DOCSLIB.ORG

Government Authority, Community Life, and Economic Development in the Upper Little Tennessee Valley, 1880-1992

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Government Authority, Community Life, and Economic Development in the Upper Little Tennessee Valley, 1880-1992 University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-1996 Building the Back of Beyond: Government Authority, Community Life, and Economic Development in the Upper Little Tennessee Valley, 1880-1992 Stephen Wallace Taylor University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Taylor, Stephen Wallace, "Building the Back of Beyond: Government Authority, Community Life, and Economic Development in the Upper Little Tennessee Valley, 1880-1992. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1996. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3387 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Stephen Wallace Taylor entitled "Building the Back of Beyond: Government Authority, Community Life, and Economic Development in the Upper Little Tennessee Valley, 1880-1992." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in History. James C. Cobb, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Bruce Wheeler, Charles Johnson, John Gaventa Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council : I am submitting herewith a dissertat ion written by Stephen Wal lace Taylor entitled "Building the Back of Beyond : Government Au thority , Community Life , and Economic Development in the Upper Little Tennessee Valley, 1880- 1992." I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfil lment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy , wi th a ma j or in History . dissertation Accepted for the Council : As socia te Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School BUILDING THE BACK OF BEYOND: Government Authority, Community Life and Economic Development in the Upper Little Tennessee Valley , 1880-1992 A dissertation presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The Univers ity of Tennessee , Knoxville Stephen Wa llace Taylor May 1996 ii Copyright Steph en Wal lace Tayl or, 1996 Al l rights reserved iii DEDICATION For Maggy , without whose support this work as it now exists would have been impossible. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Those who have assisted me in refining the idea that became this manuscript are far too numerous to list, but some deserve special mention. My ma jor professor, James C. Cobb , provided invaluable assistance through insightful criticism at many points along the way . The other members of my committee, Dr. Bruce Wheeler, Dr. John Gaventa , and Dr. Charles Johnson, also provided substantial insights which have shaped the present work . Dr. Michael J. McDonald provided a great deal of encouragement during the early portions of my research , and helped me focus on the key issues facing the study region . My fellow graduate students in the history department provided a forum in which I could try out new ideas and refine my approach. Kitty Manscill and Annette Hartigan of the Great Smoky Mountains Na tional Park tirelessly dug through the massive collections in their custody in order to facilitate my research, as did Mary Ann Bailey and Michael Rogers of the National Archives Southeast Region . The staff of the TVA Corporate Library and the Cultural Resources Program provided expert assistance , as did George Frizzell of the Special Collections department at Hunter Library , Western Carolina University, and the Appalachian Collection at Appalachian State Un iversity . Ben Lea of the North Carolina Political Broadcast Archives at Pfeiffer College provided uniquely valuable insight as we ll as access to his own research materials . Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, my fami ly provided both encouragement and thoughtful criticism wh ich helped me keep the proj ect in perspective . v ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates the relationships among government authority , community life , and economic develop­ ment in the Upper Little Tennessee Valley . This area saw extensive growth during the first quarter of the twentieth century because of the exploitation of its timber and miner­ al resources. These industries introduced transient fami ­ lies into the area, contributing to the fragility of the economic and social structure . These trans ient families , like the longtime residents , embraced the regular paychecks industrial employment offered, and willingly participated in the exploitation of the area' s re sources, sacrificing long ­ term sustainable growth for the short-to-medium- term securi­ ty of a cash income . Following that period of rap id growth, the founding of the Great Smoky Mountains Na tional Park and the construction of TVA 's Fontana Dam cut off access to much of the area' s resource base and displaced many residents from their homes , disrupting the already tenuous threads holding the area' s communities together . Both trans ient families and longtime residents again adapted to the changing economic conditions by seeking whatever short -term financial security they could obtain . After the completion of the dam in 1945 , residents found their economic options even more severely curtailed . Tourism provided the sole opportunity for escaping the poverty which a half century of extractive growth could not eliminate . By the 1990s, several communities in the Upper Little Tennessee had begun to use tourism as a means of economic growth, but their growth paled by comparison to neighboring counties adj acent to the National Park . vi TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. PATTERNS OF PEOPLE AND PLACE . 