Download or read book Ozark Baptizings Hangings and Other Diversions written by Robert K. Gilmore and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 1990-01-01 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ozark Baptizings, Hangings, and Other Diversions is about the people of a unique corner of America and how they entertained themselves at the turn of the century. In the years from 1885 to 1910 most Ozark communities were still relatively isolated from the outside and from each other. Thus they had to rely on their own resources for diversion from the difficult and often solitary business of everyday living. The most popular of their entertainments were those that brought some "theater" into their lives. They especially delighted in "literaries," debates, mock trials, closing-of-school programs, suppers, picnics, brush-arbor revivals, and baptizings. Then there was the occasional hanging that for audience attention was rivaled only by the political rally. The hanging took on all the flavor of high drama, even to the impassioned farewell address by the condemned, who was carried away by the excitement of it all. By their entertainments shall we know them, and this account of Ozarkers' diversions reveals them in all their independence, conservatism, sense of place, humor, dedication to learning, love of the spoken language, and religious and political intensity. No "come-here" (an Ozarker's term for a newcomer), Robert K. Gilmore grew up on an Ozark farm, reared by grandparents who were young in the era described in this book. Years later he went back to the rural Ozarks and encouraged the people to recall the early days for him. They described the entertainments of their youth with a special clarity of recall. The files of the Ozark weeklies also proved richly rewarding. The editors and their rural "correspondents" delighted in describing the local entertainments in vivid reportage loaded with editorial comment. This book, illustrated with rare photographs of turn-of-the-century diversions celebrates the centennial of an era.
Download or read book The Ozarks written by Milton D. Rafferty and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Ozark Mountains reach into Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, forming a region with great natural beauty and a distinctive cultural and historical landscape. This comprehensive volume, a fully updated edition of a beloved classic, reaches into history, anthropology, economics, and geography to explore the complex relationships between the Ozarks' people and land through times of profound change. Drawing on more than thirty years of research, field observations, and interviews, Rafferty examines this subject matter through a range of topics: the settlement patterns and material cultures of Native Americans, French, Scotch-Irish, Germans, Italians, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians in the region; population growth; the guerrilla warfare and battles of the Civil War; the cultural transformations wrought by railroads, roads, mass media, and modern communication systems; the discovery, development, and decline of the great mining districts; the various forms of agriculture and the felling of the region's vast forests; and the built landscape, from log cabins to Victorian mansions to strip malls. This new edition also explores the new and potent forces which have reshaped the region over the last twenty years: tourism and the growing service industry, suburbanization, rapid population growth and retirement living, and agribusiness. Lavishly illustrated with historic and contemporary photographs, maps, and charts."--Publisher's description.
Download or read book Insiders Guide to Branson and the Ozark Mountains written by Fred Pfister and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2009-08-25 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by a local author, this guide is filled to the brim with insider information on everything from the top fishing sites to seasonal festivals and the best places to eat, sleep, and play.
Download or read book Holy Hills of the Ozarks written by Aaron K. Ketchell and published by Johns Hopkins University Press+ORM. This book was released on 2007-09-20 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Confronts readers with the implications of a popular tourist destination founded on the values and sentiments of American evangelical Protestantism.” —Thomas S. Bremer, Journal of the American Academy of Religion Over the past century, Branson, Missouri, has attracted tens of millions of tourists. Nestled in the heart of the Ozark Mountains, it offers a rare and refreshing combination of natural beauty and family-friendly recreation—from scenic lakes and rolling hills to theme parks and variety shows. It has boasted of big-name celebrities, like Wayne Newton, Andy Williams, and Petula Clark, as well as family entertainers like Mickey Gilley, the Shanghai Magic Troupe, Jim Stafford, and Yakov Smirnoff. But there is more to Branson’s fame than just recreation. As Aaron K. Ketchell discovers, a popular variant of Christianity underscores all Branson’s tourist attractions and fortifies every consumer success. In this lively and engaging study, Ketchell explores Branson’s unique blend of religion and recreation. He explains how the city became a mecca of conservative Christianity—a place for a “spiritual vacation”—and how, through conscious effort, its residents and businesses continuously reinforce its inextricable connection with the divine. Ketchell combines the study of lived religion, popular culture, evangelicalism, and contemporary American history to present an accurate and honest account of a distinctly American phenomenon. “As Ketchell brilliantly argues, Branson entrepreneurs wove Christian sentiment ‘into a fabric of nostalgia, premodern longing, and whitewashed rusticity.’” —Matthew Avery Sutton, The Christian Century “At a time when Jim Wallis and other observers have forecast the end of the prominence of right-wing-religion on the U.S. political stage, this book will cause many readers to question that prediction.” —David Stricklin, The Journal of Southern History
Download or read book Ozark Country written by W. K. McNeil and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 1995 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Newspaperwoman of the Ozarks written by Susan Croce Kelly and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2023-08-07 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lucile Morris Upton landed her first newspaper job out West in the early 1920s, then returned home to spend half a century reporting on the Ozarks world she knew best. Having come of age just as women gained the right to vote, she took advantage of opportunities that presented themselves in a changing world. During her years as a journalist, Upton rubbed shoulders with presidents, flew with aviation pioneer Wiley Post, covered the worst single killing of US police officers in the twentieth century, wrote an acclaimed book on the vigilante group known as the Bald Knobbers, charted the growth of tourism in the Ozarks, and spearheaded a movement to preserve iconic sites of regional history. Following retirement from her newspaper job, she put her experience to good use as a member of the Springfield City Council and community activist. Told largely through Upton’s own words, this insightful biography captures the excitement of being on the front lines of newsgathering in the days when the whole world depended on newspapers to find out what was happening.
