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Acknowledgments Many influences opened my eyes to this vision of East Tennessee’s history and have allowed me to present it in this fashion. I am most grateful to a generous Creator. But I hasten to add that I neither presume to understand the fullness of God’s generous designs nor believe that any expression of gratitude for that benevolence is adequate. Like John F. Kennedy, I recognize that here on earth, the Almighty counts on ordinary folk to strive for His purposes. Hence I am grateful to the many mere mortals whose concrete, knowable contributions made this book possible. It is fitting that I begin a revisionist history of a region and people long identified by independence and individualism by emphasizing that scholarship is a collaborative venture. As such, it requires support and good will from a broad array of individuals and institutions. Without encouragement, sound advice, and patience from the University of Tennessee Press, I would simply not be writing these words. Financial support from the National Endowment of the Humanities, Webb School of Knoxville, and several private donors via the East Tennessee Foundation funded a sabbatical from my teaching duties during the 2005–06 school year that enabled me to complete research and compose the first two-thirds of this manuscript. Relatively unimpeded vacations the past three summers enabled me to complete the project. For this, I must again thank Webb School. Thanks are also due to the generous and competent staffs of the following institutions for making my research productive and pleasant: the McClung Historical Collection of the Knox County Public Library and East Tennessee Historical Society, the John C. Hodges Library at the University of Tennessee, the Archives of Appalachia of East Tennessee State University, the Oak Ridge (Tennessee) Children’s Museum, the Berea College (Kentucky) Archives, the Archives and Library of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the Campbell County (Tennessee) Historical Society. At these locations, the following individuals proved particularly helpful to me in gathering the photos presented in this book: Vicky Bills, Ann Bridges, Shannon Wilson, Annette Hartigan, and Jerry Sharp. Extending appreciation to all the individuals who contributed to an effort such as this can be a challenge. Finding a balance between exaggerating one’s Acknowledgments xvi own importance by providing a seemingly endless list of influences on his effort and failing to extend credit where it is due can be daunting. Many persons who contributed to my formal education made foundational contributions to this effort. Prominent among them were the late Rose Ferguson (my second-grade teacher at Kingston Elementary School), Ronald C. Wilson (of Warren Wilson College), and Ferenc M. Szasz (of the University of New Mexico). More direct and absolutely essential contributions to this project came from the three individuals who planned and taught the workshop that introduced me to Appalachian history and literature at Berea College in the summer of 1988: Loyal Jones, Richard Drake, and the late Wilma Dykeman. Two of my fellow students from that summer in Berea, Alan Speer and Rebecca Mobbs, became dear friends who have helped me grapple with many of the puzzling issues that accompanied my return to East Tennessee. That workshop also introduced me to the greater Appalachian studies community. Many individuals from this cordial camp of scholars and activists made vital contributions to my outlook and this book. I am most indebted to the following persons: the late Jim Wayne Miller, Gurney Norman, Jean Haskell, Ron Lewis, Durwood Dunn, Gordon McKinney, David Hsiung, Tyler Blethen, Paul Salstrom, Phil Obermiller, Chad Berry, Emily Satterwhite, Rebecca Bailey, Kristen Kant, and Penny Messinger. Several other scholars who are not directly associated with Appalachian studies, historian Ernest Freeburg, anthropologist Mark Groover, and economist Gregory Smith, also deserve mention here. Finally, two historians whom I only know from their provocative works, William Cronan and Patricia Nelson Limerick, influenced my thinking on issues essential to this study. We academics, in both the creation and dissemination of our scholarship too often limit ourselves to our own kind. In my sincerest attempt to avoid this pitfall, I have made acquaintances and learned much from countless regional residents whose insights and perspectives have been as vital to this project as those of the aforementioned scholars. These include: community activist Marie Cirillo (and a whole circle of Clearfork Valley friends), retired Campbell County educator and freelance historian Bonnie Page, David Blankenship of TECO Coal Company, Ken Maples (former assistant county executive for Sevier County, Tennessee), Herb Handly of...

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