Site of the earliest experiences of the Coalition in Appalachia, Clairfield is located in the Cumberland Mountains near the Kentucky border in a coal-rich landscape with a history of community organizing that became a role model for subsequent Coalition work. Since the early 1960s, activists with Presbyterian and Catholic organizations had already established a clinical and social presence. In 1969, they welcomed Vanderbilt students Bill Dow, Pat Maxwell, and others, introducing them to community leaders. Over time, community leaders in Clairfield became role models for others around the region eager to establish community-run primary care clinics. Legal research about taxation and land ownership in and around Clairfield inspired the foundation of SOCM (Save Our Cumberland Mountains).
See the 1969 SHC Annual Report for more information.
Related People:
Pete Moss
Contributed by Pete Moss and Jennifer Crane, March 2016. Dr. Pete Moss was raised on his maternal grandparents’ farm in Marshall County, Tenn., while his father fought in World War II. As the eldest of his siblings, he learned responsibility,… Continued
Welmoet Spreij
Contributed by Welmoet Spreij, Amsterdam, 2017. I came to Nashville as a Dutch exchange-student in the fall of 1969 and took some classes at Vanderbilt University. While attending a course in philosophy, I came to know John Davis, Dick Burr,… Continued
Bill Corr
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Martha Stucker
Martha was a Catholic nun and a registered nurse working in East Tennessee at the Clairfield clinic in 1969 when Bill Dow first encountered her and engaged her help in designing student-run health fairs. She had been conducting primary care… Continued
Charles Schiff
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Related Stories:
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“Liberté, Egalité, Frivolité”
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Maureen O’Connell’s introduction to SOCM and the SHC
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On the SHC’s process identifying post-health fair follow-up needs in East Tennessee
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A conversation with Martha Stucker
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Related Resources/Links:
Richard Davidson Photograph Collection, Southern Historical Collection, UNC Chapel Hill
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Article: “Health Care for those off the beaten path,” from the Tennessee Valley Authority
Kollar, Robert. “Health care for those off the beaten path.” Tennessee Valley Authority, post-1975. View PDF. More on the Tennessee Valley Authority: Continued
Interview with Mary Herr by Jessie Wilkerson, May 19 2011, Southern Oral History Program, UNC Chapel Hill
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