Literacy in the Mountains

"Marshaling detailed evidence, Literacy in the Mountains rejects claims of exceptional illiteracy in the southern mountains—claims that are being repeated with malice to this very day. Author Samantha NeCamp's brilliant exploration of print cultures long ignored makes invaluable contributions to scholarship in both writing studies and Appalachian studies, illuminating what the two fields can gain by sharing a critical perspective on literacy in the rural United States."—Peter Mortensen, coauthor of Imagining Rhetoric: Composing Women of the Early United States

"NeCamp counters an extensive historical narrative of Appalachian illiteracy by documenting the rich literacy practices revealed in the archives and the deeply complex, rhetorically savvy strategies in which Appalachian writers engaged. With its impressive analysis of historical uses of literacy, Literacy in the Mountains makes a significant addition to the fields of Appalachian and literacy studies."—Sara Webb-Sunderhaus, coeditor of Rereading Appalachia: Literacy, Place, and Cultural Resistance

"NeCamp's incisive and lively analysis responds to media portrayals of Appalachia as a foil to the presumed good taste, good sense, and critical literacy of the rest of the US. Mining community newspapers from turn-of-the-twentieth-century Appalachian Kentucky, she reveals the long history of nuanced politics, commitment to schooling, and valued reading and writing practices in the region. NeCamp makes a critical contribution to the complex histories of literacy in a region so often stereotyped as illiterate."—Kim Donehower, coeditor of Rereading Appalachia: Literacy, Place, and Cultural Resistance