Photo Credit WBIR
Do you ever have an urge to scratch your 80s media fix? During the mid-1980s across the United States, there was great concern with preserving rapidly dying memories as the previously remote areas of the country became more and more interconnected.
The Heartland Series is a newscast project that set out to “celebrate the people (of Southern Appalachia) and their land.” Quirky, informative, and mostly entertaining, this program shed light on the unique culture only the geography of Southern Appalachia could produce.
While this series, originally produced as a limited run series commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in 1984, falls sort of capturing the true variation of human experiences in the area, it is a celebration of the storytelling tradition still practiced in Southern Appalachia today.
The Heartland series certainly does not seek to reconstruct the identity of the region, but rather to preserve, for their audience, a way of being that was under serious threat of disappearing forever.
Knoxville based WBIR produced the Heartland Series from 1984 until the final regular broadcast in 2009. In all, WBIR aired thousands of brief episodes to be played in between news broadcasts that featured information on people, stories, songs, ecology, and ongoing conservation efforts in Southern Appalachia.
Throughout the decades-long run, Bill Landry, a Chattanoogan, actor, and writer, hosted and produced the program. As new generations of Southern Appalachians grew up, Landry’s program introduced the living story of a region to an audience that likely would not normally encounter such ethnological information. Although Landry, as a typical East Tennessee historian, often highlighted Eurocentric viewpoints of the region, he ably interviewed people whose stories would have died with them.
Some highlights from the Heartland Series include the storytelling of former Cades Cove residents, coverage of the woolly aphid crisis of the Smokies, features of old time music and instruments, and recreations of historical events. In most instances, the brief features of the Heartland Series recognize the dignity of the people interviewed and a deep respect for their lived experiences.
One large shortcoming of the programming is an absence of quality historiography on the role of the Cherokee people and the Mississippian culture that preceded them. For example, a segment on Sequoyah, creator of the Cherokee syllabary, referenced misconceptions that Sequoyah was a Cherokee outsider, that he created his syllabary without the help of Cherokee women or his family, and endorses the caricature of American Indian men as divinely inspired through an innate harmony with nature.
Those unfamiliar with this story might not encounter a counter narrative to this common mistruth in Southern Appalachian history. The opportunity to dispel misconceptions and to advocate for restorative justice was missed and it would be harmful to any viewer of this program not to recognize its shortcomings.
In all, the Heartland Series recognizes Appalachians who lived in styles only the geography of this region could produce. It introduces us to A. D. Bohannon, a fisher and autoharp player who raised black bears as a form of livestock. Ulysse Roberts, a moonshiner who discovered his product had the power to destroy. Ethel Birtchfield, a riddle maker and farmer from Roane Mountain. The Campbell family, who worked as coal miners for the Horse Creek Coal Mine. Ray Hicks, teller of odd ‘Jack Tales’ from the mountains of Western North Carolina.
It is doubtful that the stories of these people and many exceptional Appalachians like them would be preserved and reach the broader Appalachian audience without the Heartland Series.
If you are interested in viewing the Heartland Series, the first ten volumes (1984-1989) are available on Youtube. You may also catch a spattering of episodes played during current WBIR late night and weekend broadcasts.
Despite the Heartland Series’ sometimes antiquated material, the series still remains a celebration of the region and the people that colored Appalachia’s cultural attitudes and perspective. Keep a critical eye when viewing and remember that there are so many more stories to be told, and that we have many opportunities to learn from those around us.
