Graduation Date
1988
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Other
Program
Art
Committee Chair Name
John Gai
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. Jerrald D. Krause
Keywords
Art
Abstract
The vast changes in population distribution patterns that have taken place during the past two decades resulted in a rural demographic revival. Previously the trend throughout most of the twentieth century had been a steady increase in population rates from rural to urban areas. Then the situation began to reverse during the late sixties. Because of this abrupt turnaround, the so-called turnaround migration has captured both professional and popular interest. While the urban to nonmetropolitan trend may be leveling off in certain parts of the country, its impact on some rural communities has been, and continues to be, nothing short of dramatic. As will be further explored, the counterculture/back-to-the-land movement of the sixties presents one explanation for this phenomenon. For many, the hopes and themes of the counterculture, including the new naturalism and spiritualism, the expressive mode, and the desire for a renewed American society, meant dropping out of conventional society to find places where they could create new ways of life. To do this meant going to isolated places, away from the “technocracies” of mainstream culture (Roszak, 1969). To some, the only way to do this was to migrate into the rural parts of the country. California, with its history of bohemianism and utopian lifestyle experimentation, offered its share of opportunities for young people and middle class drop-outs to move back to the land and try new lifestyle experiments (Bradshaw, 1978:11). Now, two decades later, some of these back-to-the-land experiments continue to exist within the rural parts of the state. To gain a better understanding about some of these unplanned experiments, a cultural system composed of turnaround migrants living in a rural 2 northern California community was studied. The area, located in the southern portion of Humboldt County essentially coincides with that of the Garberville census district, roughly a 30 sq. mile radius with Bear Butte in the center. Although commonly called Southern Humboldt by many of the locals, Southern Humboldt as a place name does not appear on any map (Anderson, 1985:v). As local historian and writer, Mary Anderson (1985) points out, the nigged terrain and relative isolation provide Southern Humboldt with both an environment and a history that foster a sense of independence. As will be elaborated further, the Southern Humboldt community is made up of numerous cultural systems each as unique as the individuals who comprise them. However, for the purpose of keeping this research manageable, the study was limited only to that portion of the turnaround population who professed to have come to the area with idealistic ideologies. The Southern Humboldt migrants were studied through both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Demographic and value orientation data were collected through reputational sampling techniques on eighty respondents who had migrated to this rural area during the late sixties and seventies. Additional ethnographic information was collected from fifteen of the eighty respondents through extensive open-ended interviews. The informants were interviewed retrospectively about their original aspirations, the impact their migration has had on their ascribed ideologies, the stages and processes they went through in adjusting to a different setting, and their perceived impact on the community as a whole. Although a longitudinal study would have been ideal, the time that has passed was compensated for by the use of retrospective interviews and a review of the literature. The research design and the justification for using two methods are discussed more fully under “Methodology.”
Recommended Citation
MacDougall, Marajen L., "Evolution of a Turnaround Experience" (1988). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2484.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2484