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Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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WCU - Picturing Appalachia

Cherokee stickball game

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  • A traditional Cherokee stickball game is in process on the grounds of the Government Indian School on the Qualla Boundary. Ball games were once referred to as “little brother of war” because it prepared players for war, and because it was sometimes used to settle disputes that could otherwise lead to war. Over time stickball has become a much less violent game but remains socially and culturally important. The photograph was taken by “Doc” Kelly Bennett (1890-1974), 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.

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Picturing Appalachia

This digital collection brings together several notable photographic collections that depict the landscape and people of western North Carolina in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Notable...

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