Interview with Lowell Phillips, December 15, 1988

Interview Summary

This is a third interview with Lowell Phillips who worked as a supervisor in the Van Lear mines. His wife was a teacher in Van Lear, and he describes her concern with families who experienced difficulties. She would often ask around the town for old clothes for the needy, and she would visit homes and ask what she could do to help. He states that his wife would even do other people's washing sometimes. Mr. Phillips talks at length about the social life of young people in the 1920s and 1930s. He states that there were night clubs from Paintsville to Virginia. He describes them, and makes a clear distinction between them and the much less respectable "roadhouses," "honky tonks," and "ginny barns." He also discusses the mores and behavior of men and women in this time period.

Interview Keyword

Appalachian people Appalachian social issues Coal mining Education Gender differences Gender roles Johnson County (Ky.) Social activities Van Lear (Ky.) Women coal miners Women's role in coal camps Social life Social mores Economic conditions Class distinctions

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Phillips, Lowell, 1914- Phillips, Lowell, 1914- --Interviews

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.