Article From Vice to Virtue: Racial Boundaries and Redemption Narratives in Late 19th-Century Appalachian Feuds Christi M. Smith 1 Abstract While historians have documented the criminalization process of Blacks during the Jim Crow and Progressive Eras, few scholars include in their analyses the con- temporaneous change in attitudes toward poor Whites. This study examines boundary processes and organizational activism in decriminalizing a particularly virulent and hypervisible series of violent events, the Appalachian feuds of the late 19th century. How are criminal acts committed by Whites rendered less criminal? Not only are Whites less likely to be brought before legal adjudication for criminal behavior, even when there is detailed evidence of their crimes, criminal acts can be made legitimate using redemption narratives that depict White violence as justifiable and even, as in the case here, indicative of a deeper moral worth. The decriminali- zation of Whites hinges on organized efforts by empowered actors to maintain and police racial boundaries. This article draws on independently collected archival materials including organizational records and financial reports, Board of Trustee records, interorganizational and private correspondence, and 727 newspaper articles. Keywords boundaries, race, status, organizations, stereotypes 1 Department of Sociology, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH, USA Corresponding Author: Christi M. Smith, Department of Sociology, Oberlin College, King Hall 305, 10 N. Professor St., Oberlin, OH 44074, USA. Email: csmith3@oberlin.edu Race and Justice 1-24 ª The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/2153368715590912 raj.sagepub.com by guest on July 21, 2015 raj.sagepub.com Downloaded from