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Home , Appalachian studies, Deliverance, Urban Appalachians

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is an abiding APPALACHIAsymbol ofrural white poverty in America. When the media needs a visual clip,asound bite,ora few column Looking for inches on rural poverty, reporters and photojournalists are dispatched to Ap- Appalachians palachia. When presidential contenders need a social issue, their campaign trails often include a stop at a small Appala- in : chian town for a quick, speech and few ' photos. Seeking 'Deliverance Apart from its symbolic function of < PhillipJ. Obermilleris an associate professor and Finding the ofsociology at Northern Kentucky Univer- 9 sityand amember ofthe Urban Appalachian 'Deer Hunter Council's Research Committee. Michael E. Maloney is a social planner for an urban ministry project oftheEpiscopal Church,the By Phillip J. Obermiller and Appalachian People's Service Organization, Michael E. Maloney and teaches Appalachian studies at Xavier

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: invoking images ofpoverty, assumptions, stereotypes, and biases of Appalachian cultural presence in Pitts- remains fairly unknown to mainstream urban power brokers. 's ur- burgh. The city's ofimmigration America. Millionsof Appalachians, pri- ban Appalachians are teaching govern- and its strong ethnic neighborhoods marily from West Virginia and Appala- ment social service departments, philan- would lead most observers to believe chian ofother central and south- thropic organizations, social welfare that Appalachians are merely the most em states, have left the and settled agencies, school systems, and mainline recent group of white ethnics to estab- inmetropolitan areas from to religious groups that ethnicity is not lish itselfin the city. Yet Pittsburgh may Los Angeles in search of work and im- restricted topeople offoreign lands and be the only major metropolitan area in proved life chances for themselves and cultures, that poverty is not confined to or near the Appalachian region without their families. These migrants receive blacks and rural whites, and that assimi- a signficant population ofmigrants from even less recognition than their kinfolk lation into the urban milieu is not a other parts of Appalachia. This article back in the mountains. Urban Appala- foregone conclusion for many rural-to- explores the reasons for this anomaly, chians have been characterized— aptly as urban migrants. The authors, one Appalachian, and the "invisible minority" invisible be- InPittsburgh the picture is entirely the other of European ethnic stock, are cause their culture isnot recognized and different. The city,the county (Allegh- familiar with the dynamics of Appala- minority because when itis recognized, eny), and allofWestern Pennsylvania lie chian migration and ethnic neighbor- it is not accepted by individuals and within the Appalachian region as de- hood formation inCincinnati and other institutions in the urban mainstream. fined by the federal government, mak- midwestern cities. We traveled to Pitts- Appalachian migrants to cities like ing the entire population of the Pitts- burgh expecting tofindhidden enclaves Cincinnati have begun to organize, and burgh metropolitan area technically of "invisible" Appalachians. We visited they are imposing a severe strain on the "Appalachian." Yet there is nosign ofan several different neighborhoods in and

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-, Pittsburgh History, Winter 1990