1 2. BOOM (AND BUST) . 27 3. TWO SUITORS . • . 55 4. TVA MOVES INTO THE BACK OF BEYOND . 79 5. WORK , LIFE AND WAR IN THE BACK OF BEYOND 111 6. REBUILDING THE BACK OF BEYOND 158 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 191 VITA .. 204 vii LIST OF TABLES 1. AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY: PERCENT OF TOTAL INCOME IN 1940 • • • • • • • . • • • • • • • • • • . • . 4 2 2. HOUSEHOLD AMENITIES , 1940: PERCENT OF ALL DWELLINGS so EQUIPPED . 43 3. HOUSEHOLD AMENITIES , 1940: PERCENT OF RURAL NON-FARM DWELLINGS SO EQUIPPED . 43 4. HOUSEHOLD AMENITIES , 1940: PERCENT OF ALL OCCUPIED DWELLINGS SO EQUIPPED . 43 5. HOUSEHOLD AMENITIES , 1940: PERCENT OF OCCUPIED RURAL NON­ FARM DWELLINGS SO EQUIPPED . 44 6. PERCENT OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH SPECIFIED AMENITIES , 1940 (SWAIN COUNTY) . 4 5 7. PERCENT OF HOUSEHOLDS WITH SPECIFIED AMENITIES , 1940 (GRAHAM COUNTY) . 45 8 . PERCENT OF FARM HOUSEHOLDS WITH SPECIFIED AMENITIES , SWAIN AND GRAHAM COUNTIES , STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, AND UNITED STATES I 1940 . 45 viii LIST OF FIGURES 1. POPULATION, SWAIN AND GRAHAM COUNTIES , 1880-1990 ..19 2. POPULATION IN UPPER LITTLE TENNESSEE, MARKET vs. NONMARKET AREAS , 1880-1990 .. 21 3. POPULATION IN UPPER LITTLE TENNESSEE , FARMING VS . EXTRACTIVE TOWNSHIPS , 1880-1990 . 22 4. LAND OWNERSHIP, SWAIN COUNTY , 1958 175 5. NUMBER OF FAMILIES RECEIVING AFDC AID IN GRAHAM COUNTY . 184 6. NUMB ER OF FAMILIES RECEIVING AFDC AID IN SWAIN COUNTY . 185 1 CHAPTER 1. PATTERNS OF PEOPLE AND PLACE In Southern Ladies and Gentlemen , Florence King de - scribes the eminent Boston social scientist, Dr . Jonathan Latham, out to win the Pulitzer in "regional studies . 11 Latham struggled to understand the South using only two books : Gone with the Wind and The Mind of the South, with selected passages highlighted, of course . Latham' s experi - ences in the South some times reinforced the stereotypes in the books , and sometimes confounded them . Emotionally and intellectually exhausted by trying to figure out what the South was all about, Latham final ly resolved his confusion 1 by catching a plane back home . Dr . Latham' s counterpart trying to understand western North Carolina would probably carry Horace Kephart 's Our Southern Highlanders , with similarly mixed results . Kephart left a cozy librarian' s job in St . Louis in search of a mythical pioneer lifestyle , and believed he found it in the woods of Swain County, North Carolina , in a solitary place he lovingly called "the Back of Beyond ." Kephart 's meticu- lous description of the physical environment provided aca- demic students of the region with excell ent maps and sketch- es of the flora and fauna of the area . His notebooks pres- 1 Florence King , Southern Ladies and Gentlemen (New York : Stein and Day , 197 5) , 14 -24 . 2 ent a fascinating and detailed natural survey of the region . His obj ective descriptions of the phys ical world of western North Carolina aside , however, the romantic individualism and rugged lifestyle of which Kephart wrote is a popular, but misleading stereotype of the region . Just as Margaret Mitchell 's romance of the plantation South helped shape popular images , Kephart 's backwoods adventures helped mis - lead readers into seeing Appalachia as isolated and roman - tic . His best-known works aside from Ou r Southern Highland - ers are several treatises on backcountry camping and a guide to sporting firearms , and he was
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Cultural Heritage the Mountains and Foothills of North Carolina Have Over Many Centuries Fostered a Rich Mosaic of Cultural Heritage
