Hippie Homesteaders: Arts, Crafts, Music, and Living on the Land in West Virginia by Carter Taylor Seaton (review)

Every few decades, it seems, Americans express a collective yearning for the countryside. They long to escape the frenetic pace of urban life, reassert their autonomy in the face of demanding bosses, and rest their eyes on trees and hills rather than concrete and cars. The rural impulse was particularly pronounced during the tumultuous 1970s. Thousands of people—perhaps over one million—migrated to rural areas to become self-sufficient. Although there were a few important exceptions, the vast majority of “back-to-the-land” migrants were young, middle-class, and well-educated whites who found little satisfaction with the mainstream consumer culture. How and why many of them chose to come to West Virginia, and how they influenced the state’s cultural landscape, is the topic of this book.

Seaton’s examination of West Virginia back-to-the-landers begins with self-reflection and, specifically, an explanation of how she first came into contact with the new arrivals. As the state looked forward to its centennial celebration in 1963, economic boosters sought ways to showcase state talent in the arts and music, as well as bolster tourism. Federal antipoverty initiatives provided additional funds, and out of those efforts sprung a variety of craft organizations, including Appalachian Craftsmen, Inc. and Mountain Artisans, that provided artists with marketing opportunities. By the mid-1970s, Seaton directed the former, and in that capacity she helped more than just native mountain crafters; she also met many of the back-to-the-landers featured in her book. She “began to see a different cut of artisan” at craft festivals “who didn’t speak with the twang” of other West Virginians (x).

Each chapter hinges on a central theme in the homesteaders’ collective story: Vietnam protests, disillusionment, antipoverty activism, finding solace in the hills, achieving the “good life,” communal living, and continuing mountain traditions learned from local elders. Many of the homesteaders came of age amidst the turmoil of the 1960s, found their life trajectories wanting, and either through word of mouth, youthful idealism, or more serious consideration about the pros and cons of mountain life, found their way to West Virginia. Seaton alludes to some of the natives’ initial hostility and suspicion toward the newcomers, particularly toward the communitarians, but does not dwell on those issues. Instead, she focuses on shared values of tradition and hard work. The hard work necessary to survive on the land separated the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, and most of the back-to-the-landers who came in the 1970s eventually left again. Those who remained contributed their time and talent to existing cultural institutions and, in some cases, formed their own, including the massively successful Tamarack Crafts Center and Mountain Stage.

The book is an enjoyable and easy read; it focuses on individual stories of struggle, transition, and integration into West Virginia’s social and cultural landscape. State residents who read this book will almost certainly find people with whom they are familiar: attorney Tom Rodd, celebrated performance artist Jude Binder, photographer Ric MacDowell, sculptor Bill Hopen (whose statue of Senator Robert C. Byrd is displayed in the West Virginia Capital’s rotunda), and weaver Adrienne Belafonte Biesemeyer, the daughter of musician and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte. Their individual stories delight if for no other reason than all are exceptionally talented, driven, and energetic human beings. They love the mountains the same way that multigenerational residents do, and Seaton succeeds in driving home this point. At times the story becomes too romantic, particularly when Seaton relies upon simplified popular perceptions of mountain residents, such as independence, to emphasize commonality. Such a notion glazes over more complex interactions that occurred, not only at the onset of the migration—see Mack Samples’s fictional Hippies and Holiness for an amusing account of first impressions, but also as the back-to-the-landers established roots in their communities...