around Pittsburgh. Weinterviewed coal mining, traditionally have to allresidents ofthe 397 counties key informants across the city — formed the region's economic inthe region as Appalachian. This preachers, social workers, educa- base; agriculture, forestry, tourism usage ignores the reality that many tors, shopkeepers, university pro- and recreation, and textile manu- people living in the region may fessors — and always asked where facturing are also components of have moved there from other we might find a neighborhood the regional economy. places, but because of the avail- populated by West Virginians or There is significant cultural di- ability of data, many researchers by "folks from the mountains." versity within the Appalachian re- employ this definition. Research We scanned scholarly documents gion.Ineastern Ohio,forinstance, on Appalachian migration gener- and daily newspapers, looking for there are areas withpeople ofpri- ally considers a person who was hints of an Appalachian presence marily Anglo-Saxon and Celtic born inthe region or whose fore- in Pittsburgh. Using annual heritage who have historic links to bears were born in the region as county- to-county migration data Kentucky and Virginia. Other sec- Appalachian. "Southern Appala- produced by the U.S. Census Bu- tions ofthe region were settled by chian" refers to people living in reau and Internal Revenue Service people from New England and are West Virginia and the mountain- records, westudied migration flows not a part of the "" ous areas to the south, while out ofAppalachia and into Allegh- cultural region. The river towns "Northern Appalachian" refers to eny County inselected years from north ofMarietta, Ohio,are home people livingin the hills ofsouth- 1955 to 1981. to large numbers of people with eastern Ohio and upland areas to The results of our studies are central and southern European the north. presented here in the form of a backgrounds. Similar diversity is Anthropoligists studying value comparison between Cincinnati orientations go beyond these and Pittsburgh. Cincinnati repre- geographical and topographical sents the 30 major metropolitan Pittsburgh distinctions and define as Appala- areas in whichAppalachians can be represents the only chian anyone who is tied to the found as a legitimate, ifinvisible, region by ancestry and who shares . Pittsburgh, sur- known ease in the subcultural values ofthat area. rounded by Pennsylvania's Appa- Further distinctions could be made— lachian counties and readily acces- which Appalaehian between mountain subcultures sible by Interstate 79 from West migration streams forexample, between farmers and Virginia,stands alone; itrepresents miners, rural folk and small town the only known case in which have almost folk,or snake handlers and Primi- Appalachian migration streams entirely tiveBaptists. have almost entirely avoided a avoided a The most dramatic Appalachian readily accessible industrial city. readily aeeessible migration tometropolitan centers The Appalachian region is began in the decade after World composed of397 counties, which industrial city. War II.Those who clustered in lie across portions of Mississippi, blue-collar ethnic neighborhoods Alabama, , Tennessee, found in Appalachian Pennsylva- and who experienced problems , North Carolina, nia. Washington County appears typical for most low-income mi- Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Vir- tobe more strongly influenced by grants (underemployment, pov- Maryland, ginia, western Pennsyl- the culture ofthe BritishIsles than erty, school failure, stereotyping, vania, and the entire state ofWest the steel towns along the and discrimination) are primarily Virginia. Although Appalachians Monongahela and Ohio rivers, from the northern and southern are generally perceived as rural where central European ethnicity Appalachian coalfields. As might people, about 75 percent of the is more prevalent. be expected, this region's group is pre- 1980 population lived in What then is meant when we dominantly white, mostly Baptist metropolitan 1 or urban counties. say that a person is "Appalachian" or Pentecostal, and heavily blue Major urban areas in the Appala- or when weuse terms such as "an collar. They are for the most part chianregion Birmingham, include Appalachian neighborhood?" Be- of Scots-Irish or Anglo-Saxon Charleston, Chattanooga, Hun- cause of the variety of connota- tington, Huntsville, heritage, speak with a distinct ac- Knoxville, tions and denotations that the term cent, and especially enjoy Pittsburgh, andTuscaloosa. "Appalachian" country Cities can have, we will and western, bluegrass, and "old located in counties bordering on describe some of the most com- time" gospel music. When wewent the region include , Buf- mon usages and indicate which looking for Appalachians inPitts- falo, Cincinnati, and Memphis. one we are using at any given time. Extractive industries, burgh, these were the people we specifically Apolitician might reasonably refer sought.

162 m Favorite Cities for Appalachian Migrants

h Appalachian Region Boundary as designated by the Appalachian Regional Commission- in1965. HI!Old destination Major metropolitan area historically Based on these characteristics with large Appalachian community.- we expected to find Appalachian ANew destination Metropolitan area among the top 10 for j \ neighborhoods replete with"hill- migrants from the Appalachian region, 1980-81. (Also includes / I billy"bars and restaurants, Pente- Houston, not shown.) - I Anold and a new destination Metropolitan area S costal and Baptist churches, and O *~~S X withhistorically large Appalachian community -'J l people speaking with mountain- that remained among the top 10 destinations jf^ /— eer accents. Other typical lifestyle for Appalachian migrants into the 1980s. features ofblue -collar Appalachian neighborhoods include pickup " trucks withhunting riflesmounted .) I ptTE^H' V-^ ) inside the back window, camping S_^t3a^^«^ p J vehicles, body shops, and shade- D^ y\ tree mechanics working on cars and trucks. We acknowledge that there are other kinds of Appalachians in Pittsburgh — for example, pro- fessionals from West Virginia liv- ingin suburban communities, or blacks from eastern Kentucky liv- ing in integrated middle-class neighborhoods, or blue-collar Polish- and Italian-Americans from the mining counties of south- F^" western Pennsylvania living in Oi^^^u^ central city neighborhoods. Our point is not to deny Appalachian heritage to any of these groups, but torecognize that they are quite likely highly assimilated into ur- ban milieus shaped by the domi- economic, nant social, and cul- > on group. LJf 1^ NX Source: U.S. Census Bureau tural forces each > ) and Internal Revenue service The motive for Appalachian / / data complied by authors. migration has been largley eco- nomic. In 1954, 53.6 percent of the farm operators in southern Appalachia were engaged in ingdailyin the same area was only so heavy that the Council of the nonfarm work, a sign that farming 108,902. 3 Southern Mountains felt com- was failingtoprovide alivelihood.2 The move was social as wellas pelled to publish and distribute a Unemployment combined with economic. 4 Manufacturing jobs pamphlet explaining which per- the economic and social effects of were opening up inthe industrial- sonal documents the migrants WorldWar IItoimpel a migration ized cities of the northeast and needed to take with them to es- from the region, which swelled in midwest. Post-war improvements tablish residency in their new cit- the postwar period. The railroads' in travel and communication sys- ies. 7 conversion to diesel fuel, the tems added to the lure of the cities. The destinations of the migra- change over to electric ovens in Southern Appalachia lost more tion streams have changed over the steel industry and to gas fur- than 13 percent ofits population time from cities in the Midwest naces in residential heating, and between 1940 and 1950, 19 per- and the Northeast tourban growth the automation of mining above cent from 1950 to 1960, and an- centers in the South and South- and below ground put thousands other 5percent during the 1960s. 5 west. In the 1960s Washington, of miners out of work inthe cen- Although there is evidence ofnet , , and tral Appalachian coalfields. The return migration during the 1970s, ranked among the top 10 receiv- number ofbituminous coal min- out-migration from Appalachia ing cities. By the early 1980s ers insouthern Appalachia in1940 seems to have resumed in the Houston, Nashville, Tampa/St. was 170,385, but by 1954 the 1980s. 6 At one point migration Petersburg, Phoenix, Dallas, and average number of miners work- from the Appalachian region was Los Angeles were showing rela-