Download or read book A History of the Ozarks Volume 1 written by Brooks Blevins and published by University of Illinois Press. This book was released on 2018-06-30 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Geologic forces raised the Ozarks. Myth enshrouds these hills. Human beings shaped them and were shaped by them. The Ozarks reflect the epic tableau of the American people—the native Osage and would-be colonial conquerors, the determined settlers and on-the-make speculators, the endless labors of hardscrabble farmers and capitalism of visionary entrepreneurs. The Old Ozarks is the first volume of a monumental three-part history of the region and its inhabitants. Brooks Blevins begins in deep prehistory, charting how these highlands of granite, dolomite, and limestone came to exist. From there he turns to the political and economic motivations behind the eagerness of many peoples to possess the Ozarks. Blevins places these early proto-Ozarkers within the context of larger American history and the economic, social, and political forces that drove it forward. But he also tells the varied and colorful human stories that fill the region's storied past—and contribute to the powerful myths and misunderstandings that even today distort our views of the Ozarks' places and people. A sweeping history in the grand tradition, A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks is essential reading for anyone who cares about the highland heart of America.
Download or read book Down on Mahans Creek written by Benjamin G. Rader and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2017-02-15 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Down on Mahans Creek, Benjamin Rader provides a fascinating look at a neighborhood in the Missouri Ozarks from the early nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. He explores the many ways in which Mahans Creek, though remote, was never completely isolated or self-sufficient. The residents were deeply affected by the Civil War, and the arrival of the railroad and the timber boom in the 1890s propelled the community into modern times, creating a more fast-paced and consumer-oriented way of life and a new moral sensibility. During the Great Depression the creek’s residents returned to some of the older values for survival. After World War II, modern technology changed their lives again, causing a movement away from the countryside and to the nearby small towns. Down on Mahans Creek tells the dynamic story of this distinctive neighborhood navigating the push and pull of the old and new ways of life.
Download or read book Queen of the Hillbillies written by Patti McCord and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2022-04-08 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Download or read book Encyclopedia of American Folklife written by Simon J Bronner and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-03-04 with total page 4164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American folklife is steeped in world cultures, or invented as new culture, always evolving, yet often practiced as it was created many years or even centuries ago. This fascinating encyclopedia explores the rich and varied cultural traditions of folklife in America - from barn raisings to the Internet, tattoos, and Zydeco - through expressions that include ritual, custom, crafts, architecture, food, clothing, and art. Featuring more than 350 A-Z entries, "Encyclopedia of American Folklife" is wide-ranging and inclusive. Entries cover major cities and urban centers; new and established immigrant groups as well as native Americans; American territories, such as Guam and Samoa; major issues, such as education and intellectual property; and expressions of material culture, such as homes, dress, food, and crafts. This encyclopedia covers notable folklife areas as well as general regional categories. It addresses religious groups (reflecting diversity within groups such as the Amish and the Jews), age groups (both old age and youth gangs), and contemporary folk groups (skateboarders and psychobillies) - placing all of them in the vivid tapestry of folklife in America. In addition, this resource offers useful insights on folklife concepts through entries such as "community and group" and "tradition and culture." The set also features complete indexes in each volume, as well as a bibliography for further research.
