The Baltimore Sun: You thought you knew Appalachia
UC faculty member unearths faulty stereotypes
Samantha NeCamp, assistant professor and composition director in UC's Department of English, dispels Appalachian stereotypes in her book "Literacy in the Mountains: Community, Newspapers, and Writing in Appalachia."
NeCamp investigated the actual circumstances in Appalachia at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th as this myth was being established and demonstrates that Appalachians are not — and never have been — an illiterate, isolated people, according to a review of NeCamp's book by John McIntyre in The Baltimore Sun.
"We can now see, thanks to Professor NeCamp...that there were people in central Appalachia earnestly seeking education and improvement for their communities, and who left a written record of their lives," says McIntyre.
Featured image at top: Kentucky mountain range. Photo/Josuha Michaels/Unsplash
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