Seeking to trace both the nature and the extent of ceremonial (regressive) resistance to the progressive forces of technology and industrialization, the origins and consequences of economic, political, and social institutions in the Southern United States were investigated. Data were derived from the following sources: (1) Southern regional studies from various academic disciplines; (2) U.S. census figures on the socioeconomic characteristics of the poor by race and residence for the U.S., South, and non-South; (3) over 100 interviews with a cross section of Southerners regarding the present status of the rural poor. The following predominantly Southern institutions were analyzed in terms of their effect on common Southerners of all racial backgrounds: (1) slavery and plantation agriculture; (2) one-party system, poll tax, and county seat government; and (3) racial superiority, womanhood, agrarian romanticism, fundamentalist religion, and individualism. Emphasizing the case of the Anglo, the current state of technological industrialization was examined in view of efforts to overcome traditional barriers to economic and human resource development. It was concluded that the prevasiveness of Southern rural poverty among both Anglos and minorities was causally related to institutional rigidity and conflict arising from the region's specialized agricultural and industrial development. (JC)