Answer at Once: Letters of Mountain Families in Shenandoah National Park, 1934-1938

ISBN 10: 0813934931 / ISBN 13: 9780813934938

Published by University of Virginia Press, 2013

Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0813934931I4N10

Synopsis:

With the Commonwealth of Virginia's Public Park Condemnation Act of 1928, the state surveyed for and acquired three thousand tracts of land that would become Shenandoah National Park. The Commonwealth condemned the homes of five hundred families so that their land could be "donated" to the federal government and placed under the auspices of the National Park Service. Prompted by the condemnation of their land, the residents began writing letters to National Park and other government officials to negotiate their rights and to request various services, property, and harvests. Typically represented in the popular media as lawless, illiterate, and incompetent, these mountaineers prove themselves otherwise in this poignant collection of letters. The history told by the residents themselves both adds to and counters the story that is generally accepted about them. These letters are housed in the Shenandoah National Park archives in Luray, Virginia, which was opened briefly to the public from 2000 to 2002, but then closed due to lack of funding. This selection of roughly 150 of these letters, in their entirety, makes these documents available again not only to the public but also to scholars, researchers, and others interested in the region's history, in the politics of the park, and in the genealogy of the families. Supplementing the letters are introductory text, photographs, annotation, and oral histories that further document the lives of these individuals.

About the Author:

Katrina M. Powell is Associate Professor of English at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and the author of The Anguish of Displacement: The Politics of Literacy in the Letters of Mountain Families in Shenandoah National Park (Virginia).

Bibliographic Details

Title: Answer at Once: Letters of Mountain Families...
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Publication Date: 2013
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket