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Special Collections Lecture Series

Appalachian Removals and Relocations, Spring 2007

Appalachian Removals and Relocations Slide Show

As part of the University of Tennessee's Appalachian Celebration, the Special Collections Library is hosting a lecture series entitled Appalachian Removals and Relocations, which will examine the diversity, culture and identity of Appalachia and its inhabitants.

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Appalachian Removals and Relocations

Appalachia is a region of great transformations and intersections. Humans have fought over its natural resources, land, and legacy for centuries. Removals and relocations across this vast territory resulted in regional diversity, cultural isolation, and conflicting identities. As a result, the image of Appalachia and its inhabitants is ever-changing.

Appalachian removals and relocations, both forced and voluntary, are most apparent in the 19th and 20th centuries. The hand of the federal government brought change to Appalachia in the 1830s with forced removal of the Cherokees. Homesteaders then occupied the emptied lands and turned the regionís fertile bottomland into productive farms or staked claims on mountainsides and in the valleys of East Tennessee. The high dams of TVA and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park displaced the descendants of those first settlers a century later. Cheap land, opportunity, and dreams for a perfect society also led many immigrant groups to East Tennessee, with the British settlement of Rugby being perhaps the best example of this 19th century utopian influence upon the Appalachian character.

This exhibit explores the theme of Appalachian removals and relocations, using original material held by the Special Collections Library. It anchors the spring 2007 Special Collections Lecture Series and supports the University of Tennessee's Appalachian Semester. The exhibit will be open from March to October 2007, Monday-Friday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm.