"What You are Getting Wrong about Appalachia" by Elizabeth Catte

By Jennifer R. Hoffman

Appalachia. What does one think of when they hear the term, Appalachia? For those who've read J.D. Vance's best-seller, the term "hillbilly" may come to mind. If you know a little about the region, coal-mining might be at the top of your Appalachian facts list. That's something you'd be getting right about Appalachia.

Appalachia is a long, diagonal region that stretches across thirteen states from New York clear down to Alabama, spanning 206,000 square miles and encompassing 423 counties holding over 26 million people. It is not the Scots-Irish "hub of misery" Vance refe...