Thesis (M.A.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-110). Also available via the Internet.

From the 1880s to the 1930s Carroll County, Virginia, experienced economic changes which were sweeping many areas of the Appalachian mountains. Industrialization brought Sawmills and iron ore mining activity. Throughout this fifty-year period, Carroll County residents continued to labor at agricultural activity. Laborers began to work in the new industries while continuing to farm. Throughout this period, laborers moved from place to place seeking economic opportunities on farms and in industry. Carroll County residents practiced a diversity of labor to support their families. Carroll County residents also helped each other through the practice of mutual aid. When crops needed harvesting, neighboring farmers pitched in to help. Younger residents took care of and housed their elderly kin. These practices of mutual aid did not cease to exist with the arrival of industrialization. Sometimes, new labor opportunities provided people with new ways to interact with and help family and community. Preston Webb exemplifies the fact of Appalachian migration, mobility, work diversity, and mutual aid. He moved about the Carroll County region for work opportunities. He worked at a variety of agricultural and non-agricultural jobs to support his family. He also housed family members during times of crisis. Other Carroll County residents were at different levels socially and economically, but they too operated from a world of mutual help, work diversity, and mobility. This thesis explores these phenomenon through the stories of these residents of Carroll County. / Master of Arts

M.S.

One purpose of this writing became that of portraying in an unprejudiced manner the cultural pattern of the Virginia southwest, into which has been woven so many and varied threads constituting the warp and the woof of a distinct heritage; in the belief that no people can be thoroughly understood apart from a knowledge of their peculiar ideologies. A second purpose for this writing was to help obviate the many misconceptions regarding the so-called hill-billy; to interpret him in terms of his own philosophy and inherent culture, as he breasts the tide of modern civilization overflowing into what were formerly frontier and sequestered settlements. Thus, Chapter II is intended to preserve for posterity, especially for children in the public elementary schools, some of the typical folk-tales indigenous to Virginia's mountains; Chapter III contains some of the folk songs; Chapter IV includes legends of places; Chapter V gives some of the superstitious sayings based on former beliefs of the mountaineers; while Chapter VI is devoted to folk ways. All are intended to give an awareness of some of the many converging, yet distinct, heritable strains to be found in the region studied. To do so was a well-nigh impossible task, since even neighbors in the mountains are different, each maintaining the customs of his own inheritance, even while such customs were being "doubled and twisted", blended, strained, and refined into a definite culture pattern peculiar to the hills and valleys of southwestern Virginia. Because this research was intended to facilitate the study of the history of this section, Chapter VII gives suggestions as to how a teacher may incorporate the materials presented into the curriculum of the elementary school. The final chapter is the record of an attempt to make generalizations regarding the significance and the worth of the folklore presented in this writing. / M.S.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1942. / A Study of the way of life of the Church of the brethren. cf. p. 9. Bibliography: p. 179-184.

In March of 1992, Marion Goldwasser, a teacher at Carroll County High School in Virginia, came under fire for her use of the book, The Floatplane Notebooks, in her classroom. A local preacher and several parents objected to six pages which contained sexual content. Over the next three months, residents throughout Southwest Virginia entered into a debate over the merits of the book, and more broadly the purpose of education. This debate roughly divided into three camps with different perspectives not just on how to proceed, but on the very nature of the controversy itself. These camps were those who felt the controversy was primarily about the censoring of books, those who were primarily concerned with the proper procedure by which the book should be reviewed, and those who saw the book as a moral affront to religious, Christian values. These disputes remained intractable throughout the controversy reflecting underlying disagreements about the ethical role of state power, the public nature of public schools, and the connection between power and knowledge. By understanding these underlying intellectual causes for the intractability of censorship disputes, historians can engage other academics and the public on this important issue. Engagement can take multiple forms, including writing in handbooks designed to help educators deal with such controversies, writing amici curiae briefs on relevant First Amendment cases, and encouraging a broader and more lucid public discussion on censorship and free speech. / Master of Arts / Marion Goldwasser was a high school teacher in Carroll County, Virginia in 1992. That year, she taught a book called The Floatplane Notebooks in her classroom. A parent and a local preacher objected to her use of the book because they did not like its sexual references. They demanded that the book never be used again and that the school board fire Goldwasser. The teacher, the preacher, the school board, and the community debated what to do for four months. Finally, Superintendent Oliver McBride ended the controversy by compromising and allowing the book to be used for advanced senior classes but not junior classes. This controversy matters because it tells us something about censorship controversies in general. They have been going on for a long time and are likely to continue. People disagree about when the government should get involved. They disagree about why we have public schools. They disagree on who should make decisions for the classroom and how the media talks about censorship. Historians need to understand this. When they do, they can help the public become more informed on the issue of censorship.

This thesis is a community study that centers on the Carroll County Courtroom Shootout of 1912. The shootout provides an opportunity to examine the dynamics of a small Appalachian community by looking at the years leading up to 1912. This study focuses on issues of causality, including a series of intense political feuds, land disputes, and general hostilities between certain members of the court administration and members of a particular family within the county. This thesis adds to revisionist histories on Appalachia and serves as a corrective to views of the region as monolithic, isolated, and impoverished. By placing the Hillsville Shootout in a historical framework for the first time, one can explain and deconstruct some of the myths surrounding the Carroll County tragedy and more generally Appalachia itself. / Master of Arts

Manganese is a metal of strategic importance which is vital to the steel industry. In the production of steel, the two main uses of manganese are as a deoxidizer and as an alloying constituent. Approximately 13 pounds of manganese are used for each ton of steel, and for this use alone, the requirement of the United States in 1956 will approach two million tons of ferromanganese ore. In 1954, the United States imported over 90 percent of its manganese requirements and if these sources become unavailable, this nation will be dependent to a great extent upon abundant low-grade ores. A sample of the head ore from the Betty Baker Mine, Great Gossan Lead, Carroll County, Virginia, analyzed 0.82 percent acid soluble manganese. An analysis of the tailings from flotation of this complex sulfide ore revealed a total manganese content of approximately three percent of which two-thirds is acid soluble. The remaining one percent is in the form of a silicate-aluminate gangue which is acid insoluble. Mechanical methods such as froth flotation, sink float, and magnetic separation have not been too effective in upgrading the ore from Carroll County. Chemical procedures, such as roasting, leaching, and electrodeposition, were thought to offer a better means for the recovery of manganese from the beneficiated ore or tailings. It was the purpose of this investigation to evaluate procedures for chemically converting the manganese compounds in the tailings, from bulk sulfide flotation of the Carroll County ore, to soluble salts from which the manganese could be recovered electrolytically. / Master of Science

Thesis (M. Div.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, 1995. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-113).

Thesis (D. Min)--Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 118-125).