163 Pittsburgh History, Winter 1990

andother factors that slowed net gains of Appala- workers had roots in the United alism tively large immigrants chian migrants. Metropolitan ar- Mine Workers of America; they theinfluxof from other countries, the barriers that pre- eas within the Appalachian region contributed to the growth and Knoxville, vitalityofthe various construction vented black workers from hold- such as Birmingham, relatively Chattanooga, Charleston, Hunts- brotherhoods and to the automo- ingmany jobs, and the ville,Huntington, and Tuscaloosa undeveloped state ofautomation Without Appalachian are also popular destinations. 8 at the time. As webegin the 1990s millions Appalachian workers, the rate ofeconomic de- receiving ofAppalachian people are livingin women left velopment in the cities cities as far apart as Baltimore and would have been much slower. Phoenix Detroit and Ft. Lau- The new urban environment or their kitchens mi- derdale; some are recent migrants, had its effect on Appalachian while others are the children and for food processing grants as well. They worked hard grandchildren ofmigrants. plants, potato tomaintain the cultural values and The impact of migration on institutions they hadbrought from Appalachian people has been well chip factories or the mountains. Uponarrivalinthe documented by authors such as cities,Appalachians connected with Harriet Arnow, Jospeh Howell, commercial family and peer networks which Robert Coles, James Brown,9 and bakeries in were usually concentrated in William Philliber,10 but the effect heavily Appalachian neighbor- of Appalachian migration on the the cities. hoods. 11 These urban areas were receiving cities has been largely dotted with the bars, restaurants, neglected. The urban costs and tive, rubber, and chemical work- churches, stores, and workplaces benefits ofwhat Brown and Hillery ers' unions as well. which other Appalachians fre- called "The Great Migration" Appalachian migrant families quented. probably willnever be calculated moved from the mountains to the InCincinnati, the cultural dif- accurately because they are likely cities with their work ethic and ferences of the newcomers gave immeasurable. Nevertheless, we their social roles fairly intact. Ap- rise to stereotyping and negative willsuggest a few areas where the palachian women joined theurban labeling by natives. 12 New urban impact has been felt. labor force in large numbers, myths arose to explain the behav- The first and most obvious adapting their traditional familial ior ofthe "Mlbillies"moving into contribution of the Great Migra- roles totheurban environment. In the city. Rather than identifying tion has been economic. Many Cincinnati, where nearly 80 per- with these stigmatized images, Appalachian workers stopped try- cent of the Appalachian women most migrants reject all labels (in- ing to fillcoal cars in the country- hold full-time jobs outside the cluding "Appalachian") and side and began tobuild cars inthe home, they found work as teach- identify with their state ofbirth or cities. They moved fromWest Vir- ers, nurses, and social workers, simply with being "from the ginia to Akron to make tires for continuing their involvement with mountains." Firestone and Goodyear, to children, the sick, and the elderly. Appalachian values and folk- Cleveland torefine gas for Sohio, They left their kitchens for food ways have adapted tothe city.For to Canton to make engine bear- processing plants, potato chip instance, bowling has replaced ings, or to Youngstown to make factories or commercial bakeries; fishing and hunting as a pastime wiringharnesses for Packard Elec- they translated their crafts into for some migrants. Gender roles tric. From Kentucky they moved assembly work at Kenner Toys. changed as well,with women ex- to Dayton to make batteries at In short, Appalachian people periencing more independence Delco and tonearby Middletown made up a large part of the through paid employment and where they rolled steel into sheet midwestern labor force that careers outside the home. Many steel for auto bodies at the Armco stimulated economic growth after Appalachian churches have evolved plant. Workers came by the thou- World War II.Appalachian men from small inner- city storefronts sands fromAppalachia tothe GM, and women played an important to stained glass and stone sanctu- Ford,and assembly plants role in building the physical in- aries serving hundreds ofsuburban in Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, Fort frastructure, producing the durable families. Wayne, South Bend, and Cincin- goods, and providing the human nati. Many others went into con- services that fueled the post-war A Tale ofTwo Cities: struction, building the streets, economic expansion inour cities. Cincinnati homes, factories, and offices of Theirrole was especially critical in Its diversified industrial base is urban centers. Many of these the face of the heightened nation- a key factor in Cincinnati's record