Download or read book Shepherd of the Hills Country written by Lynn Morrow and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Morrow and Myers-Phinney excavate the beginnings of commercial tourism in the region and follow it through six decades as the influx of visitors who became familiar with the Ozarks and its investment opportunities brought capital, new commerce, and additional residents to the hills."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book White Man s Heaven written by Kimberly Harper and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on court records, newspaper accounts, penitentiary records, letters, and diaries, White Man’s Heaven is a thorough investigation into the lynching and expulsion of African Americans in the Missouri and Arkansas Ozarks in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Kimberly Harper explores events in the towns of Monett, Pierce City, Joplin, and Springfield, Missouri, and Harrison, Arkansas, to show how post–Civil War vigilantism, an established tradition of extralegal violence, and the rapid political, economic, and social change of the New South era happened independently but were also part of a larger, interconnected regional experience. Even though some whites, especially in Joplin and Springfield, tried to stop the violence and bring the lynchers to justice, many African Americans fled the Ozarks, leaving only a resilient few behind and forever changing the racial composition of the region.
Download or read book The Un Natural State written by Brock Thompson and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2010-10-01 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a study of gay and lesbian life in Arkansas in the twentieth century, a deft weaving together of Arkansas history, dozens of oral histories, and Brock Thompson's own story.
Download or read book Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder written by John E. Miller and published by University of Missouri Press. This book was released on 2006-01-31 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although generations of readers of the Little House books are familiar with Laura Ingalls Wilder’s early life up through her first years of marriage to Almanzo Wilder, few know about her adult years. Going beyond previous studies, Becoming Laura Ingalls Wilder focuses upon Wilder’s years in Missouri from 1894 to 1957. Utilizing her unpublished autobiography, letters, newspaper stories, and other documentary evidence, John E. Miller fills the gaps in Wilder’s autobiographical novels and describes her sixty-three years of living in Mansfield, Missouri. As a result, the process of personal development that culminated in Wilder’s writing of the novels that secured her reputation as one of America’s most popular children’s authors becomes evident.
Download or read book Back Yonder written by Charles Wayman Hogue and published by University of Arkansas Press. This book was released on 2016-02-15 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wayman Hogue’s stories of growing up in the Ozarks, according to a 1932 review in the New York Times, “brilliantly illuminate mountain life to its very heart and in its most profound aspects.” A standout among the Ozarks literature that was popular during the Great Depression, this memoir of life in rural Arkansas in the decades following the Civil War has since been forgotten by all but a few students of Arkansas history and folklore. Back Yonder is a special book. Hogue, like his contemporary Laura Ingalls Wilder, weaves a narrative of a family making its way in rugged, impoverished, and sometimes violent places. From one-room schoolhouses to moonshiners, the details in this story capture the essence of a particular time and place, even as the characters reflect a universal quality that will endear them to modern readers. Historian Brooks Blevins’s new introduction explores the life of Charles Wayman Hogue, analyzes the people and events that inspired the book, and places the volume in the context of America’s discovery of the Ozarks in the years between the World Wars. The University of Arkansas Press is proud to reissue Back Yonder as the first book in the Chronicles of the Ozarks series, making this Arkansas classic available again, ready to be discovered and rediscovered by readers sure to find the book as interesting and entertaining as ever.
Download or read book Pretty Boy The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd written by Michael Wallis and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2011-05-17 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents the life of one of America's most notorious criminals, describing "Pretty Boy" Floyd's coming of age in poverty, his descent into petty crime and bootlegging, his stormy marriage, murders, jail terms, and violent death.
Download or read book Heartland written by James H. Madison and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 1990-02-22 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: " . . . an impressive collection of essays . . . gives as clear a picture of the Midwest as a whole as one is likely to get." —Journal of American History " . . . excellent insight into how and why the midwest ticks so well in a unique beat of its own." —South Bend Tribune "[Madison] can take a bow for a job well done." —Indianapolis News "I found Heartland to be a treasure. Had I turned a dog-ear each time I read something worth remembering, the book would be in tatters. . . . a wonderful companion." —Myron A. Marty, St. Louis Post-Dispatch "An ambitious book, full of insight, which provides a useful first step in trying to understand that elusive entity—the Midwest." —Clifford E. Clark, Jr., Minnesota History " . . . strong and interestingly written . . . " —Indianapolis Star " . . . should be of interest to the serious reader of history who is curious about the Midwest, its origins, its development and its constituent states." —Northwest Ohio Quarterly " . . . these essays are the stuff of excellent and readable intellectual history . . . " —History " . . . a successful achievement. Heartland is an enjoyable book . . . " —Great Plains Quarterly "Because this book has the capacity to affect one's thinking, it deserves to be read. It may even persuade some readers to discard the term Middle West." —Richard S. Kirkendall, Gateway Heritage "Heartland is an excellent presentation, in summary, of the history and background of the 12 Midwestern states." —Journal of the West To the cultural czars of the two coasts, America's heartland is frequently depicted as an amorphous, undifferentiated mass of land and people. Twelve experts examine individual states of the Midwest, examining the origins and nature of the unique midwestern cultural phenomena: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