    Western North Carolina Vitality Index Cultural Heritage www.wncvitalityindex.org The mountains and foothills of North Carolina have over many centuries fostered a rich mosaic of cultural heritage. The birthplace of the Cherokee’s advanced early civilization, the region is home today to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which continues to preserve many facets of traditional Cherokee culture. Beginning in the eighteenth century, European and African settlers moved into the mountains. The relative isolation of mountain life helped these settlers refine and preserve many traditions, most notably handmade crafts, traditional music, and local agricultural practices. Today, these distinctive cultural legacies are celebrated as living traditions, providing employment to master artists and tradition bearers and drawing tourists from across the globe to experience the region’s craft galleries, music halls, festivals, museums, farms, and local cuisine. photo courtesy of Blue Ridge National this project has been funded by Heritage Area a project of Blue Ridge National Heritage Area Designation A National Heritage Area is a place designated by the United States Congress where natural, cultural, historic, and recreational resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally distinctive landscape arising from patterns of human activity shaped by geography. Currently, there are 49 National Heritage Areas across the United States, where each area shares how their people, resources, and histories come together to provide experiences that “tell America’s story” and to encourage the community to join together around a common theme and promote the cultural, natural, and recreational benefits of the area. In November 2003, Western North Carolina (WNC) was designated the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area in recognition of the region’s agriculture, craft heritage, traditional music, the distinctive living traditions of Cherokee culture, and rich natural heritage, and their significance to the country.
    [Show full text]
  • Regional and County Population Change in North Carolina
    Regional and County Population Change in North Carolina A Summary of Trends from April 1, 2010 through July 1, 2016 North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management December 2017 Introduction The following document summarizes population trends for North Carolina using the certified county population estimates produced by the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) released in September of 2017. These certified population estimates are as of July 1, 2016.1 Additional population tables that include statistics for all 100 counties can be obtained from https://www.osbm.nc.gov/demog/county‐estimates.2 Highlights: North Carolina grew by 620,254 people between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2016, a 6.5% increase; Three of every four people added in this period were living in central North Carolina3; 95% of all growth occurred within metropolitan counties4; Among regional planning areas, only the Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments experienced population decline; The fastest growing metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) since April 1, 2010 were the North Carolina portion of the Myrtle Beach‐Conway‐North Myrtle Beach MSA, the Raleigh MSA, the North Carolina portion of the Charlotte‐Concord‐Gastonia MSA, and the Wilmington MSA. Only the Rocky Mount MSA experienced population decline since the last census, losing 4,460 people (a 2.9% decline); The Charlotte‐Concord‐Gastonia MSA remains the largest metropolitan area in the state (at 2.1 million people); Mecklenburg (1.1 million) and Wake (1.0 million) Counties remain
    [Show full text]
  • Employment Assistance and Job Training Housing And/Or
    JOBSTART COUNTY RESOURCE LIST HAYWOOD COUNTY Resources to Support Your Employment and Life Plans NORTH CAROLINA CARE-LINE 1-800-662-7030 This is a number that you can call to find out about community resources all over North Carolina. Employment Assistance and Job Training Mountain Projects This program helps people with Comments/Appointments Phone: 704-452-1447 low incomes that want to get a job. Haywood County JobLink Center/ Employment Security Commission 1170 N. Main Street Waynesville, NC 28786 Phone: 828-456-6061 Vocational Rehabilitation Office Sylva Unit Office 485-D East Main Street Sylva, NC 28779 Phone: 828-586-4032 Haywood Community College 185 Freedlander Drive Clyde, NC 28721 Phone: 828-627-2821 Housing and/or Emergency Shelter REACH of Haywood County This service helps people who PO Box 206 have been victims of sexual Waynesville, NC 28786 assault or domestic violence. Phone: 704-456-7898 CROSSROADS Offers emergency shelter and food PO Box 126 assistance Waynesville, NC 28786 Community Action Offers emergency shelter and food Route 1, Box 732 assistance Waynesville, NC 28786 Phone: 704-452-1447 Salvation Army Offers emergency shelter and food PO Box 358 assistance Waynesville, NC 28786 Phone: 704-456-7111 or 704-452-9054 Transportation, Food and Clothing Note: For Driver License Information, See Important Documents Section. REACH of Haywood County This service helps people who PO Box 206 have been victims of sexual Waynesville, NC 28786 assault or domestic violence. Phone: 704-456-7898 www.haywoodnc.org/government/haywoodcountygovt.html Page 1 JOBSTART COUNTY RESOURCE LIST HAYWOOD COUNTY Resources to Support Your Employment and Life Plans NORTH CAROLINA CARE-LINE 1-800-662-7030 This is a number that you can call to find out about community resources all over North Carolina.
