Background and Early Career
Horace Kephart was born in 1862 in Pennsylvania,
but spent much of his youth in Iowa. He
went on to achieve success in two careers.
Trained as a librarian, Kephart achieved
national recognition during his years as
director of the Mercantile Library in St.
Louis, Missouri, from 1890 to 1903. While
living in what was already one of the largest
cities in the nation, Kephart began indulging
in outdoor life through camping and hunting
trips. As his passion for the outdoors increased,
Kephart began to write articles about the
subject topics. Kephart developed 10 years
of experience writing about these excursions
centered on Arkansas and Missouri. These
works are similar in substance and tone
to those he would later publish about western
North Carolina’s mountains and people.
Eventually he succumbed to what he later
called "nervous exhaustion" and
concluded that urban life was a major contributor
to his problems. He left his career as a
librarian in St. Louis and, after a brief
respite and period of personal reflection
at the home of his father in Ohio, soon
decided to move to western North Carolina.
Move to North Carolina and a New
Career
In 1904, at the age of 42, Kephart arrived
in western North Carolina to begin his life
anew. He chose a simple lifestyle and “nature-as-healer”
approach. At the same time, he immersed
himself in his new natural environment and
took an immediate interest in the history
and culture of the people. Drawing on his
library background, much of his understanding
of the region came through readings on the
topic to which he added his personal observations.
During his lifetime, Kephart emerged as
a recognized authority on the cultural and
natural history of the region. He wrote
hundreds of articles during his lifetime,
but became especially renowned for his classic
works Our Southern Highlanders and Camping
and Woodcraft. These two books are still
in print and remain popular. Camping and
Woodcraft remains a standard for practical
advice on outdoor activities, even after
almost one hundred years. The narrative
style of Our Southern Highlanders crafts
the natural environment and social theories
of his time into the lives of the people,
cultural developments and adaptation to
a region.
Contribution to the Creation of
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Despite a stereotype of Appalachia that
often continues today, neither the history
nor the culture of western North Carolina
has been stagnant. Kephart arrived at a
critical period of change for the region.
Railroads had pierced the mountains of western
North Carolina in the 1880s and in their
wake came large-scale industrial development,
especially in the logging industry and mining.
Kephart, who was personally modest and
rarely sought the limelight, nevertheless
used his abilities and reputation on behalf
of the movement to create a Great Smoky
Mountains National Park. As a unique and
recognized personification concerning the
cultural and natural studies on the Great
Smokies region, he was influential in convincing
individuals on both the local and national
levels of the need for such a park. Kephart’s
arguments on behalf of a park were thoughtful
and pragmatic as well as appealing to the
love and appreciation of nature. Acknowledging
that the Great Smoky Mountains contributed
to his mental and physical recovery after
1904 and describing the economic potential
of a national park, he campaigned vigorously
to preserve the last major stands of forests
in the East.
Kephart’s Legacy
While Kephart's life was cut short by an
automobile accident in 1931, it had become
apparent in his lifetime that a national
park would be a reality. Two months before
his death the U.S. Geological Board recognized
Kephart’s contribution by naming a
peak within the park Mount Kephart, an honor
previously bestowed only after an individual’s
death. In the ensuing years, Kephart’s
major works have remained in print and articles
appear on a routine basis about his contributions
to camping, regional history, and the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park. In addition,
significant interest in Kephart the person
continues, and several biographical studies
have been produced.
|