Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 2.01 History, Labor, and Activism
Presentation #1 Title
Poultry: the New Frontier of Appalachian Labor, Environment, and Industrial Relations in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
The juggernaut of economic and industrial development in the state of West Virginia is, without a doubt, coal. This industry has dominated scholarship of the region since achieving statehood in 1863. However, the rise in industrialized farming coupled with the rural cottage industry of chicken farming in the eastern panhandle, has produced another giant in West Virginia’s labor relations, environmental problems, and historical industrial relations. This region produces nearly all chicken for chains such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and distributors like Tyson. From river contamination to massive immigration, this largely ignored Appalachian industry must be further examined. Using geological surveys, historical labor analysis, journalism from the area, and interviews with local residents, this study will serve as the comprehensive basis of historical analysis in this field. Since there is not much in the way of academic scholarship in this area, this study fully intends to break new and exciting ground in Appalachian academics.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
I am a graduate student in history with an emphasis on the industrialization of meat production in the twentieth century. I earned a BA in English in 2008 and expect to graduate from the history program by 2015.
Poultry: the New Frontier of Appalachian Labor, Environment, and Industrial Relations in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia
Harris Hall 139
The juggernaut of economic and industrial development in the state of West Virginia is, without a doubt, coal. This industry has dominated scholarship of the region since achieving statehood in 1863. However, the rise in industrialized farming coupled with the rural cottage industry of chicken farming in the eastern panhandle, has produced another giant in West Virginia’s labor relations, environmental problems, and historical industrial relations. This region produces nearly all chicken for chains such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and distributors like Tyson. From river contamination to massive immigration, this largely ignored Appalachian industry must be further examined. Using geological surveys, historical labor analysis, journalism from the area, and interviews with local residents, this study will serve as the comprehensive basis of historical analysis in this field. Since there is not much in the way of academic scholarship in this area, this study fully intends to break new and exciting ground in Appalachian academics.
