Accession Number: 1
The Council of the Southern Mountains Records
Papers: 1912-1970
144 linear feet
Online Catalog Record (BANC)

[Click here for printable PDF version] (541 KB)

Overview & Series Description
History
Series I - Organizational and Administrative Records, 1915-1975
Series II - General Correspondence, 1957-1970
Series III - Annual Conference Records, 1912-1974
Series IV- Financial Records, 1923-1970
Series V - Funding Agencies, 1952-1970
Series VI - Commission Records, 1926-1972
Series VII - Community Action Program (CAP) Materials, 1946-1970
Series VIII - Mountain Life & Work, 1925-1970
Series IX - Urban Migrants, 1935-1970
Series X - Reference Materials, 1913-1970
Series XI - Photographs

Overview of the Collection

The Council of the Southern Mountains (CSM) 1912-1989, began as a gathering of various citizens and
mountain missionaries working in relative isolation throughout Appalachia, which created a forum for the
sharing of ideas, experiences and inspiration. The Council grew and changed over time into an organization
that promoted cooperation among private, government, and religious organizations in southern Appalachia
and served as a key factor in bringing the issues and experiences of Appalachia into the national consciousness
through publications and outreach programs in education, health, job training, and environmental issues.

No restrictions exist on use of this collection by researchers except for personnel records and any material
protected by federal copyright law. Please consult an archivist for clarification, if needed.

Series Description
288 Manuscript Boxes

This series consists of the correspondence of the Council’s Executive Secretaries and Presidents; Commissioner’s Minutes,
Board of Directors Minutes, and Executive Committee minutes; Articles of Incorporation, Constitution and By-laws including
revisions; organizational charts, rules and procedures; and general administrative files regarding staff and employee policy,
staff memoranda, meeting minutes, and resumes. The largest portion of the series consists of the 1951-1957
correspondence of Executive Director Perley F. Ayer and Board of Directors Minutes 1950-1970.

This series consists of the Council’s general correspondence, mostly relating to fund-raising, membership and general
inquiries. Arrangement is chronological by year, then alphabetical within each year. Important or chief correspondents are
listed where applicable.

This series consists of Annual Conference materials such as correspondence, agendas, lists of participants, meeting minutes, and advertising brochures. The series is arranged chronologically by year.

This series consists of budgets, financial statements, fund-raising, and gift records including those of the Russell Sage
Foundation and the Appalachian Fund. There are also a few checks, vouchers and payroll records for both general Council
operations and those related to Community Action Program (CAP) activities.

This series consists of grant proposals, grant contracts, forms, and related correspondence related to communications with
funding agencies. The series is divided into four groups, one for each primary funder, the Ford Foundation, Department of
Health, Education and Welfare, and Office of Economic Opportunity, and the fourth including all smaller funders in
alphabetical order.

This series contains the surviving records of the several Commissions of the CSM: Aging, Appalachian Regional
Development, Arts and Humanities, Black Appalachians, Community Action, Education, Health, Natural Resources, Poor
People’s Self-Help, Research, Recreation, Welfare, Women’s, and Youth (see Series IX for Urban Affairs). The records
consist mainly of correspondence, minutes, reference materials, and research information relating to each Commission.
Additional booklets, pamphlets, and information related to other organizations working with the commission or within the
same social issue may be found among these materials as well. The series is arranged alphabetically by Commission name, and then organized alphabetically by subject within each commission. The administrative records of each commission begin each section and some larger commissions contain sub-series. References to these commissions can also be found in other sections of the collection, particularly Series II: General Correspondence. (Archivist’s NOTE: A large amount of additional material was added to this series during the re-processing and integration of materials in 2007. Although this substantially increased the volume of materials related to each commission and added new commissions to the holdings, this series is still considered incomplete in so far as the surviving records do not reflect the entire scope or fullness of activities of each commission within the Council’s structure. For example, few records of the Women’s Commission or Black Appalachian Commission survived to be included here).

This series includes the records of projects related to and conducted with funding provided by the U.S. Office of Economic
Development Community Action Program (CAP) and associated grant programs. Records include correspondence, grant
proposals, community information, and various office memoranda. Projects include: Community Action Technicians,
Enterprise Development Project, Low-Income Housing Project, Manpower Project, On-the-Job training Project, and Talent
Bank.

This series houses the records for the publications committee and the administration and publishing of Mountain Life &
Work. A card file index is included at the end of the series.

Included here are the papers and materials of the Urban Migrant Project, Urban Affairs Commission and Workshops on the
Adjustment of the Southern Appalachian Migrant.

This series was created from the former Miscellaneous Series, Newspaper Clippings Series, others materials labeled
"Miscellaneous” throughout the collection, and materials separated from the post-1970 collection, as part of the 2007
additions and reprocessing project. This series includes miscellaneous analyses of the Council, planning papers, a general
topics section and files of regional research materials accumulated by the Council and various staff. The series also consists
of clippings relating to such subject areas as community development, the Council, Kentucky counties, education, folk arts,
low-cost housing, human interest, migrants, mining, poverty, religion, and youth.

Various photographs found within the collection have been collected and consolidated in this small series.

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