From Roots to Roses: The Autobiography of Tilda Kemplen - Softcover

Tilda Kemplen, Nancy Herzberg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0820339938 ISBN 13: 9780820339931

Publisher: University of Georgia Press, 2012

Synopsis

Hailed in her native Campbell County, Tennessee, as “the Mother Teresa of the coal country,” Tilda Kemplen was a teacher, activist, and founder and executive director of Mountain Communities Child Care and Development Centers (MCCCDC). In recognition of her work on behalf of impoverished children and families in central Appalachia, Kemplen was presented in 1980 with the American Institute for Public Service’s Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service Benefi ting Local Communities. Kemplen movingly describes her struggles to educate herself, her years as a teacher in rural schools and mining camps, and the establishment of MCCCDC. The book is more, however, than a catalog of Kemplen’s accomplishments; it is a testament to the personal qualities that fueled them. Kemplen’s straightforward observations on her life and work offer unique insight into a range of issues related to Appalachian and Native American life and culture.

About this title

About the Author

TILDA KEMPLEN (1925–2003) was a teacher, activist, and founder and executive director of Mountain Communities Child Care and Development Centers (MCCCDC). In recognition of her work on behalf of impoverished children and families in central Appalachia, Kemplen was presented in 1980 with the American Institute for Public Service’s Jefferson Award.

From the Back Cover

At first, hardly anybody except a few special people believed in many things we were trying to do. Some of the people with power and money could have done something about the situation, but they didn't see why people like us were trying to do something in a rural area where it was unheard-of to serve children or the elderly or the sick. Some people in high places think that they're highly educated and that they know it all. It's really hard to convince people that you're not going to do something whether they help you or not. I use this phrase quite often with people, including those in the highest agencies and others who hold the power in their hands: 'If you help us, we'll do it, and if you don't help us, we're going to do it anyway.'

From the Inside Flap

From Roots to Roses is the autobiography of teacher and activist Tilda Kemplen. Hailed in her native Tennessee as "the Mother Teresa of the coal country", Kemplen is founder and executive director of Mountain Communities Child Care and Development Centers (MCCCDC). For almost two decades, MCCCDC has responded to the needs of impoverished central Appalachia through its child care, education, health, nutrition, and economic and agricultural development programs. In a region where such enterprises routinely fail--and where unemployment rarely falls below fifty percent--MCCCDC has succeeded by fostering community involvement in its undertakings. This approach has helped restore esteem and self-reliance to a despondent populace and has also ensured MCCCDC of a degree of autonomy in its operations. In recognition of her achievements, Kemplen was presented in 1980 with the American Institute for Public Service's Jefferson Award for Outstanding Public Service Benefiting Local Communities. Tilda Kemplen was born into a coal-mining family and married a miner. She knew how crippling the work could be, in more than one sense and to more than just the miners. Long before the incorporation of MCCCDC in 1973, long before the "bottom dropped out" of coal markets and the mines began shutting down for good, Kemplen was already committed to her vision of a better life for miners and their families--especially the children. From Roots to Roses follows the gradual flowering of that vision from Kemplen's early struggles to educate herself through her years as an elementary and special-education teacher in rural schools and mining camps; from the establishment of MCCCDC's daycare program to the expansion ofthe organization's services to involve the area's Native Americans and to include adult activities. The book is more, however, than a catalog of Kemplen's accomplishments; it is a testament to the personal qualities that fueled them. Kemplen's straightforward observations on her life and work offer an understanding of a range of topics related to Appalachian and Native American culture, government and private relief programs, education, religion, family life, and women's issues.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820339938
• ISBN 13: 9780820339931
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192