Helen Matthews Lewis

Helen Matthews Lewis (October 2, 1924 – September 4, 2022) was an American sociologist, historian, and activist who specialized in Appalachia and women's rights. She was noted for developing an interpretation of Appalachia as an internal United States colony, as well as designing the first academic programs for Appalachian studies.^[1] She also specialized in Appalachian oral history, collecting and preserving the experiences of Appalachian working-class women in their own words.^[2] She is known as the "grandmother of Appalachian Studies" as her work has influenced a generation of scholars who focus on Appalachia.^[1]

Early life and education

Lewis was born in

While attending Duke University as a graduate student, she met Judd W. Lewis. When Judd Lewis went to the University of Virginia, she went with him and enrolled in a master's degree program in sociology, earning her degree in 1949. Her thesis, "The Woman Movement and the Negro Movement: Parallel Struggles for Rights," links the histories and developments of the women's suffrage movement with the emerging civil rights movement.^[1] Following this, the two took jobs at Clinch Valley College in Virginia which had a policy stating that all wives of full-time faculty could not hold full-time positions and so Matthews Lewis was forced to work part time.^[1] Lewis earned a PhD in sociology at the University of Kentucky in 1970. Her dissertation was entitled "Occupational Roles and Family Roles: A Study of Coal-Mining Families in Southern Appalachia."^[1] Matthews Lewis said “the education process must provide a true understanding of the history and exploitation of the area and a commitment to creative change.”^[1]

Leaving academia and later works

In 1976, Matthews Lewis decided to leave formal academia as a result of her struggle with gender policies at various institutions, as well as more recent issues with powerful coal corporations.^[1] She started work at the Highlander Research and Education Center, a progressive group which encouraged social justice organizing. While at Highlander, Matthews Lewis focused on “local women’s involvement in community activism” as well as co-edited the handbook, Picking Up the Pieces: Women In and Out of Work in the Rural South, which focused on women's cooperatives and economic education programs.^[1] In 1978, Matthews Lewis wrote her first book with Linda Johnson and Donald Askins titled Colonialism in Modern America: The Appalachian Case, looking at the Appalachian Region, specifically the economic and social problems in the area, and what role colonialism played in creating these problems.^[4] Her second book Remembering Our Past, Building Our Future focuses on the town of Ivanhoe, Virginia, tracing its history from when the first Europeans arrived to present day, where current citizens are trying to save the town.”^[5] Matthews Lewis' third book was published in 1995 and is called It Comes from the People: Community Development and Local Theology. This book looks closely at the community development process and what changes could be implemented to make it better.^[6] Most recently, Matthews Lewis alongside Monica Appleby released Mountain Sisters: From Convent to Community in Appalachia in 2003. The book covers the previously unknown Glenmary Sisters and their history of fighting for social justice against the church.^[7]

Personal life and death

Lewis died in Abingdon, Virginia, on September 4, 2022, at the age of 97.^[8]

Academic career

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• University of Virginia, director of Bureau of Population and Economic Research: 1949–1952^[3]
• University of Virginia, Wise, part-time instructor and part-time librarian, 1955–1967; professor: 1969–1977^{[citation needed]}
• East Tennessee State University, 1967–1969^{[citation needed]}

Activism and independent scholarship

• Highlander Research and Education Center, education staff: 1977–1980, 1985–1993, 1995–1997; director: 1978–1979^[3]
• Appalshop, director of Appalachian history film project: 1980–1984
• National Academy of Sciences, member of committee on underground coal mine safety: 1980
• Berea College, director of Appalachian Center: 1993–1995

Publications

• Colonialism in Modern America: The Appalachian Case, Appalachian Consortium Press, 1978, with Linda Johnson and Donald Askins^[3]
• Remembering Our Past, Building Our Future, Ivanhoe Civic League, 1990, with Suzanne O'Donnell
• It Comes from the People: Community Development and Local Theology, Temple University Press, 1995, with Mary Ann Hinsdale and Maxine Waller
• Mountain Sisters: From Convent to Community in Appalachia, University Press of Kentucky, 2003, with Monica Appleby

Awards and honors

• W.D. Weatherford Award, Berea College, 1990, for Remembering Our Past, Building Our Future^[3]
• Helen M. Lewis Community Service Award, for 'shaping the field of Appalachian Studies' https://www.appalachianstudies.org/awards
• Honorary Doctorate of Letters, Emory and Henry College, 1999^{[citation needed]}
• Honorary Doctorate of Divinity, Wake Forest University, 2000^{[citation needed]}

References