164 Lookingfor Appalachians inPittsburgh

ofeconomic stability and balanced generation Appalachian migrant. 14 and residents ofthe suburbs. About growth. Early immigrants from Most Appalachian families came one-third of the Appalachian manufacturing cities in Germany to Cincinnati to find jobs. They population lives within the city established metal casting found- were generally young,married, less limits ofCincinnati,and members ries and precision machine tool well-educated than their urban of this group fall consistently be- companies that endure to this day. counterparts, and frequently inthe low their suburban counterparts One of the area's largest employ- unskilled or semi-skilled sector of on avariety ofeconomic and social ers, General Electric, fabricates and the labor force. Many Appalachian indicators: they are younger and assembles precision parts for jet workers found regular employ- less educated, earn less money, engines. Automobile companies ment, joined unions, and became work at less prestigious jobs, and such as Ford and an integral part of the urban are more likelytobe livingalone. 16 also employ many skilled workers economy. Others, however, were When Appalachians living in in their local plants. less fortunate. Used by employers the cityofCincinnati are contrasted Germans from more rural areas as a pool of surplus labor to aug- with their non-Appalachian black founded stockyards, abattoirs, and ment the local labor force during and white counterparts, their meat packing plants that earned cyclical busy seasons, these Appa- situation appears even poorer. The Cincinnati the sobriquet of lachians became the workingpoor, three indicators— ofsocioeconomic "Porkpolis." These thrifty immi- who often slipped unnoticed into status ,— occupation, grants were famous for using "ev- the urban underclass. and income show non-Appala- ery part of the pigbut the squeal" Taken as an aggregate, first- chian whites to be at the higher and their industrial legacy is just as and second-generation Appala- end of the scale, white Appala- diverse: the Kroger meat and gro- chians are not doing badly. When chians at the lower end, and blacks cery chain, Proctor and Gamble compared in 1980 with non-Ap- in the middle. Only 32 percent of soap products, and Jergens cos- palachian whites and non-Appala- the non-Appalachian whites have metics all have headquarters in chian blacks in the Cincinnati less than a high school education, Cincinnati. metropolitan area, white Appala- for example, but this proportion Following a pattern similar to chians have a socioeconomic sta- rises to 47 percent among blacks that in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati's tus lower than that ofother whites and 67 percent among white Ap- earlyindustrialists founded schools, but higher than that ofblacks. As palachians. Similarly, one-third of philanthropic foundations, hospi- non-Appalachian whites are em- tals, banks, and insurance compa- ployed in professional, technical, nies that provide a wide array of The thrifty or managerial occupations, but jobpossibilities. With its blend of immigrants to only 19 percent ofblacks and only employment opportunities in 8 percent of white Appalachians manufacturing, marketing, fi- Cincinnati were hold such positions. Whereas 22 nance, health, and education, percent of the non-Appalachian Cincinnati has longbeen a magnet famous for using whites report annual incomes of for migrants in search of work. *every part of $40,000 or more, only16 percent Cincinnati is a city of strong of blacks and 7 percent of white neighborhood identities that the pig but the Appalachians have incomes at this convey more than a sense ofloca- squeal." level. Although the Appalachians' tion; they are also associated with lower socioeconomic status is at- specific ethnic and racial groups tributable in part to the higher and withvarying economic condi- for schooling, work, and income, percentage offemales inthe group, tions. Historically, Cincinnati and Appalachians are doingbetter than itis evident that Appalachians liv- its environs have been a major blacks butless wellthan their white ingin the cityhave a lower overall destination for Appalachian mi- counterparts. White Appalachians socioeconomic status. As a group grants. The migration peaked in have 26 percent fewer high school they are closer to blacks in these 1958 but continued strongly into graduates, 26 percent fewer work- characteristics than to non-Appa- the next decade; between 1965 ers inwhite-collar occupations and lachian whites.17 and 1970 one out of 10 recent skilled trades, and 14 percent less Slightly more than 13 percent migrants to the city was Appala- average annual income than do ofAppalachians ingreater Cincin- chian. 13 By 1981 greater Cincin- other whites in the area. 15 nati are black; nearly 22 percent of nati ranked ninth of the 30 major A different picture emerges, the blacks in the area are first:or receiving cities;nearly one ofevery however, when the metropolitan second-generation Appalachians. four residents of the metropolitan Appalachian population isdivided Black Appalachians have somewhat area was either a first- or second- between residents of Cincinnati less education but earn slightly

