Handicraft has long been associated with the Appalachian region, especially the Southern Appalachians. In the late 19th century, missionary and social service organizations moved outward from more urban, industrialized sections of the United States into the remote "frontier," a swath of highlands that lay diagonally along the eastern third of the country. A lack of infrastructure--of schools, roads, water, and waste disposal--left the region comparatively impoverished. To some, handicraft appeared as a solution to poverty, if only mountain people could market some of the things they already made to national markets. Some craft workers from ...