SOCM (Save Our Cumberland Mountains) began in 1971 under the leadership of J.W. Bradley and environmental activists from 5 counties in East Tennessee (Morgan, Claiborne, Campbell, Hancock, and Anderson) who sought fair taxation of absentee land corporations. Together with local leaders and the work of Coalition students, they appealed to the Tennessee government, winning their first battle in 1972. Bolstered by their success, the organization then hoped to help local communities with other issues they encountered. This included fighting against strip mining in the area, primarily against Amax Coal Company who had secured a grant to mine the area. SOCM also fought for the rights of landowners, who at the time had little protection against mineral extraction on their properties. Achieving much these first few years, SOCM then voted to support many other issues besides coal mining. Since that time, much of their work has involved working with Black organizations to dismantle racism, continuing to work for fair taxation, and persisting with its fight against coal. In the last decade, efforts were directed against Mountaintop Removal (MTR) strip mining. And in 2008, the organization changed its name to Statewide Organization for Community Empowerment to better reflect the broader issues and areas served by the organization. It has been “a powerful, multi-racial, statewide organization to work for economic, environmental and social justice issues in our local communities, our state, and our nation.” For more information about current work, go to https://www.socm.org/.
Related Content:
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey’s origins with SOCM
Boomer discusses his introduction to Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) in 1972. Inspired by his geological studies and depth of conviction about unregulated strip mining’s adverse effects on both the environment and community health, Boomer has been an active participant… Continued
Interview with Connie White by Jessie Wilkerson, August 16 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Connie White was born on December 8, 1954 in Loudon, Tenn. She became active in the environmental justice organization Save Our Cumberland Mountains in the 1970s and later served as President. She is currently the Associate Director of the Center… Continued
Irwin Venick
Contributed by Irwin Venick, May 2016 I arrived in Nashville, Tenn. on a hot, humid day in August 1971 not really knowing what to expect. One thing for sure was that I was not in Kansas (meaning for me, New… Continued
Decline of coal camp healthcare and subsequent basis of need for reform
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey and Maureen O’Connell discuss the local healthcare setting upon Save Our Cumberland Mountain’s (SOCM) and the Student Health Coalition’s (SHC) early stages of community organizing in East Tennessee. Maureen details several local factors which established a major… Continued
J.W. and Kate Bradley Papers, Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill
Records, correspondence, and printed material related to the involvement of J. W. Bradley with Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), an organization founded to support community issues arising from the increase in strip mining in Eastern Tennessee during the 1970s and… Continued
Pat Kalmans
Pat, while never officially part of the student workforce in SHC, was a major player in the early work of SOCM and ETRC. She primarily worked on setting up and finding resources, including funding, for the Mountain People’s Health Clinics… Continued
Interview with Betty Anderson by Jessie Wilkerson, August 15 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Betty Anderson was born in Scott County, Tenn. on March 26, 1936. In the 1970s, she became involved with Save Our Cumberland Mountains, a social justice organization that addressed strip-mining and other community issues in Tennessee and Kentucky. She became… Continued
J.W. Bradley
Jacob “J.W.” Bradley was born on 29 June 1930 and raised in Petros, Tenn., a small Appalachian coalfield community in the Cumberland Mountains. J.W. married Emma “Kate” Hobbs in 1951. As an adult, J.W. worked several jobs. At eighteen he… Continued
Interview with Kate Bradley and J.W. Bradley by Evangeline Mee, 11 August 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
This interview with J.W. Bradley and Kate Bradley is a follow up to interview U-0803. J.W. Bradley was born in Petros, Tenn., a coalfield community in the Cumberlands. He served as deputy sheriff in Petros. He was one of the… Continued
Kate Bradley
Emma Ruth “Kate” Hobbs Bradley was born 13 October 1932 in Petros, Tenn., a small Appalachian coalfield community in the Cumberland Mountains. Kate was the sixth of seven surviving children in her family. Her father was a coalminer. Kate married… Continued
Betty Anderson’s introduction to SOCM
Betty Anderson shares how she first became involved with Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) and the Student Health Coalition. Included in her account is a story about how she and others responded to opposition of the rural health clinics in… Continued
Betty Anderson
Betty Anderson was born in Scott County, Tenn. on March 26, 1936. In the 1970s, she became involved with Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), a social justice organization that addressed strip-mining and other community issues in Tennessee and Kentucky. She… Continued
SOCM’s and the SHC’s culture of ‘family fun’
Maureen O’Connell and Charles “Boomer” Winfrey reflect on the value of having fun, highlighting the Student Health Coalition (SHC) as an especially stimulating group of people to be around. Their commitment to collective recreation ultimately facilitated a stronger sense of… Continued
Cindy Lutenbacher
Contributed by Cindy Lutenbacher, September 2015 I was born in Shreveport, La. in 1953, but I lived in cities all over the South. New Orleans is my family home, even though only one cousin still lives there now. I think… Continued
Interview with Susan Williams by Jessie Wilkerson, July 10 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Susan Williams grew up in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and she received her degree in Biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1979. From 1979-1989, she worked as a community organizer for Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM). She then went… Continued
