WPA school building

WPA school building

High school buildings

School buildings

This outbuilding for the Swain High School was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and dedicated on May 9, 1941. On the far left of the photograph, the west wall of the Swain High School building is seen. The photographer, “Doc” Kelly Bennett (1890-1974), 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/

negatives (photographs)

eng

StillImage

73199

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/73199

Swain County (N.C.)

3.5" x 5.75"(dimension)

Picturing Appalachia