    [Show full text]
  • Quartz Crystal Deposits of Southwestern Virginia and Western North Carolina
    Quartz Crystal Deposits of Southwestern Virginia and Western North Carolina GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1072-D Quartz Crystal Deposits of Southwestern Virginia and Western North Carolina By JOHN B. MERTIE, JR. CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1072-D A detailed report on quart* crystals from 37 sources and an explanation of their origins UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1959 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR FRED A. SEATON, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Thomas B. Nolan, Director The U. S. Geological Survey Library has cataloged this publication as follows: Mertie, John Beaver, 1888- Quartz crystal deposits of southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina. Washington, U. S. Govt. Print. Off., 1958. iv, 233-298 p. maps, tables. 25 cm. (U. S. Geological Survey. Bulletin 1072-D. Contributions to economic geology) "A detailed report on quartz crystals from 37 sources and an ex­ planation of their origins." Bibliography: p. 295-296. 1. Quartz. i. Title. (Series: U. S. Geological Survey. Bul­ letin 1072-D. Series: U. S. Geological Survey. Contributions to economic geology) 553.8 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. - Price 30 cents (paper cover) CONTENTS PagC Abstract.._._----.---._______-_______._--__. ...__. ________ 233 Introduction.___-_-__---___--__--_--__--_-------_-_-__---.-_---___ 234 Present investigation_____________________________________________ 235 Sites of deposits.____--_-_____-__--___-___-_____________-_-________
    [Show full text]
  • Marc Woodmansee's Letter to Horace Kephart
    MARC WOODMANSEE’S LETTER TO HORACE KEPHART January 26, 1919 Figure 1. Horace Kephart with snake Melissa Habit ENGL 618 Dr. Gastle 7 December 2015 INTRODUCTION This edition is created from the manuscript of Marc Woodmansee’s letter to Horace Kephart on January 26, 1919. Within this letter, Marc Woodmansee discusses a few of Kephart’s articles that he was reading at the time. In addition, he informs Kephart of Harry B. Harmer’s weapon collection, which includes various Colt Company rifles and other revolvers. He also encourages him to come and visit as well as to get in touch with Harmer if he goes north. Other letters from Woodmansee to Kephart continue to discuss weapon collections, prices of various weapons, and the magazines, All Outdoors and Our Southern Highlands (while still a periodical, The Southern Highlands, in Outing magazine). Woodmansee and Kephart have a professional friendship due to their mutual interest in weaponry. Through observation of other letters, it is apparent that Woodmansee and Kephart’s relationship is more personal than this letter leads on. Woodmansee discusses his romantic life, personal interests, and Kephart’s children. Marc Woodmansee was born on Dec 11, 1873 in Lee, Iowa. At the time of his letter to Horace Kephart, he was working for the Standard Oil Office as a manager in Des Moines, Iowa and was living with his mother, Mary Woodmansee. According to “Out-of-Doors,” Woodmansee is one of the top collectors of Kentucky rifles in the nation; in 1919, his collection totaled over fifty rifles. The letter’s recipient, Horace Kephart, was born in 1862 in Pennsylvania, although he grew up in Iowa where he was an avid adventurer.
