Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Horace Kephart and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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  • wcu_great_smoky_mtns-11223.jp2
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  • 10 "Mr. Kephart knows his mountains," the Asheville Times commented the next day. "There is no man in this highland region who can write with a larger measure of authority and affection about them . . His eloquent appeal should be the textbook of those who are interested in securing a national park for this mountain empire."24 . The Times was not alone in thinking that Kephart's message deserved a greater audience. William Gregg v/rote to Kephart proposing that the entire article "be printed in pamphlet form and circulated all over the state. How can that be done? It takes money, of course, and the process of raising money is slow and tedious." Then Gregg again reached into his own pocket to further the cause. "If you will handle the details, I will guarantee the cost up to $500.00."25 A handsome booklet incorporating Kephart's text and photographs taken by Jim Thompson of Knoxville was the result". This reprinting of newspaper and magazine articles proved to be an effective way of obtaining promotional material needed for distribution to lawmakers, financial contributors, and plain citizens. One of the most important promotional■pieces was the reprint of a Kephart article entitled "The Last of the Eastern Wilderness", with a foreword by the Secretary of Interior, Hubert Work. ° This appeared originally in World's Work, a magazine of wide circulation and considerable influence in those days, and was published in booklet form by the North Carolina Park Commission. Promotional material of all kinds v/as extremely important not only in creating a public attitude in favor of the park idea, but in raising the money necessary to" carry it through. For under the enabling legislation passed by Congress on May 22, 1925, the lands to be included in the Great-Smokies National Park were to be acquired without cost to the federal government. This presented
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).