The Salt of the Earth: The Life and Times in a Company Town

Creator: Smith, Tracy S.

: Totten, Charlie "Bill"

: Borders, Debbie

: Borders, Bobby

: Ernest, Kansas

: Smith, Linda

: Norris, Charlie

: Parks, Vivian

: McKenna, Juanita

In this project, Tracy S. Smith chose to investigate the history of Saltville, Virginia by focusing on the lens of it being a company town. The original company associated with Saltville was the Mathieson Alkali Works of Saltville, Virginia (1893), and they produced soda ash from local deposits of salt, coal, and limestone and later in other salt byproducts. In later years the company merged with the Olin Chemical Corporation. Ms. Smith interviewed several people who had worked and lived in Saltville to form a good picture of life in the town, how the company affected residents and employees in both good and bad ways, and heard discussion of a tragic accident that killed or injured many town residents. This interview is among projects created by students enrolled in English 446 (initially English 452), “Appalachian Folklore,” 1981-2019, and in graduate level counterparts English 548 and 648 “Appalachian Folk Culture(s)” offered 17 fall semesters between 1987 and 2009. Minimally contain collector’s introduction and analysis, transcribed informant interviews, and excerpted and labeled examples of oral, customary, and/or material folklore/folklife collected primarily within the Appalachian region. Most include also tables of contents, informant information, indexes (outlines) of interviews, photographs, miscellaneous paper items, and indexes of informants, genres, and geographic locations. Accompanying audio recordings (several minutes to 2+ hours). Transferred to McConnell Library Archives & Special Collections from Appalachian Regional and Rural Studies Center, Fall 2013.