165 Pittsburgh History, Winter 1990 more income and enjoy higher burgh was ranked 27th out of the pret. The balance of the migrants occupational status than do other 30 top-ranked metropolitan desti- came principally from the other blacks inCincinnati. Yet these dif- nations forAppalachian migration; Appalachian counties in Western ferences become inconsequential by 1970 it had dropped to 29th Pennsylvania, as well as in south- when compared with the much and wasranked a distant last among western New Yorkand southeast- larger differences between blacks the seven metropolitan receiving ernOhio;migrants fromWest Vir- and whites inthe city.Overall, the areas located in the Appalachian ginia are a fairly small part of this socioeconomic resemblance of region. migration stream. black Appalachians toother blacks Surprisingly, 1980 figures on Pittsburgh, likeCincinnati, is a is much stronger than the simi- Appalachian mobility rank Pitts- cityofneighborhoods. Natives and larities between white Appalachians burgh at the top inthe same rank- visitors alike are keenly aware of and other whites. Black Appala- ing for metropolitan receiving ar- this reality; one gives and receives chians have assimilated into the eas. Indeed, the 14 southwestern directions that begin with state- urban black community toa degree Pennsylvania counties alone con- ments like "Oh, that's in Oak- that white Appalachians have not tributed 32,215 migrants toPitts- land," or "Yeah, take the Liberty achieved in relation to the larger burgh and Allegheny County in Bridge over toMt.Washington." white community in Cincinnati. 18 1980. 22 But we must keep inmind In both cities natural neighbor- Like black Appalachians, Ap- several factors that make drawing a hood boundaries such as rivers, palachian women form a minority precise picture of the migration hills,and ravines are supplemented within a minority in urban areas. flows difficult when interpreting by parks, boulevards, and railway Although nearly four-fifths ofur- these data. First, in terms of net tracks. ban Appalachian women are Appalachian migration (the num- Long-established ethnic group working full time, they are less ber ofpeople entering Pittsburgh settlement patterns givePittsburgh educated, hold lower status jobs, from elsewhere inAppalachia mi- residents a good idea of who lives and liveinhouseholds earning less nus the number ofpeople leaving where. 23 Polish Hill, of course, average annual income than their Pittsburgh for some other destina- was Polish. Bloomfield remains male counterparts. The subordi- tion in Appalachia), Pittsburgh heavily Italian. Much of the black nate status of Appalachians in actually experienced a net loss of population lives in the HillDis- greater Cincinnati seems tointen- 1,789 migrants in 1980. Second, trict northeast of downtown. sify the stratification between Ap- the 1960 and 1970 data consider Squirrel Hill is heavily Jewish. palachian men and women. 19 only migrants from southern Ap- Oakland, near the city's universi- palachia; they disregard those from ties and hospitals, is diverse and ATaleofTwoCities:Pittsburgh Appalachian counties inNewYork, cosmopolitan. Large-scale out- The steady decline of the steel Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Those migration of blue-collar families industry over the past 60 years has statistics excluded the ringof Ap- since 1970 has weakened but not affected Pittsburgh's demographic destroyed these ethnic enclaves. profile directly. The story has been Gentrification has occurred in one of out-migration rather than wwomen some areas, butthese demographic in-migration; the Steel City has changes willnot soon alter basic lost 80,000 industrial jobs and experienced neighborhood characteristics more than 90,000 residents inthe more independence based on ethnicity and social class. last two decades. Between 1980 The area has suffered heavily and 1989 the Pittsburgh metro- through paid from loss of population and of politan area experienced the larg- employment blue-collar jobs, but Pittsburgh's est population decrease for any and ethnic neighborhoods remain in- U.S. metropolis. The city's demo- careers outside tact, primarily through the resil- graphic losses are the highest in ience of their residents. In the die nation, whether considered in the home. past, three generations of work- terms of net population loss ing-class families in ethnic neigh- (134,000) or as a percentage of palachian counties surrounding borhoods usually occupied 20 three total population (5.7 percent). Allegheny County, whereas these separate houses in their commu- According to research on Ap- counties were included inthe mi- nity. These families dou- palachian are now migration toPittsburgh gration for 1980. This makes the bling and triplingup inone house. using 1960 and 1970 census data, more recent data on migration to Asone informant told the authors, Pittsburgh was an unpopular des- Pittsburgh in1980 from the Ap- "Grandma moved inand the kids tination for migrants from south- palachian counties of 21 southwest- are staying or moving back in." ern Appalachia. In 1960 Pitts- ern Pennsylvania difficult tointer- Family income lost in the former

