This paper examines the history of the organization of statewide social services and activities of the Division of Work among Negroes in the Appalachian counties. From 1925-1934--its first 9 years--North Carolina's Division of Work among Negroes was directed by Lawrence Oxley. This agency was established to study black social problems and to help blacks organize locally to solve them. The first such state agency for blacks in the United States, the Division became a model of its type, securing black social workers in 40 counties, improved hospital care, prison reform, and unemployment relief during the depression. Almost half of the blacks in North Carolina's Appalachian counties lived in Buncombe County, and Ashville--the county seat--became the focal point of Oxley's work in Appalachia. The racial attitudes of mountain whites, especially county officials, were a major problem. Accordingly, the Division's activities in Appalachia came to involve mediation of racial conflict, support for anti-lynching measures, advocacy of better treatment for blacks in the criminal justice system, inclusion of mountain blacks on state advisory committees, securing the employment of black social workers, and encouraging local unemployment relief. Oxley also encouraged the development of statewide social services open to Appalachian blacks. These included training schools, an orthopedic hospital, and social work education. This paper contains approximately 26 end notes. (SV)