Many Faces of Sewanee :: History 323

The Many Faces of Sewanee

History #323

Advent 2024

Professor John C. Willis

Syllabus

Course Objectives

The Many Faces of Sewanee applies advanced historical techniques to the local area’s varied history. The course’s approach is grounded in notions of human ecology, and emphasizes relationships between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. This perspective will inform our exploration of local people, institutions, and events, and will also be applied during our weekly partnering with members of Biology 220 (“Reading the Landscape”) in field activities. Students completing The Many Faces of Sewanee will not only learn a great deal more about what happened nearby, when, why, how, and at who’s behest, they will also gain new skills for considering the past and its links to the present.

Assignments and Grades

Grades will be determined by research on two questions concerning Sewanee’s past (one-quarter), investigation and presentation of an interdisciplinary project (one-quarter), class participation (one-quarter), and performance on a summative course examination (one-quarter). Class participation will be judged on the basis of your attendance at class and field events, performance on quizzes and short writing assignments, discussion of assigned texts, and original contributions to our understanding of local history. Attendance is a necessary, but only partial, fulfillment of the participation requirement. The final examination will be cumulative and will be based, in part, on information conveyed in student presentations.

I will hold office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:00-12:30 and at other times by appointment. You can best communicate with me outside of class and office hours via email at jwillis@sewanee.edu. Please do not leave a voice-mail message on my office phone.

Books and Other Materials

Purchase the following required works for use in the course:

Ely Green, Ely: An Autobiography
Patricia Short Makris, The Other Side of Sewanee
Gerald L. Smith and Samuel R. Williamson, Jr., editors, Sewanee Perspectives
U. S. G. S. topographic map, “Sewanee Quadrangle”

You also have the option to buy Samuel R. Williamson’s, Sewanee Sesquicentennial History

Other works will be furnished in paper form to the class or available online

Class Meetings

August 29 Introductions – to each other, to the course, and to the landscape

9:30 = Walsh-Ellett #204
1:30 = introduction to field work: meet in the Spencer Hall atrium, then a visit to the Moseley-King Farm

September 3 Sewanee – Below and Above Ground

Sewanee Perspectives, pp. 7-45
“Sewanee Quadrangle” topo map
Charles Cheston, “Evolution of the Domain,” map 1

September 5 Settling and Unsettling: from Native Use to Euro-American Habitation

Field session: Visit to the Rattlesnake/Vaughan’s/Rowe’s/Polk/Tremlett spring area

September 10 Origins of the University of the South

Sewanee Perspectives, pp. 111-117; 47-72
Map of Franklin & Marion counties, 1832
University Cornerstone workers
Land donors to the University of the South, 7 October 2007
Charles Cheston, “Evolution of the Domain,” map 2

September 12 Sewanee Gossip: Spilling the 19th-Century Tea

Field session: University Archives and Special Collections

September 17 The Plateau’s Civil War

September 19 Complications of Growth

Field session: Finding Hawkins Path

September 24 Seeking Answers

September 26 The Childhood Years of Ely Green

Ely, pp. v.-xviii, 1-74
University Domain, ca. 1910 (frontispiece of Sewanee Perspectives)

Field session: Visit to the University Mine

October 1 Class cancelled

October 3 Ely's Escapes

Ely, pp. 75-246
University Domain, ca. 1910 (frontispiece of Sewanee Perspectives)

Field session: University and St. Mark’s cemeteries

October 8 Segregated Even Unto Death

Sewanee Perspectives, pp. 485-500
W. A. Percy, “Sewanee” in Lanterns on the Levee

October 10 More than Games?

Sewanee Perspectives, pp. 345-404
The Other Side of Sewanee, pp. 32-56, 63-80
How do Ely Green’s activities complicate our understanding of life (for humans, plants, and animals) in and around Shakerag Hollow during this period?

