White Migrants from the South
Two of my brothers, Max and Ed, had gone to work in the railroad shops over in Decatur and that was where my family decided to move, in hope that my and dad and Leonard and myself could find some kind of work. But when we moved it made me feel kind of numb and it seemed like all the ambition I had ever had was gone down the drain. It was tough moving into a new and strange atmosphere. And leaving all that I cherished so much. But I guess a lot of other people have felt like that before. I have seen my own daughters feel the same way when I had to pull up stakes and move away from a place they liked so well. I will tell more about this later.
That was my first experience in a town the size of Decatur. It seemed so big for me and I was fourteen years [sic] old and had never been out of the state of Alabama, or for that matter had never been in a town bigger than Athens. I was completely bewildered and disillusioned. I didn’t understand anything about the whole situation and didn’t like it at all. that was my first lesson in adjusting myself to my environment. And I think today, after I have traveled extensively from place to place all over the United States and part of Mexico and Canada, that getting adjusted to one’s environment means vastly more than some people think. I believe if one does not get adjusted pretty quickly that it may mean sickness or even death for some in extreme cases.
The "Pan American Line," part of the L&N Railroad went from Alabama to Cincinnati, OH. Here is the Delmores' song about that train, "Pan American Boogie"
Hank Williams, also from Alabama, also wrote a song about this train.
Questions to Think About and Discuss
- What feelings did Alton Delmore have when his family moved to the industrial city of Decatur, Alabama? Is there a word in your culture or community for these feelings?
- Why did Delmore feel this way?
- How do the songs about the Pan American, which carried Southerners to the industrial North, make you feel? Why would southern migrants compose or listen to these songs? In what ways are they different or the same?
- How had Alton Delmore changed from the fourteen-year-old migrant to Decatur to the adult musician who wrote and performed “Pan American Boogie”?
