A Celebration of Appalachia:
A Sense of Place

An Academic Symposium Featuring UVa-Wise Faculty

Monday, April 3, 2006
1:30 - 5 p.m.
Rhododendron Room
C. Bascom Slemp Student Center

Order of Program

1:30 p.m.
Opening Remarks and Introduction of
Chancellor David J. Prior
Amelia J. Harris, Academic Dean

1:40 p.m.
No Ordinary Journey:
A Place for Higher Education in the Heart of Appalachia
Brian S. Wills, Kenneth Asbury Professor of History

Clinch Valley College, now The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, grew out of the vision of those individuals who sought to bring the benefits of public higher education to the coalfields of southwestern Virginia. This vision had its key proponents, Colgate Darden, Jr. and Sam Crockett, Jr. from the University of Virginia and the three Wise men, Kenneth Asbury, William Thompson and Fred Greear as well as those who helped to inspire them. Together, they embarked on the great undertaking of “having class” on the grounds that had once been the Wise County Poor Farm. The experiment has since seen its high points and low ones, but it has endured as attested by the recent celebration of the College’s 50th Anniversary and the dramatic growth that has marked it as a viable and vital institution of higher learning. This has indeed been “no ordinary journey.”

Brian Steel Wills is the Kenneth Asbury Professor of History at UVa-Wise. He is the author of numerous works relating to the American Civil War, including a biography of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, currently in reprint. This work was chosen as both a History Book Club selection and a Book of the Month Club selection. Wills also authored "The War Hits Home: The Civil War in Southeastern Virignia," released in October, 2001 and "No Ordinary College: A History of The University of Virginia’s College at Wise," on September, 2004, both by the University Press of Virginia. In 2000, Professor Wills received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the Commonwealth of Virginia. He has won both the Teaching Award and the Research and Publication Award from UVa-Wise.
He completed his bachelor's degree at the University of Richmond and earned a master's and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.

2:00 p.m.
How the Scots-Irish Shaped Southwest Virginia
Gilmer W. Blackburn, Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor

The Scots-Irish profoundly influenced American culture, yet as major players on the national scene, they have not received the recognition that they deserve. Their contributions to American life are legion: a dozen American presidents, scores of leaders in the military, the corporate world, athletics, entertainment, and the professions. In most regions, the Scots-Irish have melded into the general population, but the southern Appalachian region is the epicenter of their influence, and in southwestern Virginia they achieved something close to cultural dominance.

Gilmer W. Blackburn is provost and senior vice chancellor of The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. His family roots extend back three centuries in southwest Virginia and northwest North Carolina. A graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Blackburn has taught history at the college level for 38 years and served as an academic officer for more than 15 of those years. He is author of "Education in the Third Reich: A Study of Race and History in Nazi Textbooks."

2:20 p.m.
Features of the Appalachia Dialect
Amy Clark, Assistant Professor of Rhetoric and Composition

A presentation offering an overview of the roots of Appalachian English and some common misperceptions about the language.

Amy Clark is an assistant professor of rhetoric and composition at UVa-Wise who teaches Appalachian literature. Her research interests include the Appalachian dialect and vernacular literacies in Appalachia. Clark’s dissertation, based on her study of Appalachian women’s literacy practices, was recently named among six finalists for the 2006 James Berlin Dissertation of the Year award, given at the national College Composition and Communication Conference. Clark has published in the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette," the "Bristol Herald Courier," and "Now and Then: The Appalachian Journal." An alumna of UVa-Wise, Clark earned a master's degree from Virginia Tech and a Ph.D. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

2:45 p.m.
Break

3:00 p.m.
Our Local Civil War: A Study of Fear and Coping
Brian D. McKnight, Teaching Fellow in History

From 1861 to 1865, the border separating eastern Kentucky and southwestern Virginia was more than just a geographic marker – it represented a major ideological split, serving as an “international” boundary between the United States and the Confederacy. The loyalties of those who lived in this mountainous region could not be so easily divided, and large segments of the population remained neutral or vacillated in their support. Location and a wealth of resources made the region strategically important to both sides in the conflict, and both armies fought for control. In his recently released book, "Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia," McKnight shows how military invasion of this region led to increasing guerrilla warfare and how regular armies and state militias ripped communities along partisan lines, leaving wounds long after the official end of the Civil War.

Brian McKnight, a native of Lee County, Virginia, and a graduate of UVa-Wise, teaches American history. McKnight earned an M.A. from East Tennessee State University and a Ph.D. from Mississippi State University. Primarily interested in the Appalachian Civil War experience, he is the author of "Contested Borderland: The Civil War in Appalachian Kentucky and Virginia," published by the University Press of Kentucky in March 2006.

3:20 p.m.
Art of the Quilt in Appalachian Culture
Suzanne Adams-Ramsey, Associate Professor of Art,
Chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts

A brief visual survey of traditional quilts of the Appalachian region, focusing on cultural influences.

