Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Correspondence regarding the possiblity of a Kephart Memorial

  • wcu_great_smoky_mtns-11097.jp2
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  • Great Smoky Mountains National Park Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37T38 D18 SER(OIV) February 26, 1%8 Memorandum To: Regional Director, Southeast Region From: Acting Superintendent, Great Smoky Mountains Subject: Suggestion by Michael Frome memorializing Horace Kephart This refers to your memorandum of February 13 on the above subject. The Horace Kephart collections, as such, have very little, if any, historical value with the exception of the journals. When the collections were obtained by the park they had to take a "lot of junku along with the journals in which they were interested. It is my understanding that after the collection was acquired by the park it was recalled by the executor of the estate, a Mr. 1. K. Stearns, Bryson City, and then placed in Western Carolina University at Cullowhee. When the university returned the collection to the park at a later date, they retained most of the books teat did not pertain to the park area for their library. The collection has been in the possession of this park since that time. A few personal items such as old shoes, a ground cloth, canvas tent, tent pegs, a wooden tri-pod, a gun cleaning rod, plus numerous books, magazines, periodicals, travel folders, camping folders, are found in the collection, besides several scrapbooks of newspaper clippings. With the exception of the journals, about 85% of the collection has no bearing on the park. We would be happy to return to the donors because none of the items are suitable for display since they do not meet present day standards for the National Park Service. As far as establishing a Horace Kephart memorial center, I would not recommend it because we have memorialized Kephart by naming a mountain, creek, and stream in the park after him. There is a monument to him at
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