Hillbilly Women: Struggle and Survival in Southern Appalachia

by Skye Moody

“This book tells what it means to be a woman when you are poor, when you are proud, and when you are a hillbilly.”

First published in 1973, Skye Moody’s Hillbilly Women shares the stunning and raw oral histories of nineteen women in twentieth-century Southern Appalachia, from their day-to-day struggles for survival to the personal triumphs of their hardscrabble existence. They are wives, widows, and daughters of coal miners; factory hands, tobacco graders, cotton mill workers, and farmers; and women who value honest labor, self-esteem, and dignity. Shining a much-needed light into a misunderstood culture and identity, the stories within reflect the universally human struggle to live meaningful and dignified lives.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Womens

212 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 It isn't clear on Goodreads, but this is Kathy Kahn's Hillbilly Women from 1973 with a new introduction - that page contains a couple more in-depth reviews.

I'm always interested in women's history and ran across this book on an anti-Hillbilly Elegy list of recommended Appalachian literature. Although I don't agree with some of the author's editorializing (for example, that "the women in this book represent the real feminists of their era," a messy statement in many, many ways - like, tell that to Shirley Chisholm), it's well worth reading for some extraordinary stories. Elizabeth Catte's What You Are Getting Wrong About Appalachia gave a brief, informative history of labor organizing amid decades of rampant exploitation by mining, textile, and lumber companies, but it's remarkable to hear the women, many of whom were resourceful and incredibly brave, speak for themselves. It also paints a much more realistic portrait of the realities faced by coal miners and their families, who fought for decades for humane treatment and better lives, than the politicized version, or the tragic, backwards portrayal they're usually given in the media. There are disturbing stories both of racism and courageous anti-racist work.

It's a small slice of a much bigger and more complicated narrative, but there are stories here that deserve to be told. I'm always wary of the Appalachian counter-narratives that skirt around racism or come across as "not all hillbillies!", but this is pretty honest. My grandmother was one of these women, a hillbilly through and through, a walking Loretta Lynn song, and it's hard to find a fair, complex representation of what that really means; hearing women tell their own stories in their own words is a valuable addition to Appalachian literature.

[Linda Magerøy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An important document of the lives and struggles of those constantly feeling the pressure of opppression in a capitalist society. These womens stories are truly inspiring, and gives the message that anger is needed to change the system that exploits the poor in favor of the wealthy. Personal interviews and the stories about the lives of all the women shown in this book shows us this in a great way. I listened to the audiobook, and the reader really annoyed me with the whining voices used when reciting the interviews, but other than that; an interesting glimpse into a history that is still not in the past.

[Rini Cobbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skye Moody originally published "Hillbilly Women" in 1974, then updated (primarily the introduction and end note) in 2014. The subject and form were a huge undertaking; all but the last chapter are written in the words of individual women living in Southern Appalachia whom Moody visited during her first decade of living and organizing there. Inevitably, there are some absences and some repetitions.

In fact, the author developed the project that became the book based on her own noticing of absence and repetition in the stories she heard. Traveling within the mountains, listening as women told their lives to the writer and activist, Moody

"...began making tape recordings of individuals' life stories with the intention of carrying them to their counterparts across the mountains and hollows. This was before the Internet and satellite television existed. I wanted them to know that they were not alone, and that their stories matched those of thousands of others not so far away struggling to survive under the same spiteful thumb of poverty, prejudice, and exploitation."

Moody shared this context in the book's endnote. I would have appreciated being more aware of this as I read through the stories from the beginning, and I would recommend reading the last couple of pages first.

In the final chapter, titled "Without Anger There Won't Be Any Change," Moody's voice concludes the book, necessarily apart from--and probably also necessarily after--featuring diverse yet entwined voices of Appalachian women from multiple generations, races, religions, relationships, and jobs.

"Every time I read over the stories of these women, I am filled with a sense of failure. I feel somehow I failed to capture their intensity and strength and the emotion with which they recall the cruel experiences of their lives...

I'll never forget the day Myra Watson got indoor plumbing in her house and the pride she felt because she had finally saved up enough money to have it installed. Why did she have to wait 64 years for indoor plumbing?"

Of course the stories include what Moody angrily identifies as "cruel experiences," influenced by natural and unnatural disasters such as business-and-government-made floods and jobless, deadly freezing in unheated homes. They also feature sly humor, pride, generosity, music, discernment, and everyday culture in food, family, and education.

I looked for a couple of years for a book or other document that would show the people, place, history, and social circumstances of this group of Americans who existed mainly in my world as caricatures in movies or figurative language and country song lyrics, with the occasional brief, out-of-date documentary treatment. "Hillbilly Women" is the best I have found, even in its own dated-ness.

Together, the stories, presented through a series of themes (sorrow, creativity, migration, motherhood and mills...) provided important American history that I hadn't learned in my privileged education. I had previously seen "Coal Miner's Daughter," "Norma Rae," and Barbara Kopple's 1976 "Harlan County, USA" documentary film (as well as having read that disingenuous, unfortunately successful more recent book with "Hillbilly" in the title). "Hillbilly Women" filled out some of my minimal knowledge of Appalachian unions, corporation towns, and Cincinnati's Over the Rhine neighborhood as Blue Ridge Mountain refugees told of hillbilly life in their "slum."

If you're interested in reading some stories and voices of mid-20th century Appalachian women, I can recommend this collection.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about the kind of strong women I was raised by, miners wives and daughters who told me stories of how the UMW came to be and how the women helped I'm that struggle ( my Gran got her picture in the paper as a "Petticoat Pickett"). I was also raised eighteen miles from Jock Yablonski, his wife, and daughter were murdered in Clarksville Pa.

[Kay Cagle · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT READ

Excellent- really brought Appalachia to reality..and shame to my soul that I blindly didn't realize how bad...and how recently..these poor hard working people have been dealing with all of this hardship! This is my first book review, and I read ALOT, so I hope you know what an impact it had on me. Thank you, and God bless!

[Emma Halupka · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no knowledge of the historical context of the world "hillbilly" and I am so glad I read this book. A real testament to the pitfalls of our capitalist society. The class struggles overlooked and the stereotypes that are misunderstood.

[Martha Samsell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decent book about women in Appalachia but a little stereotypical.