The study was proposed in 1949 by Berea College president Francis S. Hutchins, who was then a trustee of Pine Mountain Settlement School. The school's boarding high school had closed that year and its elementary programs merged with the Harlan County school system. It was hoped that a socio-economic study of the area would be useful in identifying possible new areas of service for the school to pursue. The study was never published in its entirety, although the data was the bases for several major articles, including one in Mountain Life and Work (1953).
From the description of Pine Mountain (Kentucky) Community Study Records 1948-1965. (Berea College). WorldCat record id: 50706785