University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Sociology Sociology 2020 “WE HAD BECOME TRAILER PEOPLE”: STIGMA, SOCIAL BOUNDARY MAKING, AND THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN MOBILE HOME PARK Katie M. Founds University of Kentucky, [email protected] Author ORCID Identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4521-4390 Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2020.516 Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Founds, Katie M., "“WE HAD BECOME TRAILER PEOPLE”: STIGMA, SOCIAL BOUNDARY MAKING, AND THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN MOBILE HOME PARK" (2020). Theses and Dissertations--Sociology. 48. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/sociology_etds/48 This Doctoral Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Sociology at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Sociology by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Katie M. Founds, Student Dr. Shaunna L. Scott, Major Professor Dr. Janet P. Stamatel, Director of Graduate Studies TITLE PAGE “WE HAD BECOME TRAILER PEOPLE”: STIGMA, SOCIAL BOUNDARY MAKING, AND THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN MOBILE HOME PARK DISSERTATION A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Katie M. Founds Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. Shaunna Scott, Professor of Sociology Lexington, Kentucky Copyright © Katie M. Founds 2020 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4521-4390 ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION “WE HAD BECOME TRAILER PEOPLE”: STIGMA, SOCIAL BOUNDARY MAKING, AND THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN MOBILE HOME PARK Mobile homes and mobile home parks—still most often called trailer parks in common vernacular—occupy a particularly stigmatized position in American culture. A symbolic stand-in for a host of social ills, from bad hygiene and broken families to drug use and loose morals, mobile homes offer affordable housing at a social cost, branding their residents as likewise deficient. This piece of material culture did not come into being with such negative meanings attached. The process of becoming a symbol of stigma is an historical one, a story of meaning making in the midst of cultural shifts and changing norms. Since appearing on the scene in the early 20th century, the American house trailer has transitioned from trendy fad to housing pariah, and the power of its symbolism continues to label residents as pariahs by association. Through status connotations and class reproduction, the stigma that comes with being labeled “trailer trash” continues to have harmful consequences for the lived experiences of mobile home park residents today. KEYWORDS: Stigma, Class, Mobile Homes, Whiteness, Symbolic Interactionism, Affordable Housing Katie M. Founds 09/04/2020 Date “WE HAD BECOME TRAILER PEOPLE”: STIGMA, SOCIAL BOUNDARY MAKING, AND THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN MOBILE HOME PARK By Katie M. Founds Dr. Shaunna Scott Director of Dissertation Dr. Janet Stamatel Director of Graduate Studies 09/04/2020 Date DEDICATION To Kim and Leah: Without your adventurous spirits, none of this would ever have come into being. Thank you for the many years of friendship, support, and generally ridiculous escapades. To Tim: You pushed me toward the starting line and then cheered me (sometimes carried me) all the way to the finish line. Even in the face of unanticipated changes, your companionship on this journey has reminded me again and again that I am the luckiest. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I consider myself incredibly blessed to have been able to work with Dr. Shaunna Scott as my advisor and committee chair. She believed in me at the beginning, when I was more than a little rough around the edges, and continually models the kind of scholar and professor I aspire to be. Her unfailing support in both my academic work and in the numerous real-life hurdles that came my way over the last several years has been invaluable. I am also grateful for the mentorship of the other members of my committee, Drs. Edward Morris, Shannon Bell, and Diane King, who inspire me both as scholars and as humans. I asked them to serve on my committee in part because I believed that they would always remind me to honor the residents of my neighborhood in my scholarship, as I believe they have honored the people at the heart of their respective research. Thanks also to my outside examiner, Dr. Andrew Milward, for his insight and suggestions. I am grateful as well to the entire Sociology department at the University of Kentucky. I consider it a gift to have been able to study in an academic community that is both rigorous and supportive, always showing genuine concern for one another and for the community and world around them. Finally, the folks at the RV/MH Hall of Fame graciously allowed me to spend hour upon hour in the Founder’s Library doing my archival research and offered help any time I needed it. I am thankful for their welcoming spirit and for the work they do in preserving such an important piece of our cultural history. I am tremendously grateful to Grace Cale and Stacie Hatfield for their endless encouragement and camaraderie in both academic endeavors and in all of the real life that happened along the way. They reminded me by example that slow, steady, and badass-level- tenacious wins the race. In the years of work that followed my return to Colorado, I owe a debt of gratitude to Lindy Williams for at least a hundred study-night dinners and for belly laughs that made this process feel more bearable. Big thanks are due to Andrea Baker, who offered feedback on early drafts of these chapters and patiently allowed me to talk my way through developing and iii sometimes convoluted ideas. Rachel Shields Ebersole also gave feedback on early drafts, and later shared her editorial expertise to make the manuscript ready for final submission. I am grateful for her friendship, her care for this project, and her eye for detail. I am forever indebted to Tim Founds, who sacrificed more for this degree than anyone. It would take too many pages to list the ways he made this possible, but let it be known that he is a saint. Thanks are also due to Daniel, for being patient with all the hours when Mama had to work instead of play, and for bringing me stuffed animals to place on my desk when he could see that I was stressed. I am so grateful to my family, especially my mom, for providing faithful cheerleading and all kinds of practical support. And to the Founds family, for being so understanding when I had to spend large parts of every holiday working, and for loaning me the truck for all those visits to the archives. A cadre of other faithful friends and family members fed me, caffeinated me, consoled me, de-stressed me, and encouraged me throughout this process— there is no way to name them all, but I am grateful for each one. Most of all, I am grateful to my neighbors in both Parkside and Riverview. It has been an honor to share in their lives and in their stories. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vii 1. BEGINNING: A JOURNEY INTO THE STUDY OF TRAILER PARKS ................................ 1 Genesis ......................................................................................................................................... 2 Trailer Parks in the American Imagination .................................................................................. 4 Literature ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Methods ......................................................................................................................................