166 LookingforAppalachians inPittsburgh industrial economy is replaced ognition by city government, the Appalachian congregation. partially through informal ex- school board, and community so- We visited neigh- changes and casual labor, the "off cial agencies as Cincinnati's sec- borhoods inand around the city. the books" transactions such as ond largest minority group after The central institutions—located in flea market sales, odd jobs, repair blacks. these neigbhorhoods grocery— work, and babysitting. One infor- Blue-collar Appalachians are a stores, bars, and churches mant reported, "The jobs are not major part of the work force in stocked no Appalachian food on here to support the yuppies the local factories; their white-collar their shelves, played no bluegrass city seeks. The ethnic neighbor- counterparts work in hospitals, music on their jukeboxes, and in- hoods are safe." cluded no traditional mountain Home ownership is another hymns intheirservices. We checked factor in the relative stability of InPittsburgh, for West Virginia plates on cars Pittsburgh's neighborhoods. Na- and trucks indriveways and on the tionally the home ownership rate no one could streets. We looked for Church of is 63.8 percent; inPittsburgh itis direct us to an Christ and Holiness Church con- 74.4 percent. Moreover, housing gregations. Welistened forregional inthis area isless expensive than in Appalachian accents and asked people whether other U.S. cities. Only fourof the they knew ofanybody from West largest 150 cities in the country neighborhood, or Virginialivinginthe area. Alltono have average housing costs lower to a 'hillbilly9 bar avail. Allof the people we spoke than Pittsburgh's. with were technically "Appala- The existence ofethnic neigh- or restaurant. chian," in that they lived in the borhoods is not enough initself to federally defined region. Some no explain why West Virginians and schools, and social service agen- doubt are rural-to-urban migrants, other Appalachians have not es- cies across the metropolitan area. but we found no evidence oflarge tablished their ownneighborhoods Urban health care delivery systems concentrations ofpeople who had in Pittsburgh. Ethnic succession are learning to adapt to the special migrated from the mountains of inurban neighborhoods is a fact of needs of Appalachian migrants, West Virginia or who could be life in most major metropolitan such as screening and treatment of considered culturally Appalachian. areas; in 1940 several Cincinnati pneumoconiosis. As early as the Even in the steel towns along the inner-city neighborhoods were 1970s the superintendent of the Monongahela and Ohiorivers, we predominantly German Catholic Cincinnati Public Schools stated received the impression from our or Jewish; by 1970 these same that serving the educational needs interviews that West Virginiami- neighborhoods were Appalachian of Appalachian students was one grants were relatively invisible. or black. Yet this process does not ofthe most serious challenges fac- They settled in,socialized among seem to have affected as many ing the school system. themselves, and got along peace- neighborhoods inPittsburgh as it Because one ofevery four resi- ably enough with their neighbors did in Cincinnati and other dents has Appalachian roots, Cin- ofCroation orPolish descent. They midwestern cities. cinnati has long been afocal point did not, however, take over large InCincinnati,Appalachians are for academic research on patterns sections of the towns orbuild any the largest resident group in at ofinternal migration, urban social permanent edifices equivalent to least 10 neighborhoods. They are problems, and ethnic group for- the domed and spired churches of organized politically and cultur- mation. The research has resulted the European immigrants. Perhaps ally, operating several community innumerous journal articles, four a typical pattern was that the first- centers and celebrating their cul- scholarly books, several novels, and generation migrants moved back ture with local and regional festi- the organization of Appalachian to West Virginia to retire, and vals. The Frank Foster Library on studies courses at local colleges their children, second- generation Appalachian Migrants is located in and universities. migrants, moved on to other Cincinnati, as is the Urban Appa- No such expression of an Ap- midwestern cities as the decline in lachian Council, the Appalachian palachian presence can be found in the steel industry grew more se- People's Service Organization, and Pittsburgh. On our visits to the vere. the Appalachian Community De- cityresidents easily gave us direc- velopment Association. Appala- tions to other ethnic neighbor- Hypotheses chian churches can be found across hoods inthe city,but no one could There are many possible expla- the city and (more frequently in direct us to an Appalachian neigh- nations for the different outcomes recent years) in the suburbs. Ur- borhood, a ""bar or res- ofAppalachian migration toPitts- ban Appalachians have gained rec- taurant, or to a preacher with an burgh and to Cincinnati. The first

