A History of the Ozarks, Volume 3: The Ozarkers (Volume 3) (A History of the Ozarks, 3)

Between the world wars, America embraced an image of the Ozarks as a remote land of hills and hollers. The popular imagination stereotyped Ozarkers as ridge runners, hillbillies, and pioneers—a cast of colorful throwbacks hostile to change. But the real Ozarks reflected a more complex reality. Brooks Blevins tells the cultural history of the Ozarks as a regional variation of an American story. As he shows, the experiences of the Ozarkers have not diverged from the currents of mainstream life as sharply or consistently as the mythmakers would have it. If much of the region seemed to trail behind by a generation, the time lag was rooted more in poverty and geographic barriers than a conscious rejection of the modern world and its progressive spirit. In fact, the minority who clung to the old days seemed exotic largely because their anachronistic ways clashed against the backdrop of the evolving region around them. Blevins explores how these people's disproportionate influence affected the creation of the idea of the Ozarks, and reveals the truer idea that exists at the intersection of myth and reality. The conclusion to the acclaimed trilogy, The History of the Ozarks, Volume 3: The Ozarkers offers an authoritative appraisal of the modern Ozarks and its people. | Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Change and Continuity 2. Living off the Land 3. Industry and Image 4. Ozarks Society 5. Exposing the Ozarks 6. Putting on a Show 7. Farm to Factory Conclusion Notes Index Back cover| "This book is superbly executed — a fun, informative, and essential read for any scholar interested in the Ozark region, its states, and rural America." — Journal of Southern History "While taking on such a complex history in 253 pages is daunting, for sure, Brooks Blevins has delivered once again. This volume, and the other two in the series, will long stand as the starting point for any serious study of the Ozarks region. Indeed, with the completion of this monumental effort, Blevins can justifiably claim the title once proudly held by Vance Randolph as 'Mr. Ozarks.'" — Missouri Historical Review "Blevins writes history in a way that is compelling and readable, and this work is no exception. . . . Blevins has once again managed to deliver an important, intriguing, and relevant work about the history of the Ozark region." — Arkansas Review | Brooks Blevins is the Noel Boyd Professor of Ozarks Studies at Missouri State University. He is the author or editor of eleven books, including A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks; A History of the Ozarks, Volume 2: The Conflicted Ozarks; Ghost of the Ozarks: Murder and Memory in the Upland South; and Arkansas/Arkansaw: How Bear Hunters, Hillbillies, and Good Ol' Boys Defined a State . A History of the Ozarks, Vol. 3: The Ozarkers is the final volume of a trilogy chronicling the history of this middle-American highland region. It picks up the story where volume 2 left off, at the end of the long Civil War era in the late nineteenth century, and carries it into the twenty-first century. Through a period of roughly 130 years, The Ozarkers charts the region’s major socioeconomic developments: the rise and decline of the timber boom, the peaks and valleys of the lead and zinc industries, the growth of commercial agriculture and the demise of the family farm, widespread poverty and massive post-World War II outmigration, the boom in cheap-labor manufacturing, and the emergence of massive corporations (Walmart, Tyson Foods, Bass Pro Shops) that have brought select parts of the region unprecedented levels of affluence and unexpected racial and ethnic diversity. Undergirding The Ozarkers is an analysis of the role that stereotypes of “hillbillies” and mountaineers has played in the evolution of a region and its inhabitants. The book explores this phenomenon through a close examination of the tourism and entertainment industry, from the mineral water spas of the late nineteenth century to the torrid growth of Branson in the late twentieth. Tying this volume to previous ones in the series is the connective thread interpreting the Ozarks as a colorful regional variation of the American story, not the forgotten and backward land apart so long chronicled by folklorists and travel writers.

Between the world wars, America embraced an image of the Ozarks as a remote land of hills and hollers. The popular imagination stereotyped Ozarkers as ridge runners, hillbillies, and pioneers—a cast of colorful throwbacks hostile to change. But the real Ozarks reflected a more complex reality.

Brooks Blevins tells the cultural history of the Ozarks as a regional variation of an American story. As he shows, the experiences of the Ozarkers have not diverged from the currents of mainstream life as sharply or consistently as the mythmakers would have it. If much of the region seemed to trail behind by a generation, the time lag was rooted more in poverty and geographic barriers than a conscious rejection of the modern world and its progressive spirit. In fact, the minority who clung to the old days seemed exotic largely because their anachronistic ways clashed against the backdrop of the evolving region around them. Blevins explores how these people's disproportionate influence affected the creation of the idea of the Ozarks, and reveals the truer idea that exists at the intersection of myth and reality.

The conclusion to the acclaimed trilogy, The History of the Ozarks, Volume 3: The Ozarkers offers an authoritative appraisal of the modern Ozarks and its people.

Between the world wars, America embraced an image of the Ozarks asa remote land of hills and hollers. The popular imaginationstereotyped Ozarkers as ridge runners, hillbillies, and pioneers-acast of colorful throwbacks hostile to change. But the real Ozarksreflected a more complex reality.

Brooks Blevins tells the cultural history of the Ozarks as aregional variation of an American story. As he shows, theexperiences of the Ozarkers have not diverged from the currents ofmainstream life as sharply or consistently as the mythmakers wouldhave it. If much of the region seemed to trail behind by ageneration, the time lag was rooted more in poverty and geographicbarriers than a conscious rejection of the modern world and itsprogressive spirit. In fact, the minority who clung to the old daysseemed exotic largely because their anachronistic ways clashedagainst the backdrop of the evolving region around them. Blevinsexplores how these people's disproportionate influence affected thecreation of the idea of the Ozarks, and reveals the truer idea thatexists at the intersection of myth and reality.

The conclusion to the acclaimed trilogy, The History of theOzarks, Volume 3: The Ozarkers offers an authoritativeappraisal of the modern Ozarks and its people.

Between the world wars, America embraced an image of the Ozarks as a remote land of hills and hollers. The popular imagination stereotyped Ozarkers as ridge runners, hillbillies, and pioneers -- a cast of colorful throwbacks hostile to change. But the real Ozarks reflected a more complex reality. Brooks Blevins tells the cultural history of the Ozarks as a regional variation of an American story. As he shows, the experiences of the Ozarkers have not diverged from the currents of mainstream life as sharply or consistently as the mythmakers would have it Between the world wars, America embraced an image of the Ozarks as a remote land of hills and hollers. The popular imagination stereotyped Ozarkers as ridge runners, hillbillies, and pioneers - a cast of colorful throwbacks hostile to change. But the real Ozarks reflected a more complex reality. Brooks Blevins tells the cultural history of the Ozarks as a regional variation of an American story. The conclusion to the acclaimed trilogy, volume 3 offers an authoritative appraisal of the modern Ozarks and its people.