Suzanne Adams-Ramsey is a 2005 recipient of the Meredith Scholar Award, funded by the American Quilt Study Group. She is currently working on a quilt documentation project at the Southwest Virginia Museum in Big Stone Gap wherein documentation records will be standardized and expanded. The resulting database will be linked to the national list for continued study by other researchers. Findings of this study will be published in “Uncoverings,” the granting organization’s sponsored journal. Adams-Ramsey is an alumna of UVa-Wise who earned an M.S. from Radford University and an M.F.A. from Vermont College of Norwich University.

3:40 p.m.
The Mining History of Southwest Virginia:
Lessons for the Future
Aaron Johnson, Assistant Professor of Geology

The mining history of southwestern Virginia reflects the diverse geology of the region. Early mining focused on iron resources related to bogs and fens in the Appalachian Highlands. Mining during the 18th century in the Wytheville area provided lead for bullets used in the Revolutionary War. Lead deposits related to those in Wytheville extend southwestward into the Dickensonville area, and further into northeastern Tennessee. In Tazewell County, the earliest economic mining ventures extracted barite from the local limestone. The first railroads to connect to Tazewell County did so not for coal, but for barite. Each of these resources is now exhausted. Perhaps the history of each can provide insight into the economic future of southwestern Virginia as coal becomes increasingly scarce.

Aaron W. Johnson is assistant professor of geology and coordinator for environmental science. Johnson has published or presented more than 30 papers in nationally recognized journals and regional, national, and international meetings. His current areas of research focus on fluid movement, heavy metal migration, and geochemistry in sedimentary systems. Johnson, and his co-investigators from Oklahoma State University, the University of Missouri, and University College Dublin, will present an invited paper at the National Meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists this April. In July, Johnson will present a paper entitled, “Is Science to Blame for the Intelligent Design Debate?” at the Oxford Round Table at Oxford University, England. Johnson completed his bachelor's degree at Southwest Missouri State University and his Ph.D. at University of Missouri-Columbia.

4:00 p.m.
Myth and Legend; Science and History
Ron Short, Musician, Composer and Playwright in Residence
&
Chancellor Emeritus Joseph C. Smiddy, Musician and Storyteller

An exploration of Appalachian culture through song and story; an examination of how expressions of cultural identity are affected by the forces of myth, legend, science and history.

Ron Short was born in Dickenson County, Virginia where the culture of music and story is strong, even today in this world of electronic communication. His ancestors were German Church of the Brethren immigrants known as "Dunkards" and Scots-Irish Presbyterians who became Baptist. His great-grandfather, John Calvin Swindall, founded the Old Regular Baptists; their ancient style of "lined-out" singing is one of the first sounds that he can remember. Short is a composer, musician, songwriter and storyteller. He is also a playwright and has written and collaborated on more than a dozen plays that have been produced andperformed throughout the world, from the Pueblo Zuni to the Czech Republic. For the past 30 years, he has been the playwright in residence for the internationally acclaimed Roadside Theater. An alumnus of UVa-Wise, Short received the College's Outstanding Alumni Award in 2002. In 2004 he was commissioned by the National Composer Associations' Continental Harmony Program to create a new body of music in celebration of the 50th anniversary of UVa-Wise. The resulting score and script, "Miners and Millhands," was produced at UVa-Wise in April 2005 and performed by students, faculty and members of the community.


Joseph C. Smiddy has served as an ambassador for The University of Virginia’s College at Wise and southwestern Virginia for more than five decades. The College’s first chancellor, Smiddy came to what was then Clinch Valley College in 1954 as the fledgling institution’s first biology instructor. He has been an integral part of the College ever since. Smiddy served 27 years as chancellor, guiding the College from a two-year school to a senior institution. Although he retired in 1985 as chancellor emeritus, Smiddy has continued to work tirelessly on behalf of UVa-Wise.

A talented traditional Appalachian musician, Smiddy, his son Joe Frank Smiddy, and their Reedy Creek Band have shared the music of the Appalachian Mountains with audiences across Virginia, the United States, and in several foreign countries. Proceeds from the sale of Smiddy’s two most recent musical CDs, “Butter Beans” and “Hop up Ladies” benefit the UVa-Wise Foundation.

Smiddy is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the UVa-Wise Alumni Association’s Meritorious Achievement Award, the Wise County Outstanding Citizen Award, the Wise County Outstanding Educator Award, the Kanto Award, and inclusion in the Virginia Hall of Fame. Smiddy has been an active member of various civic organizations for decades, including the Kiwanis Club, which recently honored him for a lifetime of service.

4:45 p.m.
Closing Remarks
Chancellor Prior

5:00 p.m.
A Taste of Appalachia
Refreshments with a regional flavor will be provided in the Dogwood Room.

To read the press release click here

Closing Remarks
Chancellor Prior

A Taste of Appalachia
Refreshments illustrating a regional flavor will be provided in the Dogwood Room

RSVP at inauguration@uvawise.edu

Inauguration 2006