NET Journal; Appalachia: Rich Land, Poor People
- Series
- NET Journal
- Episode Number
- 238
- Episode Number
- 213
- Producing Organization
- National Educational Television and Radio Center
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/516-028pc2tz81
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- Description
- Episode Description
- An hour long piece, produced by NET, and originally distributed by NET in 1968 and reaired in June 1969. It was originally shot in black and white.
- Episode Description
- This program first aired on November 11, 1968. It was one of three cited by Saturday Review in its award to NET Journal for distinguished programming during the past year. This program is about the gap between a coal-rich land and its wasted people. Appalachia, a mountainous region largely centered in the southeastern United States, was the first section designated as a poverty area under the Kennedy Administration. Therefore, this program concerns the thriving germ of poverty despite the presence of federal money, as well as the areas natural resources. The documentary focuses on the Collins family, whose plight epitomizes that of the Appalachia residents of northern Kentucky and West Virginia. A miner for 10 years, Collins lost his job when the company mechanized its operation. Since then, he has had little work, and has relied on welfare to provide a meager existence for his family of five. A man of 36, he has seemingly no future, and must look to old photograph albums for a sense of the hope that he and his wife once envisioned. Unlike Collins, almost a million Appalachians have left the area since 1950. But for the 1 million remaining inhabitants, the land and the facts of industrial life offer little prospect for hope. The wealth of Appalachia is underground, and the profits accrue to the coal companies, the program notes. Some of Americas largest corporations like Bethlehem, US and Republic Steel take millions of dollars of coal annually from Appalachian counties. Yet many of those same counties are pauper counties. Contributing to this imbalance is the fact that outside coal and land companies pay relatively little in state income taxes and local property taxes. So, there is little money for schools, park, or health services. One county tax assessor unwittingly sums up when he admits that no land surveys are made: You just have to trust the figures of the coal companies. The coal companies themselves justify it as true private enterprise an example of how the country was founded . Do it any other way, its just socialism. If were wrong, then the country is wrong. Encouraged by VISTA volunteers, some of the local residents are attempting to organize. Their cause in some cases coincided with the abortive Poor Peoples Campaign of the past summer. They are especially piqued about a 45 percent cut in their welfare payments by the West Virginia State Legislature. But as yet their efforts have had little impact. Predictably, the middle class exhibited shock and fear when presented with the threat of organized demands. At one Chamber of Commerce meeting, professional anti-communist Herbert Philbrick confronts the dangers of red infiltration throughout the country, especially in Eastern Kentucky. At this meeting, which was filmed by NET, local people turn their venom against the camera crew for treading on damn dangerous ground with your boots and fuzzy faces. NET Journal Appalachia: Rich Land and Poor People is an NET production. This aired as NET Journal episode 213 on November 11, 1968 and as NET Journal episode 238 on June 9, 1969. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
- Broadcast Date
- 1969-06-09
- Broadcast Date
- 1968-11-11
- Asset type
- Episode
- Genres
- Documentary
- Rights
- Published Work: This work was offered for sale and/or rent in 1972.
- Copyright National Educational Television & Radio Center November 11, 1968
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Credits
-
-
Producer: Willis, Jack (Film producer)
Producing Organization: National Educational Television and Radio Center
Writer: Willis, Jack (Film producer)
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
Indiana University Libraries Moving Image Archive
Identifier: [request film based on title] (Indiana University)
Format: 16mm film
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
- Citations
- Chicago: “NET Journal; Appalachia: Rich Land, Poor People,” 1969-06-09, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed May 17, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-028pc2tz81.
- MLA: “NET Journal; Appalachia: Rich Land, Poor People.” 1969-06-09. American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. May 17, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-028pc2tz81>.
- APA: NET Journal; Appalachia: Rich Land, Poor People. Boston, MA: American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-516-028pc2tz81