"An Appalachian Flood Of Memories: Vol. CCXXII" by Lloyd Dean

Several months ago, my wife and I were eating in Cattlemen's Steak House in Morehead, Kentucky, and found ourselves seated opposite an elderly couple whose male half struck up a conversation with me. His name was Lloyd Dean and he gave me a copy of a self published pamphlet of about 54 pages as described in the title above, "An Appalacian Flood Of Memories: Vol. CCXXII" by Lloyd Dean. He stated that it was his one hundred and some double digit release. I thanked him for it, filed it away and finally perused it. It is collection of captioned photographs, a list of the post masters of the Haldeman, Kentucky post office (now defunct), church bulletings, photocopied newspaper articles, funeral memorial cards, and other miscellanous items which Mr. Dean has obviously collected over the years. I don't intend to pooh pooh his efforts to preserve his memories or mementoes of the past. I do some of the same thing myself. But, despite the fact that five of the best years of my life were spent in Morehead, Kentucky, where this encounter occurred, I did not recognize anyone in the photographs and most of the events happened long before I began to attend Morehead State University as a non-traditional student. The back cover of the book contains a lenghty list of other such books or pamphlets which Mr. Dean has produced over the years and says that they can be purchased from Mr. Dean at 6770 US 60 East, Morehead, KY 40351. The book does not contain a phone number or e-mail address but I have been able to locate a land line phone for Mr. Dean which I will not include in this blog post. I will leave it up to anyone interested in seeing some of Mr. Dean's work to either write him or locate a land line number and give him a call. For me personally, the most interesting inclusions in the book were a newspaper story (photocopied) covering the occasion when the Jesse Stuart Foundation bought the old Ashland, Kentucky, post office building which is still their headquarters, and, at the top of the list of Mr. Dean's works on the back cover is an item listed as "Rural Cemeteries of Kentucky --UK (Sociology) 1952". I have intended to call Mr. Dean and attempt to pursue a copy of that paper since I have always been interested in rural cemeteries in this state and several others which I have visited over the years. A good rural cemetery is one of the finest ways to learn a lot about an area when you are new in the locale. You can learn the names which seem to dominate the community, see some obvious stories about unfortunate deaths, marriages of men to more than one woman, women who died in childbirth buried either beside or with their newborn babe, and also victims of our wars, victims of the 1918 influenze epidemic, and sometimes victims of events such as tornadoes and major floods. I never disparage anyone who chooses to write their ideas and beliefs and publish the results. Mr. Dean obviously has loved to make an effort to preserve as much of his extensive knowledge as possible. He is to be commended for that. Lloyd Dean also left much of his local history and genealogical papers to Morehead State University and they can be found at this link although it appears that the collection has not been fully assessed and catalogued.

Responses To Some Reading Of Cratis Williams

Having just completed "William H. Vaughan A Better Man Than I Ever Wanted To Be A Memoir" by Cratis Williams, I want to set down some responses it generated as quickly as possible.  The book, or more accurately pamphlet (only 72 pages), is a biographical memoir about Dr. Vaughan the most important mentor in the life of Williams who is one of the most important figures in the history of Appalachian Studies.  The two met when Williams, a freshman in high school, moved from remote Crain's Creek in Lawrence County Kentucky to the county seat of Louisa so he could board in a home and attend high school which no member of his family had ever done. Vaughan was a teacher at the school and eventually became its principal.  He would later complete a doctorate and become president of Morehead State Teachers College (University).

The two maintained a mentor and protege relationship for more than 40 years until Vaughan died in Nashville where he lived and taught after being fired at Morehead following a political turnover in Frankfort.  Vaughan was a Democrat.  The new Kentucky governor was a Republican.  The firing cost the college its accreditation for one year.  But wherever the two moved in their separate careers, they stayed in touch and supported each other throughout their professional lives.  Williams was the only Lawrence County native who attended the funeral of Vaughan in Nashville in 1972. Their relationship was a model for what all mentor/protege relationships should be.  It was close, honest, cooperative, and life long. 

But the most striking thing  I noticed in reading the book was a quote by Williams in a biographical statement at the end of the book.  In that brief segment, Williams discusses his earliest exposures to the negative stereotyping of Appalachian people and how he dealt with that stereotyping throughout his life.  It should be a model for every Appalachian native today when the need arises to confront and educate the people who disseminate the stereotypes. The quote says:

"In college I picked up from  professors and students from outside the Appalachian region the negative attitudes toward us Appalachians that fictional stereotypes had created.  It was a shame to  be Appalachian.  An Appalachian persons first obligation to himself was to identify and correct or reject everything about himself that betrayed his identity.  As I considered and tried alternates, I found many of them superficial, unreal, often pretentious, and sometimes hypocritical.  I had to pretend, for example, that young middle class women were innocent little girls who played at life as if they were still in doll houses.  I had to substitute shallow euphemisms for the colorful and vigorous language in my dialect.  People played religion in middle class churches and few seemed to take it very seriously...My acceptance of people as they themselves saw themselves stood me in good stead.  My ability to listen, consider, ask questions without condemning or rejecting appealed to those who fate it was to work with me.  It has seemed to me that such success as I have enjoyed as a 'public person' is owing largely to my having accepted myself with confidence, and without significant loss of self-esteem, as an Appalachian.  I never feel the need to apologize for who I am or try to obscure my identity.  I find it enormously comfortable to be myself."  Williams, Cratis D.; "William H. Vaughan A Better Man Than I Ever Wanted To Be A Memoir"; p. 72.

The truths contained in that brief quote cannot be accurately enumerated or adequately explained by a person who has never been subjected to the negative stereotypes which Williams is discussing.  But he was able to progress from the point at which he first encountered the stereotypes to become a proud spokesman for the Appalachian people.  He created a career and a body of writing which is rarely equalled in any field.  Only one or two other native Appalachians have succeeded to the degree that Cratis Williams did.  Every Appalachian person who benefits from his work owes him a debt of gratitude. 

And every native Appalachian should try to confront the stereotypes and the people who perpetuate them.  We are the last minority group in America which it is still socially acceptable to denigrate, defame, and belittle.  So long as we stay silent and accept the stereotypes they will live on.  We need to take the same postion toward them that Williams took.  We must defend our heritage and our culture.

Cratis D. Williams, Ph. D.