Mo & Boomer
On strip mining, community organization, and “[having] fun while trying to change the world.” Interview with Maureen O’Connell and Charles “Boomer” Winfrey, recorded at a May 2013 reunion of the Student Health Coalition (SHC) in Nashville, Tenn. Continued
Reflections on the SHC’s approach to community healthcare
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey and Maureen O’Connell consider what set the Student Health Coalition (SHC) apart from other community development efforts in the Appalachian region of East Tennessee. Boomer focuses on the Coalition’s and Save Our Cumberland Mountains’ (SOCM’s) value of… Continued
Interview with Neil McBride by Jessie Wilkerson, May 27 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Neil McBride was born on December 12, 1945 in Dallas, Texas. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia in 1970. After graduating, he worked for a year as the Southern Director of the Law Students Civil Rights Research… Continued
Bill Dow
Bill Dow co-founded the Student Health Coalition while in medical school at Vanderbilt University, in 1969. His larger-than-life role in the SHC origin story and beyond warrants special telling, which we attempt in the essay that follows. Contributed by Margaret… Continued
Interview with Linda L. Smotherman by Evangeline Mee, 31 May 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Linda Smotherman is from the Piney community in Van Buren County, Tenn.. She became president of Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) in 1983. She started college at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in 1968. She finished at the Medical Laboratory… Continued
Interview with Maureen O’Connell by Jessie Wilkerson, August 11 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Maureen O’Connell grew up in St. Louis, Ill., in the 1940s. She was a community organizer for Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) from 1974-1992, and she served as Executive Director of the organization from 1992-2009. She begins the interview by… Continued
Student Health Coalition Reunion Materials, 2009 and 2013, Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill
Files transferred from the William W. Dow Papers (#05612) that document two Student Health Coalition reunions. One attended by Dow in 2009, and another hosted in Nashville in 2013 after Dow’s death in 2012. Materials include correspondence between former coalition… Continued
Marie Cirillo
Contributed by John Emmeus Davis, 2015. Marie Cirillo was born in Brooklyn in 1929. Her father had emigrated from rural Italy. Her mother had grown up in a small Catholic community in central Kentucky. Every summer, her mother returned to… Continued
Interview with Melody Reeves by Joey Fink, August 9 2010, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Melody Reeves grew up in California in the 1960s, with many childhood trips back to the South to visit extended family. She moved to east Tennessee in 1979 to work with Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), then with the Tennessee… Continued
Article: “Higher Appalachia Coal Taxes Asked,” from the New York Times
Stuart, Reginald. “Higher Appalachia Taxes Asked.” New York Times, June 22, 1974. Read article online. Continued
Interview with June Rostan by Jessie Wilkerson, July 6 2009, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
June Rostan is a long time community and labor activist in east Tennessee. She was born on May 8, 1947, in Valdese, North Carolina. Rostan received her B.A. from Maryville College in 1969 and her M.A. in Special Education from… Continued
Interview with Carol Ford by Evangeline Mee, 30 May 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Topics discussed in this interview with Carol Ford include: born in Kalamazoo, Mich.; moved to Florida to live with aunt and uncle; treasurer for Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM); vocational school in Jacksboro, Tenn.; thievery in the coal company office… Continued
Interview with Mary Herr by Jessie Wilkerson, May 19 2011, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Mary Herr was born in Springfield, Ill. in 1940. In 1978 she moved to Cherokee, N.C. where she has worked on many community development projects, primarily in legal aid services. Herr begins the interview by discussing her family history; a… Continued
Interview with Suzanne Kurth by Joey Fink, May 11 2011, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Suzanne Kurth is a professor of sociology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Dr. Kurth was interviewed about her experiences as a professor and feminist at the University since the 1970s. Topics discussed in this interview include: gendered differences… Continued
Charles “Boomer” Winfrey
After studying geology at the University of Tennessee and working as a geologist for one year, Boomer took a job as a community organizer with Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM). As he later described his role: “They needed somebody with… Continued
Highlights from J.W. Bradley’s collection of papers
Biff Hollingsworth, archivist at UNC’s Wilson Special Collections Library’s Southern Historical Collection, comes across some highlights from J.W. Bradley’s recently donated collection of papers. The first is a newspaper clipping of J.W., president of Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), with… Continued
Maureen O’Connell’s introduction to SOCM and the SHC
Maureen traces the development of her involvement with Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM) and the Student Health Coalition (SHC), beginning with her 1969 introduction to Marie Cirillo and research presence in Clairfield, Tenn. Recorded on May 20th, 2013. Full… Continued
Maureen and Boomer on the Coalition’s Legacy
Maureen O’Connell and Charles “Boomer” Winfrey discuss Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM), tax equalization, and “getting to the root of problems (not just providing services).” Recorded in Nashville, Tenn., May 2013. Continued
Interview with Kate Bradley and J.W. Bradley by Evangeline Mee, 29 May 2012, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
Topics discussed in this interview with Kate Bradley and J.W. Bradley include: birth in Petros, Tenn.; life history overview; coal mining father; history of Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM); women’s role in SOCM; relationship of Vanderbilt University medical students; Student… Continued