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1930 Bryson City High School graduating class

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  • 1930 Bryson City High School graduating class in their caps and gowns. According to the May 25 edition of the 1930 Asheville Citizen, in the front row are (L-R) Hyacinth Buchanan, Jessie Hicks, valedictorian & class president, Velma Payne, Nannie Thomasson, Charles Fisher Carroll III (mascot), Roberta Welch, Lina Hayes, Eula Childers, and Minnie Morris. 2nd row: Thelma Nelson, Edna Maney, Lucille Cooper, Juanita Thomas, Myrtle Shelton, Lynn Marlow, and Nina Wall. 3rd row: Ethel Wiggins, Marion Wilson, and Easter Patterson. 4th row: Claude Patterson, Francis Jones, Rupert Truett, Robert Sandlin, and Claude Tabor. 5th row: Vernon McHan, Hall Casada, Horace Wiggins, Jack Polson, and J.O. Fisher. The photographer, “Doc” Kelly Bennett (1890-1974), was a prominent pharmacist in Swain County, NC. Owner of the Bryson City Drug Company, Bennett served as alderman and mayor of Bryson City, on the Swain County Board of Education, as well as several terms as NC State Senator and NC State Representative. He participated in numerous other initiatives and organizations. Known as the “Apostle of the Smokies,” Bennett was an instrumental figure in the movement to create the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He was also an avid photographer, skillfully documenting a wide variety of people, places, and events in Swain County and the surrounding area.