    [Show full text]
  • Horace Kephart Bookstores and Other Commercial Booksellers
    Not so random thoughts and selective musings of a mountaineer on the recently released biography Back of Back of Beyond by George Ellison and Janet McCue is available through the Great Smoky Beyond and works of Mountains Association web site, at GSMA Horace Kephart bookstores and other commercial booksellers. Our Southern Highlanders and By Don Casada, amateur historian Camping and Woodcraft, both by Horace © June, 2019 Kephart, are also available through those Friends of the Bryson City Cemetery venues. Early editions of Our Southern Highlanders and Camping and Woodcraft are available free on line. Note: a Timeline of the life of Horace Kephart is available on the FBCC website 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1833 map – Robert Brazier, with old roads highlighted, modern locations marked Maggie Valley Cherokee Fontana Village Bryson City 10 11 These are my mountains 12 13 My valleys 14 15 These are my rivers 16 Flowing like a song 17 These are my people Bland Wiggins and Jack Coburn Jim and Bertha Holden home, Middle Peachtree Christine & Elizabeth Cole Joseph and Cynthia Hoyle Cole home Brewer Branch Granville Calhoun at Bone Valley home Sources: Bryan Jackson, TVA collection – Atlanta National Archives, Open Parks Network 18 My memories Hall Casada, Tom Woodard, Commodore Casada on a camping trip with a “Mr. Osborne of India” – circa 1925, absent the sanctioned camping gear from Camping and Woodcraft. 19 These are my mountains 20 This is my home Photo courtesy of Bo Curtis, taken in late 1950s by his father, Keith 21 These are not just my mountains and my valleys; These are my people and their memories.
    [Show full text]
  • Investigation of Alkali-Silica Reactivity in Four Dams in the Southeastern United States
    REC-ERC-89-4 Denver Off ice July 1989 U. S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation .._. INVESTIGATION OF ALKALI-SILICA JULY 1989 REACTIVITY IN FOUR DAMS IN THE 6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION CODE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES D-3731 7. AUTHOR(S) 6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NO. David Stark REC-ERC-89-4 9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10. WORK UNIT NO. Construction Technology Laboratories 5420 Old Orchard Road 11. CONTRACT OR GRANT NO. Skokie IL 60077 5-CP-81-06560 13. TYPE OF REPORT AND PERIOD COVERED 2. SPONSORING AGENCY NAME AND ADDRESS Bureau of Reclamation Denver Office Denver CO 80225 14. SPONSORING AGENCY CODE DIBR 5. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES Microfiche and hard copy available from Denver Office, Denver, Colorado. Ed:REC 6. ABSTRACT This investigation of the alkali-silica reactivity of four dams in the southeastern United States supplements a similar study on five dams in southwestern United States. The investigations involved an onsite inspection and laboratory studies of concrete cores. The investigative procedures included petrographic examination, relative humidity measurements, length changes of cores exposed to moist air at 100 OF and to sodium hydroxide solution, and osmotic cell measurements. A comparison or observations on the southeastern and the southwestern dams is made. The manifestations of distress due to the reaction are similar, and the effects of alkali content of the cement, different types of reactive aggregates, surface drying, and climate exposure conditions are noted. 7. KEY WORDS AND DOCUMENT ANALYSIS . DESCR JPJORS-- *alkali-silica reactivity/ *alkali-aggregate reactions/ concrete/ concrete cores/ aggregates/ petrographic investigations/ concrete dam IDEN JIFfERS-- Fontana Dam, NC/ Hiwassee Dam, NC/ New Savanna Bluff Lock and Dam, GA/ Oliver Lock and Spillway, AL .