Field session: Visit to Sewanee Village

October 15 Rufus Moseley and his Farm

October 17 Working-Class Whites On and Beyond the Domain

• Patricia Short Makris, "The Story of Patricia and Steve"

• Frank S. Potts's purchase of 168.5-acre farm, 1904

• Map of Porter, Estill & Logan grants, 1914

• Charles Cheston, “Evolution of the Domain,” map 3

Field session: Visit to the end of Breakfield Road

October 22 Fall break holiday

October 24 Sewanee and the Great War

• Dave Anderson’s Coal Contract with the University, 1916-1921

• Unknown photographer, “Lyssa & Father at Mooney’s Spring,” 1919

• Ralph Black’s Map of the University Domain, 1920

Field session: Visit to Herrington Ridge and Shakerag Hollow

October 29 James Isaac King and his Family

October 31 Some Preliminary Conclusions

Presentations on questions 4, 5, & 6

Field session: Meet at Spencer Atrium at 1:30 to discuss interdisciplinary projects, then visit the Moseley-King Farm

November 5 The Revival of Moonshine and Coal Mining

Michael Birdwell, “There’s a Lot of Nourishment in an Acre of Corn” from People of the Upper Cumberland
Ron Eller, selection from Uneven Ground on mid-twentieth century mining

November 7 Appalachia on the Road

Max Fraser, “Lost Highways”

Field session: Visit the Moseley-King Farm

November 12 Changing Prospects for Sewanee Women

Sewanee Perspectives, pp. 421-484

November 14 Desegregation

Sewanee Perspectives, pp. 500-518

Field session: Meet in Spencer Atrium for group conference and research

November 19 Evaluating the Sources, I

Final project Google folder

November 21 Evaluating the Sources, II

• Final project Google folder

Field session: Exploring points of interpretation = Q & A with professors

November 26 Evaluating Sources and Finding Interpretations

November 28 Thanksgiving holiday

December 3 Work on final project

December 5 Work on final project

Presentation of final projects

December 10 Connecting Past with Present

December 14 Final examination due by noon. Upload your essay to the course Brightspace site.

Research Questions

Everyone will work in groups to answer these questions. You will work in one group to address a question from the first three topics, then in a different group to later answer one of the final three questions. Each group will present their answer to the full class at a meeting marked on our syllabus.

1. What was gained and what was lost by individuals and families who relocated to Tennessee’s southern Cumberland Plateau from the 1810s through 1860? In what important ways did life here differ from what one might encounter elsewhere in the South – for example, in the South Carolina Lowcountry or along the Virginia Piedmont or in one of the region’s growing cities? Presentation on 24 September.

2. What local patterns of difference or divergence proved most significant in the early period of Sewanee’s history, from 1860-1875? Consider social groupings, cultural differences, political perspectives, and the like as you chart the fault lines of this small but growing community. Presentation on 24 September.

3. In his memoir, Ely Green recalled his activities in Shakerag Hollow and Roark’s Cove in the early 1910s: “I skinned everything that had hair from housecats to civet cats. By the first of December I had stripped the two canyons.” [Ely, p. 194] While he was proud of these accomplishments and the money they brought him, these actions also placed Ely Green in danger. How do Green’s activities complicate our understanding of life (for humans, plants, and animals) in and around Shakerag Hollow during this period? Presentation on 8 October.

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4. How did his purchase of 103 acres west of town fit into the life and business of Sewanee butcher and Swiss immigrant Christian Ruef? What questions does it raise? Presentation on 31 October.

5. Was Rufus Moseley’s farm purchase a sign of his personal success or an indicator of his social exclusion? Explain how his efforts revealed some of the prospects African Americans encountered in the Sewanee area before World War II. Presentation on 31 October.

6. Geologists estimate that Shakerag Hollow held more than two dozen coal mines and that many other adits were worked nearby. Then again, so many trees were cut on the Domain that much of it was denuded by 1900. And the University of the South not only owned a great swathe of the Cumberland Plateau, it was also the largest employer in the area. Should we see Sewanee as a “coal town?” Is it better understood as a timber center? Are we closest to the truth in calling it a “college town?” Or is there another, more appropriate label than any of these? Presentation on 31 October.

