From the 1880s until World War II, Appalachian crafts were rejuvenated by a cultural revival. It was led by missionaries and social workers who wanted both to preserve Appalachian culture and to improve the wellbeing of mountain people. Because most of these improvers were middle-class women from outside the region, they sometimes stimulated a clash of values with the objects of their benevolence. In 1930, craft leaders from throughout Appalachia met in Asheville to create the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild (now the Southern Highland Craft Guild), which claimed the role as arbiter of mountain craft standards and as primary marketer. The more Appalachian crafts were marketed, the more issues of cultural authenticity were debated. While this craft revival aimed at preserving mountain crafts, it also, ironically, served to alter them.
Digital Heritage Moments are produced at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. To learn more, visit digitalheritage.org.
