Hill Folks: A History of Arkansas Ozarkers and Their Image - Softcover

Blevins, Brooks

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0807853429 ISBN 13: 9780807853429

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2002

Synopsis

The Ozark region, located in northern Arkansas and southern Missouri, has long been the domain of the folklorist and the travel writer--a circumstance that has helped shroud its history in stereotype and misunderstanding. With Hill Folks, Brooks Blevins offers the first in-depth historical treatment of the Arkansas Ozarks. He traces the region's history from the early nineteenth century through the end of the twentieth century and, in the process, examines the creation and perpetuation of conflicting images of the area, mostly by non-Ozarkers.

Covering a wide range of Ozark social life, Blevins examines the development of agriculture, the rise and fall of extractive industries, the settlement of the countryside and the decline of rural communities, in- and out-migration, and the emergence of the tourist industry in the region. His richly textured account demonstrates that the Arkansas Ozark region has never been as monolithic or homogenous as its chroniclers have suggested. From the earliest days of white settlement, Blevins says, distinct subregions within the area have followed their own unique patterns of historical and socioeconomic development. Hill Folks sketches a portrait of a place far more nuanced than the timeless arcadia pictured on travel brochures or the backward and deliberately unprogressive region depicted in stereotype.

About this title

Book Description:

"Well researched and skillfully written, [this] book does an excellent job of presenting historical, geographic, and economic material that focuses on 15 countries of northwestern Arkansas, following changes in how the men and women of this area made a living and interacted with one another in a variety of social settings."-- Choice

From the Inside Flap:

In the first comprehensive social history of the Arkansas Ozarks from the early 19th century through the end of the 20th century, Blevins examines settlement patterns, farming, economics, class, and tourism. He also explores the development of conflicting images of the Ozarks as a timeless arcadia peopled by quaint, homespun characters or a backward region filled with hillbillies.

About this edition

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0807853429
• ISBN 13: 9780807853429
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 360