Class Policies

Attendance

It is very important that you attend and actively participate in our classroom and field sessions. If you are ill or need to miss a class for any reason, please contact me via email before the class meets. As soon as you can, borrow a classmate’s notes and/or meet with me during my office hours to discuss what you missed.

A persistently low level of engagement with this class will adversely impact your participation grade. Students who miss more than three class meetings will be placed on cut warning with the Dean of Student’s Office.

Unless it is a medical emergency, please do not leave in the middle of class to take a phone call, use the restroom, fill up your water bottle, etc. It is very disruptive and disrespectful of the time we have together. I reserve the right to mark you as absent for the day if you disappear from class for an extended time.

Electronic devices

Please turn off the ringer on your cell phone and put it entirely away before class meetings begin. In case of an emergency, you should have your phone on during field sessions, but leave it on airplane mode unless you need to contact me. Obviously, there should be no texting or responding to emails during any session of our course.

Honor Code

When you matriculated, you agreed to follow the Honor Code: to do your own honest work and not to cheat in any form. All forms of cheating, including plagiarism, are violations of the Honor Code and will be treated as such. The Sewanee Honor Code defines plagiarism as “[copying or imitating] the language and thoughts of others and [passing] the result off as an original work.” Using the language or ideas of others without proper citation is considered academic dishonesty (cheating), and “others” includes responses from artificial intelligence processing programs (for example, ChatGPT). Using AI to complete assignments without the express and clear approval of your instructor is also a violation (for receiving unauthorized assistance). If you ever have a question about an assignment or need additional help, please ask for assistance rather than jeopardize your academic career.

In this course, we will use the Turabian style of the University of Chicago Press. You can see examples of end/footnote citations and bibliographic entries at https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/turabian/turabian-notes-and-bibliography-citation-quick-guide.html

Regarding Disabilities

The University of the South is committed to fostering respect for the diversity of the University community and the individual rights of each member of that community. In this spirit, and in accordance with the provisions of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the University seeks to provide students with disabilities with the reasonable accommodations needed to ensure equitable access to the programs and activities of the University.

Any student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments is requested to speak with Student Accessibility Services as early in the semester as possible, though students may reach out at any point during the academic year. If approved for accommodations, the student has the responsibility to present their instructors with a copy of the official letter of academic accommodations. Please note: accommodation letters should be dated for the current term; accommodations will not be provided without a current accommodation letter. Accommodations cannot be applied retroactively.

Student Accessiblity Services is located in the Office of the Dean of Students (931.598.1229). Additional information about accommodations can be found in the Student Accessibility Services website (https://new.sewanee.edu/offices/the-college-of-arts-sciences-offices/student-life/dean-of-students-office/student-accessibility-services/).

Research Help Center

The Research Help Center, on the lowest floor of duPont Library, is available for all of your research paper, project, and presentation needs. Our librarians can help with each stage in the research process, including developing a research question, finding information, interpreting academic sources, integrating research into your paper or presentation, and citing sources. You can make an appointment online at https://library.sewanee.edu/researchhelp. Walk-ins are welcome.

Wellness Center Resources

Your physical and mental health can have direct effect on your academic performance and your participation in daily activities. As a student you may experience a range of challenges that can interfere with learning, such as physical illness, stress, strained relationships, increased anxiety, substance misuse, mood changes, difficulty concentrating, and/or lack of motivation. The University Health Services (UHS) is a primary care clinic that helps students with injuries or illnesses. Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers free counseling service to help you manage the offers free counseling service to help you manage the stresses of student life. You can learn more about the services provided by the University Wellness Center at https://new.sewanee.edu/campus-life/flourishing/wellness-commons/.