HANDMADE IN AMERICA, SMALL TOWN REVITALIZATION PROJECT, Western North Carolina

This rural economic revitalization effort encompasses twenty-three counties in western North Carolina, where local economies have declined since a new Interstate highway routed traffic and business away from their small towns. The main streets of these mountain communities, once trading centers for local goods and small businesses, gave way to megastores, franchise restaurants, and malls on highway bypasses. Small, family-run businesses failed, properties were put up for sale, and residents, who found their way of life threatened by these changes, looked within to seek ways to preserve their traditional values, culture, and local economy.

Davitus Gosnell with American flag Gelatin silver print © Debbie Fleming Caffery 1999	The Carolina movie theater for sale, Spruce Pine Gelatin silver print © Debbie Fleming Caffery 1999

HandMade in America was founded in 1994 as an initiative to revive local heritage and prosperity through environmentally and culturally sensitive economic planning. The premise of this nonprofit organization is to build on each community's established assets-its history and its crafts-and their ability to draw and interest tourists and visitors. HandMade looks not so much to new marketing fads and corporate interests, but rather in the region's own backyard, seeking to build creatively on the past through the ideas and investment of its own people. By focusing on the unique stories and characteristics of the region, HandMade is helping small towns in North Carolina capitalize on and preserve their mountain culture and environment. In addition, the revitalization of the community encourages local youth to remain and play a part in its future.

Photographer Debbie Fleming Caffery is renowned for her expressive black-and-white printing and for her interpretations of southern rural communities, especially her native Louisiana. Her images introduce us to the residents and scenes of small towns in western North Carolina, such as, the Madison County Courthouse, the hands of a local farmer passing planting beans to another, and Davitus Gosnell, a ninety-year-old tobacco farmer from Marshall, holding an American flag. Also seen is a sign advertising a drive-in movie theater property for sale.

Interviewer Jeff Whetstone is also native to the American South and has been documenting communities there since he graduated from Duke University in 1990. His interviews share colorful tales told by citizens of Marshall and other small towns in North Carolina. Their stories portray the unique character of life in rural mountain communities as they discuss their beliefs, memories, values, hometown pride, and hopes for a well-planned future. quotation from an interview
 
 

http://www.creativephotography.org    This page last updated September 24, 2000.   oncenter@ccp.arizona.edu