    [Show full text]
  • Maps\Fontana Land Plan\Fontana Land Plan Final.Mxd
    UV Parcel Zone Allocation Number Acres 2 3 4 5 6 7 Description } - Stream Access Sites 1 403.0 Dam Reservation, including Visitor Center, Appalachian Trail, Camping and Picnic Area 2 283.7 • Fontana Village, Inc. (Hotel/Restaurants/Cabins) 3 59.8 • Fontana Village, Inc. (Marina/Stable/Horse Trail) Fontana Reservoir Land Management Plan 4 8.2 • Fontana Village Inc. Marina • River State Steep Mixed Forest Fronting U.S. Forest Service Property County Alternative D "Preferred" 5 ** Operator Site Name Rivermile • Developed - 6 ** Steep Mixed Forest Fronting U.S. Forest Service Property Undeveloped Parcel Number • Land Ownership 7 ** • Fronts Cable Cove Boat Ramp 8 ** Steep Mixed Forest Fronting U.S. Forest Service Property Cullowhee Dam Tuckasegee 41 L Western Carolina University TVA TSGA-3 Jackson NC D Zone 1 - Non-TVA Shoreland 9 ** • Fronts U.S. Forest Service Property with Harbor Limits for Stecoah Boat Dock East LaPorte Tuckasegee 46.2 Jackson County TVA TSGA-4 Jackson NC D 10 ** • Steep Mixed Forest Fronting U.S. Forest Service Property Ela Tuckasegee 17.6 Swain County TVA TSGA-1 Swain NC D Zone 2 - Project Operations 11 ** • Fronts U.S. Forest Service Property with Harbor Limits for Prince Boat Dock • Bryson City Park Tuckasegee 11.7 L Bryson City TVA 42 Swain NC D Zone 3 - Sensitive Resource Management 12 ** • Steep Mixed Forest Fronting U.S. Forest Service Property Phillips Bridge Little Tennessee 117.5 L Macon County TVA LTRA-3 Macon NC D 13 ** Fronts U.S. Forest Service Property with Harbor Limits for Crisp Boat Dock Prentiss Bridge Little Tennessee 122.5 L Macon County TVA LTRA-4 Macon NC D Tennessee Zone 4 - Natural Resource Conservation • Fronts U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Great Smoky Mountains NATIONAL PARK Great Smoky Mountains NATIONAL PARK Historic Resource Study Great Smoky Mountains National Park
    NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Service National Park Great Smoky Mountains NATIONAL PARK Great Smoky Mountains NATIONAL PARK Historic Resource Study Resource Historic Park National Mountains Smoky Great Historic Resource Study | Volume 1 April 2016 VOL Historic Resource Study | Volume 1 1 As the nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public lands and natural resources. This includes fostering sound use of our land and water resources; protecting our fish, wildlife, and biological diversity; preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national parks and historic places; and providing for the enjoyment of life through outdoor recreation. The department assesses our energy and mineral resources and works to ensure that their development is in the best interests of all our people by encouraging stewardship and citizen participation in their care. The department also has a major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities and for people who live in island territories under U.S. administration. GRSM 133/134404/A April 2016 GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK HISTORIC RESOURCE STUDY TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME 1 FRONT MATTER ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Kephart, Horace Sowers
    Published on NCpedia (https://ncpedia.org) Home > Kephart, Horace Sowers Kephart, Horace Sowers [1] Share it now! Average: 4.5 (2 votes) Kephart, Horace Sowers by George Ellison, 1988 8 Sept. 1862–2 Apr. 1931 A photograph of Horace Sowers Kephart published in 1910. Image from the Internet Archive. [2]Horace Sowers Kephart, writer, outdoorsman, and librarian, was born in East Salem, Pa., the son of Isaiah L., a teacher, editor, and clergyman, and Mary Elizabeth Sowers Kephart. His ancestors had been among the first settlers of the mountain wilderness west of the Susquehanna. In 1867 the family moved to Jefferson, Iowa, and in 1871 to Western, Iowa, where Kephart attended Western College for a year. In 1876 his family returned to Pennsylvania, and he entered Lebanon Valley College in Annville, graduating with the A.B. degree in the spring of 1879. That fall he enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts of Boston University. In addition to studying under Alphaeus Hyatt—the distinguished zoologist—he enjoyed "the blessed privilege of studying whatever I pleased in the Boston Public Library." Thus evolved his career for the next twenty years. In 1880 Kephart went to Cornell University [3], in Ithaca, N.Y., where he assumed supervision of cataloguing the library's holdings and took courses in history and political science. At the library he worked for Cornell's first librarian, Willard Fiske, who became a personal friend and benefactor. Independently wealthy, Fiske moved to Italy in 1883 and established his residence at the Villa Forini in the eastern quarter of Florence, where he began to assemble some of the world's finest collections of Dante and Petrarch, Icelandic history and literature, and the Rhaeto-Romanic language.