167 Pittsburgh History, Winter 1990

opportunity to avoid the "bigcity," we call the spatial argument: Pitts- try.) This theory is also supported burgh offered no physical, social by the recruitment practices of combined with job opportunities Virginia or economic space to the new- industries; having found areliable closer to "home" inWest comers. Tight-knit ethnic neigh- and satisfactory source of labor, and southeastern Ohio, may have borhoods prevented the relatively they tend to tapitagain and again. siphoned off many potential mi- late -arriving Appalachians from Another possible explanation grants toPittsburgh. Ina variation establishing a toehold in the city. for the absence of Appalachian ofthis idea, the migrants may have These ethnically homogeneous neighborhoods inPittsburgh is a stopped short of Pittsburgh and communities had been maintained variation of the ethnic argument. mayhave taken up residence inthe over time because individual That is,the migrants toPittsburgh ring ofcounties surrounding the houses were often inherited by from the Appalachian region are city. Bycommuting, these people family members or sold to neigh- could participate inthe city's labor bors. The same consistency typified force while retaining some sem- the blue-collar jobmarket inPitts- Much more blance of rural life. This line of burgh; working-class ethnics con- thinking gains credence from the trolled the unions and lower work is needed to presence of a large white Protes- management positions, ensuring determine why tant underclass in towns such as that new hires would come mostly Beaver Falls, Aliquippa, and from their own networks of kin, Pittsburgh is an Washington. These people, living neighbors, and friends. The abid- in Appalachia as defined by the ingsolidarity ofearly migrants to anomaly inthe federal government, display some Pittsburgh may have acted to ex- migration of Appalachian cultural characteris- clude Appalachian newcomers tics and mayhave been earlyAppa- from communities, housing, and Appalachians since lachian migrants to the area. jobs. Whether through elaborate World War II. Another set of explanations or direct channels in the chain comes from an understanding of migration process, word would the respective social structures of have filtered back to others in the themselves ofimmigrant stock, and the two cities. The long-term de- mountians that Pittsburgh was just have blended quietlyinto the vari- cline of the steel industry and the not a good place to move and find ous ethnic communities. The ur- concomitant downward trend in a job. ban Appalachians in Pittsburgh the Pittsburgh- area economy be- Another, similarly possible ex- may have been, for example, min- gan inthe 1930s and was reversed planation is based on the nature of ers ofItalian and Polish descent only briefly byWorld War II.The ethnic group behavior. Patterns of from the Appalachian coalfields of area may never have had the same ethnic clustering by occupation southwestern Pennsylvania. These attraction to migrant workers as and industry have been welldocu- ethnic miners may have moved to industrial cities not dependent on mented. Groups not only are ex- Pittsburgh tobecome steelwork- steel, such as Cincinnati, Balti- cluded from occupational oppor- ers. Evidence supporting this eth- more, and Columbus. tunities, but also self- segregate in nic argument comes from the re- Social mobilityalso was limited the labor force through ethnically cent migration data for Allegheny inPittsburgh byan abiding work- specific job search patterns and County cited earlier. ing class. In Cincinnati, by con- employment preferences. Accord- From a different viewpoint, we trast, working-class people of ing to this view, Appalachian can hypothesize that Cincinnati German heritage moved into the workers inthe Midwest gravitated and Pittsburgh experienced dif- middle and upper classes, provid- toward the automobile industry ferent types ofmigration streams ing an opportunity for blue-collar rather than the steel industry, for from Appalachia. Unlike the fairly Appalachian migrants tomove into whatever reason. This tendency direct moves from the region to the neighborhoods, housing, and would account for the presence of midwestern cities such as Chicago, jobs left behind. Thousands of large numbers ofAppalachians liv- Detroit, and Cincinnati, the flow Cincinnati Germans, for example, ing in Cleveland, Detroit, Chi- to Pittsburgh may have been in- joined the post-war movement to cago, and Cincinnati, as wellas for terrupted by diffusion. In short, the suburbs. The stagnant Pitts- their absence inPittsburgh. (The migrants coming up the burgh economy, on the other only exception to this pattern we Monongahela Valley or across the hand, inhibited mobility socially are aware of is found at Armco Ohio River valley may have en- and economically. Steel in Middletown, Ohio, but countered intervening opportuni- Does this situation mean that most output of Armco's is con- ties inthe milltowns and suburbs Pittsburgh's current efforts to by sumed the automobile indus- south and west ofPittsburgh. The move from reliance on blue-collar

