Hillbilly Elegy

(Rick Simeone) #1

descend on towns like Jackson and
promise (truthfully) a better life for
those willing to move north and work in
the mills. A special policy encouraged
wholesale migration: Applicants with a
family member working at Armco would
move to the top of the employment list.
Armco didn’t just hire the young men of
Appalachian Kentucky; they actively
encouraged those men to bring their
extended families.
A number of industrial firms
employed a similar strategy, and it
appears to have worked. During that era,
there were many Jacksons and many
Middletowns. Researchers have
documented two major waves of

Free download pdf