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Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2010 Family, Farming, and Military Service at Darvills, Viginia, 1965-1967: An Application of Methodology in Community Studies Lisa Jordan Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the History Commons © The Author Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2305 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Family, Farming, and Military Service at Darvills, Virginia, 1965-1967: An Application of Methodology in Community Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Virginia Commonwealth University. by Lisa Vaughan Jordan Bachelor of Arts – Virginia Commonwealth University, 1995 Master of Teaching – Virginia Commonwealth University, 1995 Director: Dr. John Kneebone Associate Professor – Department of History Second Reader – Brian Daugherity Third Reader – Elizabeth S. Hodges Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia December, 2010 Acknowledgment There are many people who are owed a debt of gratitude in conjunction with this project. First and foremost, my thanks goes to my husband, Bill, and son, Jared, for their support and understanding throughout the hours of missed opportunities that went along with completing this thesis. I would also like to thank Dr. John Kneebone for his endless patience with me in navigating this process. All of the participants that were interviewed or contributed are extended my deepest feelings of gratitude and thanks. Last, but not least, I would like to recognize Dr. James Tice Moore, a former history professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. It was his continued insistence in our conversations that ultimately led to my decision to complete the degree program. Hopefully, he has some way of knowing that his pursuit did not fall on deaf ears. My love goes out to you all. ii Table of Contents List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………………iv Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter 1: Introduction: The Beginnings …………………………………….……………2 Chapter 2: Setting the Scene: Background ……………………………..………..…………5 Location and Landmarks 5 Cast of Characters 12 Photographs 49 Historiography and Literature Review 52 Chapter 3: One Family’s Experience… …………………………………….......................68 Documentary Editing: Methodology 68 Contents Breakdown and Samples 70 Transcriptions of Letters by Year 74 Oral History: Methodology 188 Transcriptions of Interviews 190 Chapter 4: Conclusion and Reflections …………………………………………………..269 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………278 APPENDICES …………………………………………………………………………….287 Appendix A – Tentative Interview Questions …………………………………….287 Appendix B – Informed Consent Forms …………………………………………..289 iii List of Figures Figures Page 1. Map of Virginia with Dinwiddie County Highlighted…….……………………………..5 2. Map of Darvills, Virginia in Dinwiddie County…………………………………………6 3. Hand Drawn map of the center of Darvills, Virginia…………………………………….6 4. Hand Drawn map of Vaughan Family Property………………………………………….7 5. Photograph of Vaughan Family Home and Property…………………………………….8 6. Photograph of Darvills Community Center………………………………………………9 7. Photograph of Butterwood United Methodist Church…………………………………..10 8. Photograph of Mansons United Methodist Church ……………………………………..11 9. Photograph of Sharon Baptist Church …………………………………………………..11 10. Photograph of Jessie and Imogen Cliborne……………………………………………...49 11. Photograph of Alma Irene Cliborne Vaughan and Ray Vaughan……………………….49 12. Photograph of Edgar Thomas Vaughan at Sharon Baptist Church………………………50 13. Photograph at Raymond Vaughan’s Funeral…………………………………………….50 14. Photograph of Vaughan Store in Darvills ……………………………………………….51 15. Photograph of Raymond Henry Vaughan ……………………………………………….51 iv ABSTRACT AN EXAMINATION OF METHODOLOGY IN COMMUNITY STUDIES By Lisa Vaughan Jordan, M.A. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2010. Major Director: Dr. John Kneebone, Associate Professor – Department of History This thesis examines correspondence between a mother, Alma Irene Vaughan and her son, Ammon Cliborne Vaughan from Darvills, Virginia, in the rural Southside area of the state, written during 1965-1967 when the son was stationed at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, in the Army. In addition to presenting a background of rural southern history and insights gained through the study of these letters, the thesis also includes a historically edited transcription of the letters, as well as those of other members of the community and/or family. It also includes oral history interviews with surviving participants and those connected to this period through the correspondents. The first chapter presents a broad historical background of the rural South as it relates to this community and the lives of these individuals. The second chapter examines the process of historical editing, including history, practice and methods involved in the editorial process. It also includes the editorial method of the process of editing the letters in detail. The third chapter discusses the research methodology involved in the oral history component, including validity, methods of analysis, and presentation of data. The fourth chapter contains selected transcriptions of both the letters and interviews, providing annotations as footnotes. Chapter five concludes with an analysis of insights gained through the study of the Vaughan letters relating to rural southern history and the process of documentary editing. Chapter One: Introduction - The Beginnings Coming home, coming home, Nevermore to roam, Open wide thine arms of love, Lord, I’m coming home. -Baptist hymn of invitation and acceptance It seems odd to be opening a thesis in a personal way. If you had asked me years ago about working on a project based on family and community, the reply would have put a sailor’s vernacular to shame. For the better part of my life, the struggle has been to escape the rural background and family ties that seem at times to strangle me to death. In a sense this has been a homecoming of sorts. A supposed attempt at bringing peace to a community and family that has seen better days. At one time, so I’m told, Darvills was a bustling place in Southside Virginia. There were businesses, farms, and homes scattered throughout the area. Now, the once vibrant scene has transformed into a ghost town of sorts. Many of its members have passed on, and others left for opportunities. Today, there are but a handful of those remnants of prominent families. Most of them have aged to the point that they remember too much or too little of its heyday. Churches now perform perfunctory services and rites, with a congregation whittled down to the bare bones. There are no ball fields, stores, or even farms any more. Homes have decayed or disappeared under the brush grown up around them. Theirs is a story worth telling – an example of a locale’s struggle against odds and those behind it. The notion to begin this project took approximately fifteen years to develop. During my earlier days in college, several of my southern history courses inspired me to take a new look at how material had been presented. My previous perspective of what history was as a discipline was altered and one assignment in particular laid the foundation for what would become this 2 thesis. Dr. James Moore, former professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, encouraged us to go out in the field and interview individuals we had grown up with and determine whether our perceptions about youthful events would be altered. This was the beginnings of oral history for me. In the end, I created a video with the background music “Small Town” from John Mellancamp and produced a montage of interview, landscape, and narrative that, looking back, I realize must have been unusual both in terms of medium and topic. Years later, Dr. Moore told me he had never forgotten it. Anyway, time passed, and life goes on. Those things were long forgotten. It was not until I inherited letters, photographs, and other materials upon my father’s passing that those old urges and curiosities began to creep up on me again. Those materials have sat in storage for over a decade. Then, new circumstances in my life contributed to a sense of urgency, a “now or never” moment. After several discussions with Dr. Moore, he assisted me in returning to school just a few short months before he died. This loss could have easily been the end of this whole experience. Instead, it fueled my desire and commitment to proceed with the telling of a legacy that was burning inside me. Letters, photographs, medals, you name it – all of these overlooked treasures once again found new life. It is my intent to share with you, the reader, a history of a place through the life stories of its people. Methods of oral history and documentary editing have been employed, along with numerous primary and secondary resources to fashion a new vision of what a local history can look like. I hope you will come away from this not only knowing about a dot on a map or the ups and downs of one family, but also with a true sense of how local history can be crafted. No bones about it, my ties to the place are strong. There is no escaping the fact that I was born there, raised there, and immersed in a rural culture many would either ignore or ridicule. My own family has been involved in the area for at least two hundred years, possibly more. We 3 are as much a part of Southside Virginia as the soil itself. Although this intimate connection to my subject would naturally raise eyebrows in the academic world, it is an asset to my attempt to create an authentic understanding of the area and the challenges people there faced. I have wrestled with the arguments about subjectivity and its impact on credible research.

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