    [Show full text]
  • By John White
    by John White “You are quite correct in assigning huge importance to Horace [Kephart’s] Stark Love (Paramount, 1927) is a movie ‘Our Southern High- Unicoi Mountains of Graham County, I’ve known about for nearly twenty landers.’ Even in Mr. North Carolina around Rattler Ford (now a years. I’ve written a lot of articles about Brown’s very barren later popular tourist campground), and on loca - it, I’ve made a movie about it, I’ve come circumstances, when he had tions since covered by Santeetlah Lake. to know the families of the people who about one linear foot of The movie is a compelling visual depiction made Stark Love way back eighty-five books in his room, he kept of life in the mountains in the second years ago. Yet every time someone like decade of the last century. Steve Kemp of the Great Smoky Moun - two copies of the [Kephart] Although critically acclaimed, Stark Love tains Association asks me to revisit the book, one of which he gave (one of the last silent films made before story, I find something brand new. to me. He regarded ‘Stark the ascension of “the talkies”) has never Revisiting my jumbled manila folders Love’ as essentially based been released to the public on VHS or and scores of computer files, I stumbled upon the book.” DVD. Only a small community of film his - across two unnoticed pieces of evidence torians and enthusiasts have seen the reinforcing my long-held view that the —historian David Shephard movie, plus those lucky enough to have at - film is largely based on Our Southern tended its special screenings, usually host - Highlanders by Horace Kephart.
    [Show full text]
  • Hiwassee Geographic Area Updated: June 1, 2017
    Hiwassee Geographic Area June 1, 2017 **Disclaimer: The specific descriptions, goals, desired conditions, and objectives only apply to the National Forest System Lands within the Hiwassee Geographic Area. However, nearby communities and surrounding lands are considered and used as context. Hiwassee Geographic Area Updated: June 1, 2017 Description of area The Hiwassee Geographic Area is defined by large rivers running through broad flat valleys and two large lakes surrounded by mountains that provide distinct visitor experiences. The broad river valleys lie at lower elevations than other geographic areas in North Carolina’s National Forests. The steep mountains of this area support short leaf pine, mixed hardwood forests, and large pockets of eastern hemlock. Passing through a gentler mountain landscape, the major rivers of the region include the Hiwassee, Valley, and Nottley Rivers which flow into the Chatuge, Hiwassee, and Apalachia lakes. These rivers and the lakes created by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) dams provide reactional opportunities for fishing, boating, and other water sports. The lakes of this geographic area form a chain that is home to a diverse number of plant, animal, and warm water fish species that are native to riparian floodplain ecosystems. Prior to European and Anglo-American settlement along with westward expansion, the Hiwassee geographic area was home to the Cherokee and Creek tribes. This area contains several landscape features that figure most prominently in Tribal history and have significant meaning to Tribal identities and beliefs. These locations are important traditional and ceremonial areas for the Cherokee. Communities within this geographic area include Murphy, Hayesville, Warne, Peachtree, Brasstown, Hiwassee Dam, Ranger and the smaller incorporated areas of Unaka and Violet.
    [Show full text]