Our Southern Highlanders

Our Southern Highlanders is one of the first studies of Appalachian culture and what life was like for the people living in the small area of Hazel Creek, high in the Smoky Mountains.

First published in 1913, Kephart was criticized for focusing on the residents of this secluded, backwoods country who were living in poverty and neglecting to outline the lives of the many middle class landowners of the area who's lives weren't much different than any other average landowners in the rest of the U.S.

His sensationalism of the outlaws and poor folks living in the area were said to portray all the residents of Hazel Creek as backwards, even somewhat feral. Understandably, many of the residents of Hazel Creek took offense to Kephart's book, while others argued that, as a writer, it would be only natural that he would write about the more "colorful" characters of the area.