Vintage photographs. "Valley of Poverty": Daily Life in Eastern Kentucky in the Early 1960s

These photographs were taken in the 1960s in eastern Kentucky, in a lonely Appalachian valley forgotten by rich America. If you don't know about the time of filming, you can assume that the footage was filmed during the height of the Great Depression, which broke out in the States in the 1920s.

This series of photographs, entitled "Poverty Valley," appeared in a 1964 issue of LIFE magazine and was one of the first substantial reports ever published in an American publication on President Lyndon Johnson's nascent war on poverty.

At that time, LIFE was the most influential weekly publication in the country, and without a doubt the most widely read magazine, regularly publishing major photo essays by the world's leading photojournalists. In this vein, LIFE was in a unique position in the early days of Johnson's administration. He could not only tell, but also show his readers what was on the map and what problems were discussed when, at the initiative of the new president, a number of Great Society projects were promoted, including a program to eradicate poverty.