Bennet and Stearns family on ridge trail

Bennet and Stearns family on ridge trail

Children

Cliffs

Mountains

Trails

Women

“Doc” Kelly Bennett (1890-1974) took this photograph of his wife Ola Tela Bennett (front) and his children Gwendolyn and Mary Alice standing on a boulder in the background with friend Lauree Nicholson Stearns and her son Joe on a ridge top trail with sharp drop off. Bennett was a prominent pharmacist in Swain County, NC. Owner of the Bryson City Drug Company, Bennett served as alderman and mayor of Bryson City, on the Swain County Board of Education, as well as several terms as NC State Senator and NC State Representative. He participated in numerous other initiatives and organizations. Known as the “Apostle of the Smokies,” Bennett was an instrumental figure in the movement to create the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He was also an avid photographer, skillfully documenting a wide variety of people, places, and events in Swain County and the surrounding area.

Bennett, Kelly, 1890-1974

Kelly Bennett Collection

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

jpg

negatives (photographs)

eng

StillImage

64478

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/64478

Swain County (N.C.)

3.5" x 5.75"(dimension)

Picturing Appalachia