Beyond the Mines
Jack Corn
There are two overlapping cultures in Appalachia: the Scots-Irish and English debtors; and the Welsh, Cornish and English coal miners who settled there later. Corn writes, "The Scots-Irish and English debtors believed in a man's right to make whiskey and to keep a gun. They were fiercely independent and didn't mind the hardships of living on steep hillsides." The Welsh, Cornish and English coal miners were a different kind of people, but the cultures nonetheless fused over time. While work in the coal mines composed a large portion of the Appalachian lifestyle, it did not by any means summarize daily life for the inhabitants of Appalachia. With his photographs of residents buying groceries, citizens exercising their right to vote, a couple on their way to the prom, strike signs, the moonshine making process, a woodcarver, a quilter, and one of the many small white churches spread across the region, Corn captures Appalachian life beyond the mines in a beautiful and honest way.
