “Appalachian Volunteers Evaluate Project.”

  62. William Wells to Larry Kelly, University of Kentucky AV Chapter President, April 9, 1965, AV Papers, box 30; Activities Report, April 26–April 30, [1965], Flem Messer (first quote), AV Papers, box 29; Activities Report for March 29–April 10, [1965], Flem Messer (second quote), AV Papers, box 29.

  63. Grisham, “A Hollow Place.”

  64. Jack Rivel to Judy Grisham, Kentucky Kernel, April 25, 1966, AV Papers, box 35.

  65. Judy Thomas to Dan Fox, March 24, 1966, AV Papers, box 25.

  66. Judy Thomas and Julia McKeon to Eleanor Constable, VISTA, Washington, DC, May 31
, 1966, AV Papers, box 35. The Bell County Economic Opportunity Council was the county CAP.

  67. See, e.g., the discussion of the Mill Creek Project in chapter 2.

  5. The New Model Army

  1. Oral History Interview with Loyal Jones, November 19, 1990, Berea, KY, WOP Oral History Project.

  2. Ibid. See also Lilienthal, TVA,

  3. Milton Ogle to Governor Edward T. Breathitt, April 20, 1965 (quote), AV Papers, box 20.

  4. Statement on the AV-VISTA Program, [ca. 1965], AV Papers, box 35. On the issue of local acceptance of the Volunteers, see Oral History Interviews with Jack Rivel, February 12, 1991, Berea, KY, and Flem Messer, September 26, 1990, Danville, KY, WOP Oral History Project.

  5. Report for the Week of April 26 through May 8, [1965], [by Bill Wells] (quote), AV Papers, box 30.

  6. Reflections on Trace Fork, n.d., AV Papers, box 3.

  7. Impressions of Thousandsticks, by Judith Allcock, n.d., AV Papers, box 3 (emphasis added in last quote). Records indicate that Allcock hailed from New Jersey.

  8. Ibid.; Reflection on Trace Fork, n.d., AV Papers, box 3.

  9. Flem Messer to Dr. B. H. Jarman, President, Pikeville College, April 2, 1965, AV Papers, box 26.

  10. Gish’s statements are contained in “Eastern Kentucky: Where Did Hope Go?” (speech delivered at the Urban Affairs Workshop of the Council of the Southern Mountains, Berea, KY, July 14, 1964), AV Papers, box 31.

  11. Report of the Area Director to the NE. KY. Council, September 21, 1965, AV Papers, box 26.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Ibid.

  14. Lee W. Taylor, Area Program Director, Northeast Kentucky Area Development Council, to Alan Zuckerman, CSM, September 23, 1965, AV Papers, box 26.

  15. Memorandum, Eastern Kentucky Report, Frank Prial to Bill Haddad, OEO, June 7, 1965, attached to Memorandum, Bill Haddad to Ted Berry, June 11, 1965, AV Papers, box 27. Prial’s report is also in Office of Economic Opportunity Papers (hereafter OEO Papers), “Appalachia,” National Archives II, College Park, Maryland.

  16. Ibid.

  17. Ibid.

  18. Ibid.

  19. Memorandum, Jack Ciaccio to Sidney Woolner, June 21, 1965, AV Papers, box 27. The same letter is also preserved in OEO Papers, National Archives II, College Park, MD.

  20. Memorandum, Jack Ciaccio to Sidney Woolner, June 21, 1965 (quotes), OEO Papers/AV Papers, box 27; Glen, “The War on Poverty in Appalachia,” 42–43.

  21. Jack Ciaccio to Sidney Woolner, June 21, 1965, OEO Papers/AV Papers, box 27.

  22. Appalachian Volunteer Community Case Studies, Verda—Learning to Live and Work Together (Part of the OEO Demonstration Grant Proposal), AV Papers, box 3; Jack Ciaccio to Sidney Woolner, June 21, 1965 (quotes), OEO Papers/AV Papers, box 27.

  23. [The Fonde Volunteer] to Perley Ayer, August 13, 1966, AV Papers, box 31 (first quote); Appalachian Volunteer–Vista Associate End-of-Service Questionnaire, [ca. August/September 1966], AV Papers, box 31 (second quote). Owing to an agreement with the Berea College Archives, I am unable to reveal the name of this Volunteer.

