National Advisory Commission on Rural Poverty Collection

President Lyndon B. Johnson formed the National Advisory Commission on the Rural Poverty, under Executive Order Number 11306, in the 1960s to counsel him and develop recommendations concerning legislative actions to be taken as a part of his administration’s War on Poverty. This particular commission was charged with the responsibility of evaluating one of the most difficult social problems in the United States—rural poverty.

The Commission produced technical papers and special reports containing summaries and recommendations based on the information offered by citizens at public hearings held in Tucson, Arizona; Memphis, Tennessee; Washington, D.C.; and Berea, Kentucky. Testimony was also taken in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The commission’s final report, entitled The People Left Behind, together with its findings, establish a public record of a national attempt to abolish the problem of rural poverty. The commission, was dissolved by the administration of President Richard M. Nixon in 1969.

The Berea, Kentucky hearing focused on the problems of Appalachia. It was conducted January 12, 1967, with Francis S. Hutchins, President of Berea College, presiding. Commission members interviewed regional representatives who offered their thinking concerning ways to improve the general conditions affecting health, employment, and education in their communities. Among the numerous participants were Kentucky govenor and Commission chairman, Edward T. Breathitt, Thomas R. Ford, University of Kentucky; and Burton B. Rodgers and Alvin Boggs of the Pine Mountain Settlement School.

Berea hearing transcripts and related newspaper clippings are found in Box 2, Folders 6 and 7.