Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Bryson City High School girls' basketball team

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  • This image shows the 1926-1927 Bryson City High School girls' basketball team standing at the back of the school building. Hattie Wilson is the third player from the right and Joyce Rogers is the fourth player from the right. 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.