This journal theme issue focuses on Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty in Appalachia, launched in 1964. Articles discuss the War on Poverty, the people involved, how it succeeded, and how it ultimately failed. One article examines the role of the Council of the Southern Mountains, established in 1913. Federal officials used the council's reputation to facilitate communications between the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and local Community Action Programs. Council members held OEO at least partly responsible for shortcomings of the anti-poverty effort and found it difficult to square OEO's approach with local realities. During the late 1960s the council underwent radical transformation. Federal relations cooled and money dried up. Since that time, it has been reconstructed and survives as a promoter of ideas and grassroots Appalachian programs. The magazine includes reprinted news articles about the War on Poverty and profiles former council members. A separate article profiles David Whisnant, author and leader of the Appalachian Studies movement. Another profile looks at the life of Sister Marie Ubinger, a worker for social change in Kentucky. "Early Days at Keno" consists of excerpts from the diary kept by novelist Harriette Simpson Arnow when she taught in Appalachian Kentucky in 1939. Another reminiscence reflects on government notions of proper nutrition for schoolchildren during the past few decades. The document also includes poetry, music, three book reviews, and excerpts from a play about conditions in mining communities during the early 1930s. (TES)