Appalachia: Dispelling the myth

"...So many lies have been written about us, the mountain people, that folks from other states have formed an image of a gun-totin', tabaccer -spittin , whiskey drinkin', barefooted, foolish hillbilly who never existed except in the minds of people who have written such things as The Beverly Hillbillies...No matter what we do, we can't make folks believe we are any different...we have been disgraced in the e yes of the outside world."  from What My Heart Wants To Tell by Verna Mae Slone, Lexington, Kentucky 1978.

When I moved to Kentucky and discovered how beautiful and interesting it was, I wanted to know all about it. I was fascinated by the history, especially that of the folks in Appalachia. I must admit that I am one of the people who had a stereotypical impression of that area. Being extremely curious and an avid reader, I started reading a lot about it and came across the quote at the beginning of this chapter. I was so struck by the pathos of it that I had to know more about the people.

I had the good fortune to have a couple of professors from the University of Kentucky come to stay with me, Elizabeth and Charlie. They both were sociologists and Charlie was an expert on Appalachia and would talk to me for hours about the area and the people. He completely changed the impression I, like so many others outside the area, had.

I learned that the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S. state of Alabama. And that the cultural region of Appalachia typically refers only to the central and southern portions of the range. I was surprised to find out that in 2005 approximately 23 million people lived there. Along with Scotch-Irish immigrants, there were German and English settlers in western Pennsylvania, Northwestern Virginia, and Western Maryland.


Charlie and I spent hours talking about the discovery of the Cumberland Gap in 1750 and the end of the French and Indian War in 1763 and how after that settlers moved deeper into the mountains of upper Eastern Tennessee, Northwestern North Carolina, Upstate South Carolina, and Central Kentucky. He told me about the treaties with the Cherokee and other tribes that opened up lands in North Georgia, Northeast Alabama, the Tennessee Valley, the Cumberland Plateau regions, and the highlands along what is now the Tennessee-North Carolina border.


I had always pictured an Appalachian hunter or pioneer wearing a coonskin cap and buckskin clothing, and carrying a long rifle and shoulder-strapped powder horn like Daniel Boone, living on high mountain ridges and fending for themselves against the elements and attacks from the Indians. Charlie said this was pretty much accurate.

*This piece is the first in a series of excerpts from a longer article I wrote some time ago. If you found this one interesting, you might enjoy returning to read the next three. I will publish one every Friday while I am part of the blogging challenge.  Thanks, Nancy

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How did this happen? Was I destined to be a business woman?

Despite the fact that my grandmother, my mother, and my mother's sister were successful business woman, being one myself was always the furthest thing from my mind. Now I'm wondering if it was in my blood. Both my daughters are in business, not necessarily for themselves. But, nevertheless, they are in business.

In undergrad school, I changed my major several times, from art, to English, to education, to English, to music. I ended up with a degree in music education, all the time saying "I will never go into business"! I have always loved the arts and have dabbled in all of them, including theater and dance. As many of my friends went to business school and started climbing the corporate ladder, I stuck to my guns, "I will never go into business".

My grandmother was a crackerjack business woman and owned four rooming houses in Detroit, all at the same time. My mother was a realtor and had her own real estate business, and my aunt was a successful stock broker. But, watching them work long hours and go through all the ups and downs of having their own businesses only re-enforced my determination not to succumb to the lure of what turned out for many to be a profitable career.

I wanted to create! Of course, I didn't realize you could create in business. In fact, some of the most creative people are in business. Look at Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and, not so well known, Mark Breitbard, chief merchandising and creative officer at Old Navy. “Mark is an amazingly talented retailer — and we’re thrilled he’s joining us to infuse an even higher level of creative spirit to the Old Navy brand,” said Tom Wyatt, President of Old Navy. “Both within Gap Inc. and at other top specialty apparel retailers, he has achieved success creating clothes for each member of our target customer’s family.”

Well, anyway, to make a long story short. I woke up one day, around 15 years ago, and I was the owner of a small bed and breakfast in Louisville Kentucky. It all came to be by happenstance. It was very straight forward. I wanted this house, a 4008 sq ft historic, Victorian brick with five bedrooms. I had to justify buying a house that large for myself ( I live alone). I needed a business I could run from home in order to afford the house, which as it happens, certainly lent itself to becoming a bed and breakfast. Voila! You're an Innkeeper!

And how did you get into business? Did you go to business school, did you follow in your family's footsteps or did you just fall into it like I did?