  24. “[Report:] Linda and I went back to Fonde . . .” [The Fonde Volunteer to Dan Fox], [ca. fall 1966], AV Papers, box 31. All surnames have been omitted from this statement.

  25. [Interview with Residents of Weeksbury, KY], [ca. 1965], AV Papers, box 33.

  26. Ellen Weisman to [Dan] Fox, [ca. October 1965], AV Papers, box 35.

  27. Ibid. (first quote); Ellen Weisman to Dan Fox, February 26, 1966 (second quote), AV Papers, box 35. On the phenomenon of quiescence, see Gaventa, Power and Powerlessness,

  28. AV Background Information, [Chapter] VII Case Study—Report on Verda, [ca. 1966] (Daugherty’s statements), AV Papers, box 8; Oral History Interviews with George Brosi, November 3, 1990, Berea, KY, and Flem Messer, October 26, 1990, Danville, KY, WOP Oral History Project.

  29. The new Appalachian Volunteer outlook can be found in AV Background Information, [ca. 1966], AV Papers, box 8, and Notes on the Appalachian Volunteers, [ca. 1967], AV Papers, box 13.

  30. Memorandum, P. F. Ayer to All Staff Members, November 1, 1965, AV Papers, box 34; Memorandum, Eastern Kentucky Report, Frank Prial to Bill Haddad, OEO, June 7, 1965 (last quote), AV Papers, box 27. See also Jack Ciaccio to Sidney Woolner, June 21, 1965, OEO Papers/AV Papers, box 27.

  31. AV Background Information, [Chapter] VII Case Study—Report on Verda, [ca. 1966] (quote), AV Papers, box 8.

  32. Donald R. Fessler, President, CSM Board of Directors, to Members of the C.S.M. Board of Directors, April 18, 1966, AV Papers, box 5. On the drawbacks to the move to Bristol, see Disadvantages—Tri-Cities, [ca. 1966], AV Papers, box 4.

  33. Donald R. Fessler to Members of the C.S.M. Board of Directors, April 18, 1966 (Fessler quote), AV Papers, box 5; Advantages—Tri-Cities, [ca. 1966], AV Papers, box 4 (other quotes).

  34. Horton, “The Appalachian Volunteers,” 51 (committee quote); [Draft of Form Letter to Presidents of Eastern Kentucky Colleges from Perley Ayer], [ca. 1964] (other quotes), CSM Papers, box 104. This document states: “It is the hope that in the end Appalachian Volunteers may became an independent permanent organization.” See also Loyal Jones to Thomas Anderson, Editor in Chief, State Farm Publication, May 26, 1964, CSM Papers, box 100; and Loyal Jones to Brady Black, Editor of the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 22, 1964, CSM Papers, box 103. The Kentucky Development Committee was a state-sponsored agency that attempted to coordinate economic development strategies in Kentucky.

  35. Tentative Letter, Perley Ayer to Donald Fessler (Perley Ayer Writes Don Fessler, CSM President), [ca. April 20, 1966], AV Papers, box 5.

  36. Ibid.

  37. Donald R. Fessler to Members of the C.S.M. Board of Directors, April 18, 1966, AV Papers, box 5.

  38. Memorandum, P. F. Ayer to Milton Ogle, March 19, 1964, CSM Papers, box 114.

  39. Memorandum, Perley Ayer to Phil Conn, March 31, 1964, CSM Papers, box 103. Ayer sent a similar memorandum to Flem Messer that same day. See Perley Ayer to Flem Messer, March 3, 1964, AV Papers, box 4. On November 17, 1965, the CSM held another staff meeting that only one AV attended, and then only for a “few minutes.” Ayer questioned whether this nonparticipation was “an indication of AV attitude.” See Memorandum, Perley Ayer to Milton Ogle, November 20, 1965, AV Papers, box 4. On Wells and Blair, see Memorandum, P. F. Ayer to Milton Ogle, January 27, 1966, AV Papers, box 5.