168 LookingforAppalachians inPittsburgh

to white-collar industries willere- ciological Considerations ofthe Mi- Philliber, op. cit. ate new social and occupational gration Theory," Rural Sociology 13 Clyde B. McCoy and James S. opportunities for Appalachian mi- (1975 ), 38. Brown, "Appalachian Migration to mes i;Br°wn *nd Geor c tU in d grants?• We think not. Jobs- in the y.fr u ? j£ *? i +- Hillery,"The Great Migration* ?Ln*1940- McCoy, op. at. (Note:™?®**Due to the primary and secondarya industriala \ [n James s natuIC data, a raw number sectors are vanishing, jobs Vthis even as Brown, "ALook at the1970Census," indicating southern Appalachian mi- in the tertiary sector are being inWalls and Stephenson, eds., Appa- gration to Pittsburgh cannot be cal~ created. Ethnic succession in /^^ in fa Sixties: A Decade of culated.) Pittsburgh's labor force and Reawakening (Lexington: 1972). 14 Obermiller and Oldendick, op. cit. neighborhoods is less likely to oc- 6 Appalachian Regional Commission, l5 Community Chest and Council of cur than the social immobility A Report to Congress on Migration the Cincinnati Area, "Regional Over- caused by the decline inblue-col- (Washington, D.C.: 1979); Stephen viewReport II:Profiles ofChange" lar work. E. WhtfE* "Return Migration to Ap- (mimeo., Cincinnati: 1983). 16 Ibid, Philliber, Which of these hypotheses ac- palachian Kentucky: AnAtypicalCase and WilliamW. ap. of Nonmetropolitan Migration Re- at _ counts most accurately for the ab- 17 i- • versal," RuralSociology (1983),y 48. PhillipJ.Obermillerand Robert W. c A i m Pitts-tv sence of Appalachians 7Cou;dlof±eSou^rnMountains? oldendick, "Urban Appalachian burgh? 1robably all of them, in uAlcYou Thinking ofMovingto the Health Concerns," inproceedings of some combination. As observers City>» (pamphlet,Berea: 1965). the 1988 University of Kentucky fromCincinnati wehave raised the 8 obermillerand Oldendick, op. cit. Conference onHealth inAppalachia, question and have brought it to 9 Arnow, The Dollmaker (New Health in Appalachia (Lexington: this point. Now students ofPitts- York;1954); Howell,HardLivingon 1989). burgh's history must take up the ClayStreet( Garden City:1973); Coles, 18 William W. Philliber and Phillip J. task examine the historical evi- The South Goes North(Boston: 1971); Obermiller, "Black Appalachian Mi- dence for each hypothesis we've and Schwarzweller, Brown and grants: The Issue of Dual Minority Mangalam, Mountain Families in Status," inSimon, ed., CriticalEssays offeredorrerea, andana determine theirtneir rela-reia Tmnsition (University Park: 1972). in Appalachian Life and Culture tive importance. \u25a0 10 Philliber> Appalachian Migrants in (Boone: 1982). Urban America (New York: 1981); 19 Community Chest and Council on Philliber and McCoy, eds., The Invis- the Cincinnati Area, op cit. 1 PhillipJ. Obermiller and Robert W. Me Minority: Urban Appalachians 20 Ralph L.Bangs and VijaiP. Singh, Oldendick, "MovingOn: Recent Pat- (Lexington: 1981); Obermiller and eds., The State of the Region: Eco- terns of Appalachian Migration," in Philliber,op. cit. nomic, Demographic, and Social Obermillerand Philliber,eds., TooFew n Gary L.Fowler, "The Residential Trends inSouthwestern Pennsylvania Tomorrows: Urban Appalachians in DistributionofUrban Appalachians," (Pittsburgh: Sept. 1984 and April the 1980s (Boone: 1987). in Philliber and McCoy, op. cit.; 1988). 2 RoyE. Proctor and T.KelleyWhite, Obermiller, "LabellingUrban Appa- 21 McCoy and Brown, op. cit. "Agriculture: A Reassessment," in lachians," inObermiller and Philliber, 22 Obermillerand Oldendick (1987), Ford, ed., The Southern Appalachian op. cit. op. cit. Region (Lexington: 1962). 12 Clyde B.McCoy andVirginiaMcCoy 23 John Bodnar, Roger Simon, and 3 Harold A.Gibbard, "Extractive In- Watkins, "Stereotypes ofAppalachian Michael P.Weber, LivesofTheirOwn: dustries and Forestry," inFord,op. cit. Migrants," in Philliber and McCoy, Blacks, Italians and Poles in Pitts- 4 Peter Uhlenberg, "Noneconomic op.cit.;Obermiller, "LabellingUrban burgh, 7900-i9<50(Urbana and Chi- Determinants ofNonmigration: So- Appalachians," in Obermiller and cago: 1982).

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