Fall 2020
A View From the Mountain a newsletter from the Lillian E. Smith Center
This Issue 2 LES Book Awards
“Untangling Whiteness: Reflection and Action”
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3 New Residency Award 4 Lost Records & Camp Donation
n October 15, the LES Center hosted “Untangling Whiteness: Reflection and Action,” a virtual symposium that arose as a response to the disparities in individuals suffering from COVID-19, the murders of individuals such as Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, and Oluwatoyin Salau, and other events over the course of the past few months.
Planned Giving
Throughout her life, Smith worked to interrogate whiteness, both within herself and within society as a whole. She worked tirelessly to move the nation and the world toward a more equitable existence. In her work, she continually called upon us “to respect other people and their basic needs regardless of color, religion, economic status, or sex.” “Untangling Whiteness” heeded Smith’s clarion call by calling upon us to do the same through our actions, our policies, and our work.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Presenters at the symposium included Andrew Aydin, Dr. Sindre Bangstad, Andrew Beck Grace, Josina Guess, Dr. Sarah Higinbotham, Dr. Jane McPherson, Dr. Jennifer Morrison, Connor Towne O’Neill, Dr. Veronica Watson, and Dr. George Yancy. They presented on and discussed a myriad of topics from social justice work and prison education programs to Lillian Smith’s constant interrogation of whiteness and more. In the introduction to the 1961 edition of Killers of the Dream, Smith writes, “I wrote [this book] because I had to find out what life in a segregated culture had done to me, one person.” Smith confronted her own whiteness in the process of her work, and her reflection and action inspired “Untangling Whiteness.” Until one confronts oneself, action cannot occur. If you were unable to attend the symposium, videos of the event are available on our website.
Planned gifts are a perfect way to provide fellowships for artists in residence at the Center or scholarship funds for students enrolled in the Lillian E. Smith Scholars Program at Piedmont College.
piedmont.edu/endowment-planned-giving Mark Elam melam@piedmont.edu | 706-894-4214
DIRECTOR OF LILLIAN SMITH CENTER Matthew Teutsch mteutsch@piedmont.edu | 706-894-4204
LES ADVISORY BOARD James F. Mellichamp, Chair Nannette Curran Nancy Smith Fichter Margaret Rose Gladney Sue Ellen Lovejoy Susan Montgomery Tommye Scanlin John Siegel Stewart Smith W. Austin Smith John H. Templeton Bill Tribby
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Lillian Smith Book Awards
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he annual Lillian Smith Book Awards ceremony was held virtually on September 6 as part of the AJC Decatur Book Festival. This year’s awards winners are Dr. Jelani M. Favors for Shelter in a Time of Storm: How Black Colleges Fostered Generations of Leadership and Activism; and Dr. Brandon K. Winford for John Hervey Wheeler, Black Banking, and the Economic Struggle for Civil Rights. Dr. Favors told Clayton State News, “I hope that those who read Shelter in a Time of Storm come away with a fuller understanding of how critical these institutions have been in the formation and implementation of American democracy. Our national commitment to true democracy and civil and human rights was hollow at best, and it took a social revolution to expose our country’s hypocrisy.” On receiving the award, Dr. Winford stated, “This is a special honor given that this award was established by the Southern Regional Council (SRC) in 1966 in the spirit of Smith’s social justice advocacy. The SRC is an organization that I spent a lot of time researching and learning about because it was one civil rights organization, among many, that John Hervey Wheeler worked closely with since its founding in 1944. I’m honored to have my name mentioned alongside so many great historians whose works have inspired me in so many ways.” The awards are sponsored each year by Piedmont College along with the SRC, UGA Libraries, and the Georgia Center for the Book. Nominations for the 2021 awards are open until January 31, 2021. For more information, visit the book awards Nominations page.
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| A View From the Mountain
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R E S I D E N C Y
AWA R D :
Emily Pierce Graduate Residency Award
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he LES Center is happy to announce the creation of a new residency award. Named after the inaugural LES Scholar, the Emily Pierce Graduate Residency is an annual award for graduate students that includes a two-week residency at the LES Center and a $500 honorarium. The award is open to current graduate students in any discipline who are working on projects focused on social justice. These could include anything from environmental science to prison arts and education to the formulation of governmental policies. Lillian Smith knew the importance of
such work in creating an equitable society. In a September 1946 letter to George M. Houser, the executive secretary of the Congress of Racial Equality, Smith wrote, “I feel strongly that the steel network of segregation customs cannot be broken down by talk only although I feel that talk, thinking, the stirring of imagination must come before much action can come. …We must say out loud that we believe in human equality; we must say out loud that we do not believe segregation is just or democratic or sane.” This award provides opportunities for graduate students whose work moves us toward a more equitable society.
For more information on applying, visit the Residency Awards page on our website.
A View From the Mountain |
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images of Laurel Falls Camp (ca1935) donated by Caroline Hardin.
Lost Records & Camp Donation
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uried amongst a collection of items tucked away in a closet, we discovered boxes of acetate discs from the late 1930s through about the mid-1940s. These discs contain recordings of Lillian Smith, Paula Snelling, and campers from Laurel Falls Camp. Among the discs, there are recordings of Smith and Snelling at Talladega College. There are recordings of Snelling reading one of her articles from The North Georgia Review. There are recordings of plays that the campers performed, including Drums. These records offer us invaluable insights into this period of Smith’s life that we have not had before, specifically with the ability to hear Smith, Snelling, and the campers through the audio recordings. Currently, we are working to get the recordings digitized so that we can make them available to scholars, students, and others.
Along with the records, the LES Center has received a generous donation from Caroline Hardin, whose mother Sally Duncan attended Laurel Falls Camp in the mid-1930s. Hardin stated, “Mother said Miss Lil had serious discussions about people and life. You could not come away from there as a closeminded person. I once asked Mother if any parents objected to the liberal thoughts, and she said very few campers failed to return the following summer.” Hardin’s donation adds valuable archival materials to the center’s collection, helping us to understand Laurel Falls Camp better and providing materials for researchers working on Smith, Laurel Falls Camp, girls’ camps in the South, and more. Items in the donation include song books, photographs, letters, scrapbooks, and promotional materials for the camp.
P.O. Box 10 | Demorest, GA 30535 | 706-894-4204 piedmont.edu/lillian-smith-center