For many years, Berea College in Berea, Kentucky, has been recognized as being at the forefront of post secondary education in Appalachia. But the story of Berea College and their efforts to educate and train leaders in, of, and for Appalachia has not always been without bumps along the road. My friend Bill Best is both a Berea alumnus and a professor emeritus at Berea after having attended the college from 1954 to 1959 and having taught there from 1962 to 2002. Bill Best is also the author of two excellent books about saving, planting, and preserving heritage seeds.
During his time at Berea, Dr. Best served as an athletic coach, administrator, Director of Upward Bound, and in just about any other capacity in which the college asked him to serve. He is still actively involved with the college and lives on his farm not far from Berea. No one was better qualified to write about Berea and the role it has played in the history of education in Appalachia. The book is divided into three sections with an epilogue of a few pages. The sections are labeled with Roman numerals and cover college history; the career of James Stephen Brown, a Berea alumnus and a person who was also deeply involved in the life and work of the college for many years; and a section of "Testimonials" from a large group composed primarily of other Berea alumni who have become successful in a variety of fields. The book discusses the careers of the various presidents of the college over the fifty years the text addresses. It also discussed honestly and openly a period of time when the college became more focused on changing Appalachia, Appalachians, and the culture of the region. This period was eventually proven to be counterproductive to the goals of the college and was eventually changed to an effort which recognized the validity and importance of the deep seated and widely loved Appalachian Culture. Naturally, my friend of the last few years, Loyal Jones, one of the most important figures in all of Appalachia and Appalachian Literature, played a large and irreplaceable role in that effort to cause Berea College to protect the culture of the region.
The testimonial section is written by a sizeable group of figures who were important in the history of the college and the region. Although I recognize the intentions of Bill Best in constructing the book in this manner, I also see this method of having others write a key section of the book is a double edged sword. On the positive side, it clearly demonstrates how important Berea College has been both in the lives of these alumni and the region. But is my personal opinion that the book could have been better served if the author had chosen to write this section personally based on his knowledge of these people and personal interviews with them. But I do not make the statements in this paragraph with any intentions of denigrating the book or diminishing my respect for the book and the author. I state it simply as a difference of opinion between two writers about writing style and arrangement of the work. Each of the people whose lives are discussed in this section is an important figure in the life of Berea College and the region. I simply believe that an impartial third person assessment of these people and their work might have suited me better. And let me conclude this discussion with the strongly worded statement that I respect and appreciate the book, the author, and his writing. This book is well worth your time to read. If you are an Appalachian scholar, a Kentuckian, or an alumnus of Berea College, you will learn a great deal from this book. Buy it! Read it! Enjoy it as I did! And most of all, learn from it.
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