11/29/12

I agree - it is a shame and painful to take others land just because others think it is wise.  However, I am so thankful that these parks are still here -- and not covered over with houses and road.  I often think about the others that came before and their trials and tribulations.  

Barbie


-----Original Message-----
From: Diane S Sanfilippo <[log in to unmask]>
To: VA-ROOTS <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wed, Nov 28, 2012 9:16 am
Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Hollow Folk


The same thing happened all over the south - families and their dearly departed 
uprooted from the TVA to hundreds of large lakes, and most for purely 
entertainment purposes. As a child I watched one small town simply disappear as 
Lake Altoona filled, not knowing then that my ancestors' graves was supposed to 
be among those relocated - however there are no records where. ...and I imagine 
that most of us have had this happen. Was it worth it? I have mixed emotions. 









Subject: Re: [VA-ROOTS] Hollow Folk 

Ms. Manscill appears to have swallowed the party line, along with the 
sinker and hook. 

She states:  "The Shenandoah National Park brought help to an area 
that was suffering from the Great Depression.  The CCC camps in the 
Park brought jobs to young men who had little hope for their futures. 
And the Park continues to help the growth and development of the 
surrounding area." 

The people driven off the land for the SNP were self-sufficient, 
living simple lives.  They were not desperately "suffering from the Great 
Depression."  Their lifestyle, being so simple, was not much changed 
by the Depression compared with those whose lives were disrupted by 
the loss of employment and purchasing power in urban areas. 

From the perspective of educated, urban policy makers, the simple 
lifestyle was backward, and poor.  Their attitude toward those whose 
land ownership stood in the way for a recreational resource for those 
who owned autos, was similar to that of whites describing Native 
Americans as savages while forcing them off the land. 

The residents owned the land in most cases.  They were paid a lump sum (not 
generous) and made to live in an urban environment for which they were 
unsuited.  Most of the land was acquired by the State of Virginia 
prior to the 1930 drought and well before the creation of the CCC in 
1933.  When the park was authorized in 1926, the CCC was not even a 
thought. 

The CCC camps brought men from other places (mostly urban) that were 
suffering from the dismal economy.  They benefited, as do today's 
hikers, at the 
expense of the former inhabitants. 

People with political and economic power imposed their will for their 
own purposes on those who lacked such power, and used propaganda to 
justify their actions.  Sic semper populus. 

sharpe 

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