Interview with Ann W. Olson, November 29, 1990

Interview Summary

Ann Olson grew up in Stamford, New York with her mother and her two sisters. She attended Smith College in western Massachusetts, and during college she participated in a number of community service projects. Upon her graduation from Smith in June of 1965, Olson explains that she applied to be a VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) worker. She describes and critiques the three-week training program. She discusses the culture shock she experienced upon her arrival in the mountains. She had never lived alone, or without running water, and this was her first experience with a coal stove. She recalls that she became very close to the family who owned the small home that she rented. Olson explains that she ran an after-school program for teenage girls and spent almost every evening visiting with community members. She describes the "communist scare" that flared up against the Appalachian Volunteers and how she survived it by gaining the trust of the local people. Olson explains that she came back to Carter County, Kentucky after she was married, to make her home there.

Interview Keyword

anti-poverty organizations

Interview LC Subject

Appalachian Region Appalachian Region--Economic conditions Economic assistance Olson, Ann W. Olson, Ann W.--Interviews

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Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.