  40. Memorandum, P. F. Ayer to Milton Ogle, June 25, 1965, AV Papers, box 5. In another communiqué to Ogle, Ayer again reprimanded the AV director for the “evidence that our Appalachian volunteer staff considers itself an independent agency, somewhat disinclined to operate as team members of the Council staff.” See Memorandum, P. F. Ayer to Milton Ogle, March 5, 1965, AV Papers, box 27. See also Memorandum, P. F. Ayer to Mace Crandall, December 30, 1964, CSM Papers, box 103, in which Ayer criticized Crandall for a press release “because of its failure to make any direct implication of the Council as the sponsoring agency [of the AVs].”

  41. You Are Responsible: Some Thoughts on the Appalachian Volunteer Summer Project, [ca. spring 1966], AV Papers, box 5.

  42. Ibid.

  43. Memorandum, P. F. Ayer to Dan Fox, April 9, 1966, AV Papers, box 5.

  44. Ibid.

  45. Memorandum, Daniel Fox to P. F. Ayer, March 7, 1966, AV Papers, box 5.

  46. Ayer to Fox, April 9, 1966, AV Papers, box 5.

  47. Comments on the AV-VISTA Program, [ca. 1966], AV Papers, box 5. Unfortunately, the document does not reveal who the Volunteers “of unquestioned integrity and personal dedication” were.

  48. Ibid.

  49. Ibid. All the Appalachian Volunteers interviewed denied these charges.

  50. Ibid.

  51. On Ayer’s attempt to stop the AV move, see Tentative Letter, Perley Ayer to Donald Fessler, [ca. April 1966], AV Papers, box 5. On the “secret meeting,” see Oral History Interview with Loyal Jones, November 19, 1990 (first quote), Berea, KY, WOP Oral History Project. P. F. Ayer to Milton Ogle, May 4, 1
966 (second quote), AV Papers, box 5; P. F. Ayer to Milton Ogle, May 2, 1966 (third quote), AV Papers, box 5; P. F. Ayer to Daniel Fox, May 2, 1966 (last quote), AV Papers, box 5.

  52. Letter of Resignation Submitted by Thirteen Members of the AV Staff to Dr. Fessler and Members of the Board, May 3, 1966, AV Papers, box 5; Statement of Don Fox and Milton Ogle to Jim Hampton of the Louisville Courier-Journal, May 5, 1966 (Mimeo), AV Papers, box 4.

  53. Memorandum, Perley Ayer to [CSM] Board of Directors, June 3, 1966, AV Papers, box 5.

  54. Oral History Interview with Loyal Jones, November 19, 1990, Berea, KY, WOP Oral History Project.

  55. Joe Barker to Loyal Jones, May 24, 1966, AV Papers, box 5.

  56. Southern Conference Educational Fund, the Southern Mountain Project, a Statement of Purpose and Program, September 1, 1967, AV Papers, box 10. On the increasing radicalization of protest in the United States at this time, see esp. Matusow, The Unraveling of America; and Anderson, The Movement and the Sixties,

  6. Operation Rolling Thunder

  1. Oral History Interview with Joe Mulloy, November 11, 1990, Huntington, WV, WOP Oral History Project.

  2. Ibid. For additional comments concerning how the CSM sought to give its early AVs “meaningful experiences,” see Oral History Interview with Roslea Johnson, June 24, 1991, Des Moines, IA, WOP Oral History Project.

  3. Oral History Interview with Joe Mulloy, November 11, 1990, Huntington, WV, WOP Oral History Project.

  4. First General Membership Meeting of Appalachian Volunteers, Southeastern Christian College, May 15, 1966, AV Papers, box 7.

  5. Perley Ayer to Theodore Berry, OEO, May 12, 1966, AV Papers, box 5; Perley Ayer to Sidney Woolner, OEO, May 12, 1966, AV Papers, box 5; Perley Ayer to Milton Ogle, June 8, 1966, AV Papers, box 4; Memorandum, P. F. Ayer to CSM Board of Directors, June 3, 1966, AV Papers, box 5. The final figures for AV funding in June 1966 are contained in Milton Ogle to Dunn & Bradstreet, Inc., June 21, 1966, AV Papers, box 22.

  6. Harry M. Caudill to Milton Ogle, May 4, 1966, AV Papers, box 21.