This week, The Extraordinary Times catches up with Dr. Chad Berry, Vice President for Alumni, Communications and Philanthropy, Goode Professor of Appalachian Studies, and Professor of History at Berea College, in Kentucky. Dr. Berry has authored, edited, or co-edited four books, notably Southern Migrants, Northern Exiles (University of Illinois Press, 2000), which examines the migration of millions of white southerners to the Midwest during the twentieth century. The book was inspired by his paternal grandparents, who left Tennessee in the 1940s, going first to Akron, Ohio, and ultimately settling in Mishawaka, Indiana. He edited and contributed to the PBS documentary companion volume The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance (Illinois, 2008). He co-edited, with Deandra Little and Peter Felten, Looking and Learning: Visual Literacy across the Disciplines (Jossey-Bass, 2015), and he co-edited, with Phillip J. Obermiller and Shaunna L. Scott, Studying Appalachian Studies: Making the Path by Walking (University of Illinois Press, 2015). Southern Spaces has done a feature on this book, which won the 2015 Weatherford Award for nonfiction.
* In your book, Southern Migrants, Northern Exiles you describe the phenomenon of the “divided heart.” What do you mean by this? By divided heart, I mean ambivalence about having to leave a place that many people knew communally as home in order most often to find employment. Millions of white southerners, Black southerners, and native-born Latinos and Hispanics moved northward and westward to find work in the 20th century, one of this country’s largest internal migrations. The people I spoke with, for example, made meaning of their migration experience near the end of their lives as positive from an economic standpoint—they found the economic opportunity they were searching for—but they also often said that they paid a high price for having to leave home to find it. There were divisions in families, for example, between those who left and those who stayed. And, of course, for those who migrated but returned home, they often believed life in the North wasn’t worth that cost. And then, some solved this ambivalence by sticking out life away from home, working hard in their job, then retiring and moving back to their home community, taking their Social Security and any pension payments with them. The main point here is that migration often involves this “divided heart” about that experience. * You dedicated the book to your grandparents, Ruby and Alvin Berry, "and the hundreds of thousands who came with them." How did Ruby and Alvin shape the way you understand Appalachian migration? My grandparents were just beyond ARC [Appalachian Regional Commission] Appalachia, as my family moved to, through, and then slightly beyond Appalachia over the course of generations. They certainly helped me understand the human cost and benefits of migration, whether from the perspective of white lowlanders or white highlanders, as there were similarities, and also some differences between these groups. It was they who taught me from a very early age about how migration often made one an exile in a new land. * How has the field of Appalachian studies changed in the last twenty years? Goodness! This is a huge question. One important way the field is changing is to be more inclusive of different perspectives and groups, particularly in terms of race, gender, sexuality, citizenship, and other areas. I think the field has also striven to try to transcend stereotype battles—certainly fighting them when they emerge but also not being reductive/essentialist that battling stereotypes is the main focus of the Appalachian studies inquiry. Finally, I think it has also welcomed younger people for their insights, perspectives, and commitments. All these are good things. I think the field can continue to learn from other mountain cultures and experiences around the country and especially around the globe. * How is Berea College facing the unique challenges of this new academic year? Since early March 2020, when the College was among the first to end in-person instruction in the interest of public health and safety, we’ve approached the pandemic on a weekly and often daily basis, striving always to be as responsive to new data and the latest science. We also are deeply aware of the low-wealth status of all the students we serve, and we therefore have tried to be as mindful and supportive of the disruptive effects of the pandemic and the digital divide that exists in our country as possible. Our students have been great at following new policies and practices in place to protect the College community, and we are grateful to them. As it has for many folks, the pandemic has been hard on everyone, including our students, staff, and faculty.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMatthew Smith, PhD (History). Public Programs at Miami University Regionals. Historian of Appalachia, the Ohio Valley, & the early American republic. Archives
February 2024
Categories |