Valley of poverty: The desperate pictures of rural America that show 1930s-style depression actually lasted until the SIXTIES

Pictures of Appalachia by photographer John Dominis appeared in 1964 issue of LIFE, titled 'The Valley of Poverty'

60% of families fell below poverty level with the average family income of $841 a third lower than national average


These bleak pictures appear to show America in the grip of the 1920s Great Depression. The reality is that they were taken in the 1960s, in a lonely valley in Eastern Kentucky long forgotten by affluent America.

For generations, poets and musicians like Patsy Cline were inspired by the beauty of a land that covers 13 states and where towns are called 'Lovely,' 'Beauty' and 'Kingdom Come.'



But the harsh reality, as these pictures from LIFE.com show, was that the people of Appalachia sustained themselves on a bare government subsistence, were ridden with diseases and lived in shacks.

An Appalachian mother clutches her sleeping child while staring into the distance as her other children play around her



Father and son work on the railway track to earn money to feed their family. 60 per cent of families in Appalachian Kentucky were living below the poverty line

The average Appalachian family income of $841 was more than a third lower than the national average. Here a mother looks anxiously as her children eat dinner

The wet climate of the Appalachian Mountains caused rot to set into their wooden homes and made repairs virtually impossible because the old wood couldn't support new wood.

As a result families would watch their homes gradually fall into a state of dilapidation.

At the time Robert F. Kennedy travelled to Appalachia to shine a light on a part of the country that desperately needed help and appeared to have fallen by the wayside as America's economy steamrolled into the 70s. RELATED ARTICLES Previous

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Next 'Too many children are dying': Brave Gabby Giffords... Nearly HALF of U.S. households live just one crisis from... Share this article Share Almost 60 per cent of families in Appalachian Kentucky fell below the poverty level with the average family income of $841 per year coming in at more than a third lower than the national average.

Appalachia stretches from northern Alabama to southern Pennsylvania. In the late 19th century, expansion of the country's railroads brought an increased demand for coal.

Mining operations opened up in huge numbers across Appalachia and hundreds of thousands of workers flooded into the region from across the United States and overseas.

An Appalachian man leans against a shelf clutching a cup. The men had little work after the region's mining industry collapsed



A woman hanging out her family's washing during the harsh winter in eastern Kentucky



Dominis’ photos appeared as a 12-page feature in a 1964 issue of LIFE magazine, titled 'The Valley of Poverty'

Both lumbering and coal mining industries flourished during this period and along with it came decent salaries and living standards.

By the 1960s, however, logging companies decided to move elsewhere having become frustrated at the poor infrastructure in the region, while competition from oil and gas companies led to a sharp decline in mining operations.

Men were left without jobs and children grew up with no prospects.

John Dominis show ’ photos appeared as a 12-page feature in a 1964, issue of LIFE , titled 'The Valley of Poverty'. It was one of the very first in-depth critiques on President Lyndon Johnson’s 'war on poverty.'



A woman and her family trudging across a rickety suspension bridge over a sewage-polluted stream towards their two-room shack with its two outhouses in this poverty-stricken area of Appalachia

The wet climate of the Appalachian Mountains caused rot to set into the wooden homes (pictured) and made repairs virtually impossible because the old wood couldn't support new wood

A young boy being washed in a metal tub by his mother

The article that accompanied the pictures said: 'Their homes are shacks without plumbing or sanitation.



'Their landscape is a man-made desolation of corrugated hills and hollows laced with polluted streams.



'The people, themselves often disease-ridden and unschooled, are without jobs and even without hope. Government relief and handouts of surplus food have sustained them on a bare subsistence level for so many years that idleness and relief are now their accepted way of life.'

Appalachia stretches from northern Alabama to southern Pennsylvania. In the late 19th century, expansion of the country's railroads brought an increased demand for coal to fuel the trains. Entire communities became dependent on the industry which disappeared as fast as it arrived



In the original LIFE article in 1964, words that accompanied the pictures included: 'Their homes are shacks without plumbing or sanitation. Their landscape is a man-made desolation of corrugated hills and hollows laced with polluted streams'

A man being baptised in a stream in Appalachia. He can be seen covering his mouth as the water was heavily polluted



Throughout the region drinking water was toxic and families were often forced to live with congenital issues caused by the coal and strip mining in the area

As a result of its bleak history, Appalachia has given rise to a sterotype which was played on by early 20th century writers and to this day endures.

The isolation, temperament, and traditions have often led Appalachia to be portrayed as a culturally backwards region famous for moon shining and uneducated inhabitants prone to unpredictable acts of violence.

Read more: Life in Appalachia: Photos from a 'Valley of Poverty' 1964

A mother caring for her daugther (left) and a child with its bottle in the poverty-stricken region of Appalachia



Children looking scruffy but relatively happy outside their home (left), while a mothers feeds her baby by a roaring fire as her husband looks on (right)

