Oral Histories of Western North Carolina

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Oral Histories of Western North Carolina

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100 year old Commodore Casada talks about the building of Fontana Dam, the largest dam of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system, and its effects on the residents of Bryson City. The Fontana Dam, completed in 1945, is built on the Little…

Claude Douthit discusses a few of the logging companies operating in the area where the Fontana Dam was built. According to Douthit, the lumber companies were the main source of employment for people in Swain County prior to the building of Fontana…

Christine Cole Proctor speaks about how her family and others were moved from their homes so that the Fontana Dam could be built. The dam, completed in 1945 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), is built on the Little Tennessee River and is…

Delia Woodard Watkins, born in Swain County, was 16 when construction started on Fontana Dam. The dam, completed in 1945 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), is built on the Little Tennessee River and is located near Fontana Village in Graham…

Troy and Edna Whiteside talk about the ambivalent feelings that Swain County residents had towards the construction of the Fontana Dam. While the dam's construction resulted in people losing land in return for inadequate compensation and having to…

Charles Byrd, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses playing football first under Coach Young and then Coach Dan Robinson, the role of sports in the social life of the university, life as a student and an athlete, and briefly…

Dee Thompson Smith, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses a variety of topics: her decision to attend Western rather than Blanton's Business College in Asheville; her participation in the marching band, P.E. club, and…

Bobby Holcomb, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses a variety a topics: his reasons for attending Western; playing baseball and basketball under Jim Gudger; life as a student and an athlete; social life on campus; and…

Bob Ray was a student at Western Carolina College from 1952 to 1954 before he was drafted to serve in the Korean Conflict and sent to Germany. He returned in 1957 and graduated thereafter. In this interview, Ray tells about his life as a…

Phillip Smith, a student at Western Carolina College in the 1950s, discusses playing basketball and baseball under Jim Gudger, being nicknamed ‘Chief’ by his teammates because he was Cherokee, and race relations at the time.
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