SouthTalks: “Making the Appalachian South in Black and White”

“Making the Appalachian South in Black and White” by Matt O’Neal

What is “Appalachia”? Where is it? Who lives there? This talk will outline the creation of the Appalachian region in late-nineteenth century America and explain how it came prepackaged with assumptions about its racial and ethnic makeup. If we look beyond the myths surrounding its origins, we can see the mountain South not as a “strange land” inhabited by a “peculiar people,” but as a dynamic place deeply intertwined with modern American life. From the 1870s to the present, Black and white residents of the region have laid claim to an “Appalachian” identity, a process with implications that reach far beyond the borders of this oft-misunderstood corner of the South.

Matt O’Neal is assistant professor of history and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. He has published articles in the Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era and in the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, and he has been featured in a documentary by the Black in Appalachia project. He is currently turning his dissertation into a book with the University of North Carolina Press.

SouthTalks is a series of events, including lectures, performances, film screenings and panel discussions, exploring the interdisciplinary nature of Southern Studies, sponsored by the Center for the Study of Southern Culture. All events are free and open to the public.