Remembering

CRATIS WILLIAMS (1911-1985) REMEMBERING Cratis Williams, a good friend to many in Southern Appalachia, died May 12 at the age of 74. He will be missed by all who knew him. A leading scholar of the cultural heritage of the Southern Appalachian region, Cratis was a pioneer in the development of Appalachian Studies. He was an eloquent and effective spokesman for the region. Cratis Williams was born April 5, 1911, in Lawrence County, Kentucky, and grew up on a farm in the Big Sandy Valley. At the age of twelve he left his mountain home to attend high school in Louisa, Kentucky. He was a student at Cumberland College in Williamsburg, and received from the University of Kentucky the B.A. degree in 1933 and the M.A. in 1937. His master's thesis was a study of the ballads of eastern Kentucky. In 1961 he received the Ph.D. degree in English from New York University, and his doctoral dissertation on Appalachian literature won a special citation for distinguished scholarship from the Board of Regents of that institution. The dissertation, "The Southern Mountaineer in Fact and Fiction," stands as the definitive study of Appalachian literature. Cratis' teaching career began in one-room schools in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. He also served as a high school principal. In 1942 he joined the English Department of Appalachian State University and over the years taught English, American, Chaucerian, Renaissance, 17th and 18th century literature, and courses in Appalachian Studies. Known as a great teacher and a meticulous scholar, Cratis also won praise as a gifted and imaginative administrator at Appalachian State. As Dean of the Graduate School and Acting Chancellor, his work fostered creativity, harmony , and a sense of purpose at that institution . His contributions to education in his adopted state were recognized when in 1973 he received the prestigious O. Max Gardner Award from the University of North Carolina. He received several honorary degrees including one from Berea College in 1977. Cratis described his own education as a synthesis of his own folk culture and the humanistic traditions of Western Civilization. An education that began as a personal search for identity resulted in a distinguished career that articulated and illuminated the cultural heritage of the Appalachian region. Through his teaching, research, and writing Professor Williams contributed immeasurably to the understanding of the mountain heritage. As a ballad collector and singer of songs, Dr. Williams especially emphasized the oral tradition of Appalachia, and his many scholarly articles on mountain speech, folklore, and cultural history made him a nationally known authority on these topics. With his passing we have lost a great and authentic personality, a thoughtful and generous friend, and a foremost spokesman for mountain people. We mourn his leaving the mountains he so dearly loved, but we continue to draw strength from the memory of this truly remarkable man. —Gerald Roberts 25 ...