WEST PLAINS, Mo. – “Images and Perceptions of the Ozarks” is the theme of the sixth annual Ozarks Studies Symposium set for Sept. 21-22 at the West Plains Civic Center.
The event celebrates the unique culture of the Ozarks by providing presentations and performances by representatives of the academic world and the public sector that address various aspects of life in the Ozarks. It is being sponsored by the Missouri State University-West Plains academic affairs office and the West Plains Council on the Arts. The event is made possible with generous funding from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, and the Missouri Humanities Council. Admission is free and open to all.
Leigh Adams, assistant professor of English at Missouri State-West Plains and assistant editor of the university’s literary journal, Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies, said this year’s theme was chosen “because we wanted to broaden the presentation possibilities. We think it brought us several excellent proposals.”
The symposium will begin with an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, in the Magnolia Room at the West Plains Civic Center, 110 St. Louis St. Sponsored by the West Plains Council on the Arts, the reception will feature guest speaker Oliver Schuchard, professor emeritus of photography at the University of Missouri-Columbia and a former student of world renowned photographer Ansel Adams. A member of Mizzou’s art faculty for 30 years and the department’s chairman for seven, his photographs have appeared in numerous publications, including Two Ozark Rivers: The Current and the Jacks Fork and Exploring Missouri’s Legacy: State Parks and Historic Sites. Copies of Two Ozark Rivers: The Current and the Jacks Fork will be available for purchase.
The symposium’s keynote address, “The Ghost of the Ozarks: A Region in the Media Crosshairs,” will be given at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, by Dr. Brooks Blevins, the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University in Springfield. The arrest and trial of five men for the alleged brutal slaying of a young farmhand and the rape of his fiancé in Stone County, Ark., placed a national media spotlight on the rural Ozarks for a month in 1929. For urban reporters covering the story, the context of the alleged crime was often as fascinating as the details of the crime itself. How accurate or inaccurate were the press reports on life in the Ozarks? What motivated the sensational newspaper coverage the story received? Blevins will answer these and other questions – perhaps even what really happened on that day in 1929 – in a lecture based on his new book, Ghost of the Ozarks: Murder and Memory in the Upland South.
A native of Izard County, Ark., Blevins is the author of five books, including Hill Folks: A History of Arkansas Ozarkers and Their Image (UNC Press, 2002) and Arkansas/Arkansaw: How Bear Hunters, Hillbillies, and Good Ol’ Boys Defined a State (U of A Press, 2009). His newest book was released this past spring by the University of Illinois Press. Blevins received his bachelor of arts degree from Lyon College in Batesville, Ark., and his master of arts and Ph.D. in American history from Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.
Other presentations on Sept. 21 include:
• “Ozark Towns as Tribes: The Impact of Cultural and Geographic Isolation on Regional Conflicts and Boundaries” by Dr. Christopher Dyer, dean of academic affairs and professor of anthropology at Missouri State-West Plains. Drawing upon historical and anthropological sources and key respondent interviews collected through the National Heritage Area study, Dyer will examine how the history of civil conflict in the Ozarks is distinctly related to identification of spaces and places by groups of individuals identified with specific towns – groups that, to a great extent, fit the anthropological definition of a tribe. Through comparative analysis, he will explore how conditions of poverty, geographical isolation, historically limited external contact and other factors have shaped Ozark towns in a manner that mirrors traditionally defined tribal societies.
• “Hisen and Hern: Outhouses at Hog Danger” by Barbara Williams, artist and per course faculty member at Missouri State-West Plains. In this presentation, Williams discusses two stone outhouses she located during her search for native stone architecture in the Ozarks. The two outhouses, found in Ozark County, were built by the Works Progress Administration of the 1930s. Williams looks at their history, the history of the community in which they are located and the terms which designate them – “hisen” and “hern.”
• “Fiction and Poetry Readings from Local Authors” by Missouri State-West Plains Professor of English Dr. Craig Albin, Associate Professor of English Anthony Priest and per course faculty member Dave Malone, all of whom have had their pieces published in numerous journals, magazines and other publications.
• “In the Presence of a Superior Being: The Moment of Cultural Contact in Arcadian Ozarks Novels” by Phillip Howerton, English instructor at North Arkansas College in Harrison. In his examination of the novels The Shepherd of the Hills, Hester of the Hills and Sally of Missouri, Howerton will discuss how Arcadian novels set in the Ozarks serve to present a particular view of the Ozarks people.
• “Sex and the Country: What Popular Culture Images Have City Folk Thinking” by Jan Peterson Roddy, associate professor and associate dean of graduate studies in the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. By analyzing patterns of sexuality and gender in popular culture, including television, postcards, film, Internet blogs, etc., Roddy will look at the image of the hillbilly through these representations and how they help maintain certain existing social hierarchies.
• “Images of Us in Other People’s Eyes” by Missouri State-West Plains Professor of History Dr. Ed McKinney. In his presentation, McKinney will look at the Ozarks, its people and issues of cultural, economical and social dominance, as well as class conflict.
Presentations scheduled for Sept. 22 include:
• “An Analysis of ‘A Culture of Honor’ in Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone” by Brendan Cooney, an English graduate student at Missouri State University-Springfield. In his analysis of the novel by the local writer, Cooney examines the idea of a “culture of honor” – the idea that “southern men may be more willing to stand up for themselves using physical aggression, particularly if they have been insulted or believe their homes are being threatened – in the novel.
• A film presentation of “Seed Swap” by Brian C. Campbell, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. At a previous Ozarks Studies Symposium, Campbell arranged a panel discussion that covered, in part, a seed swap program with which he works in Arkansas. This film is an outgrowth of that project. He also will be present to discuss the film and answer questions.
• “Idealism Tempered by Tenacity: ‘Urban Refugees’ Adapt and Contribute to the Ozarks” by Denise Henderson-Vaughn, former award-winning reporter at the West Plains Daily Quill. Vaughn’s presentation will follow the genesis and growth of the 1970s and 1980s back-to-the-land movement in the central Ozarks and its connection to the national environmental movement. She will discuss the intentional communities that flourished during that period, some of which still persist, and on the movement’s long-term legacy through individuals and groups whose businesses, art and ideas have made contributions to Ozark Culture or mainstream culture.
• “Images of Ozarks Music” panel discussion moderated by McKinney and featuring Gordon McCann, Drew Beisswenger, Jim Orchard and Matt Meacham. The group will touch on such topics as a definition for Ozarks music, artists or groups who most vividly influenced people’s impressions of Ozarks music, music’s place in Ozarks culture, opinions on how best to preserve Ozarks music, and available resources on the topic. A picking circle will follow the presentation.
McCann is one of the Ozarks preeminent experts on traditional music of the Ozarks, having documented and recorded more than 65,000 fiddle tunes, co-produced eight CDs of Ozarks fiddling, and co-authored a book that documents Ozarks fiddle music and its history. Beisswenger is head of the music and media libraries collection for Missouri State University Libraries. Orchard is a retired history/social studies teacher from Eminence and a life-long dedicated bluegrass musician who personally knew legendary bluegrass musician Bill Monroe. Meacham is the former folklorist for the West Plains Council on the Arts and a former per course faculty member at Missouri State-West Plains.
For more information about the symposium, visit ozarksymposium.wp.missouristate.edu.