Background
Olson, Ted Charles Strong was born on November 16, 1960 in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Kenneth George and Claire Phoenix (Thomes) Olson.
( In the years immediately preceding the founding of the ...)
In the years immediately preceding the founding of the American nation the Blue Ridge region, which stretches through large sections of Virginia and North Carolina and parts of surrounding states along the Appalachian chain, was the American frontier. In colonial times, it was settled by hardy, independent people from several cultural backgrounds that did not fit with the English-dominated society. The landless, the restless, and the rootless followed Daniel Boone, the most famous of the settlers, and pushed the frontier westward. The settlers who did not migrate to new lands became geographically isolated and politically and economically marginalized. Yet they created fulfilling lives for themselves by forging effective and oftentimes sophisticated folklife traditions, many of which endure in the region today. In 1772 the Blue Ridge was the site of the Watauga Association, often cited as the first free and democratic non-native government on the American continent. In 1780 Blue Ridge pioneers helped win the Revolutionary War for the patriots by defeating Patrick Ferguson's army of British loyalists at the Battle of Kings Mountain. When gold was discovered in the southernmost section of the Blue Ridge, America experienced its first gold rush and the subsequent tragic displacement of the region's aboriginal people. Having been spared by the coincidence of geology and topography from the more environmentally damaging manifestations of industrialization, coal mining, and dam building, the Blue Ridge region still harbors scenic natural beauty as well as vestiges of the earliest cultures of southern Appalachia. As it describes the most characteristic and significant verbal, customary, and material traditions, this fascinating, fact-filled book traces the historical development of the region's distinct folklife.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578060230/?tag=2022091-20
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01181VJJK/?tag=2022091-20
Olson, Ted Charles Strong was born on November 16, 1960 in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Kenneth George and Claire Phoenix (Thomes) Olson.
Bachelor in English, University Minnesota, 1982. Master of Arts in English, University Kentucky, 1991. Doctor of Philosophy in English, University Mississippi, 1997.
Teacher Burgundy Center for Wildlife Studies, Capon Bridge, West Virginia, 1979-1983. Park ranger National Park Service, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina, 1984-1992. Teaching assistant University Kentucky, Lexington, 1988-1991.
Folklore instructor Haywood Community College, Clyde, North Carolina, 1990. Graduate instructor University Mississippi, Oxford, 1991-1995. Disc jockey WUMS/WOXD Radio, 1994-1995.
Teacher Center for English Language Learning, Maryville, Tennessee, 1995-1997. Adjunct professor Maryville (Tennessee) College, 1996-1997. Professor Union College (Kentucky), 1997-1999, East Tennessee State University, since 1999, director Appalachian, Scottish and Irish studies program, since 1999.
Staff member Bluegrass Unlimited magazine, 1993-1996, Acoustic Musician magazine, since 1996. Proofreader Misnomer, Prestonsburg, Kentucky, 1992-1994.
( In the years immediately preceding the founding of the ...)
( In the years immediately preceding the founding of the ...)
Music consultant, performer Mississippi Modern Dance Company, University, 1992, Southern Culture Celebration, Birmingham, Alabama, 1996, Mountain Heritage Day, Cullowhee, North Carolina, 1996. Performer Tennessee Fall Homecoming, Museum of Appalachia, Norris, since 1997. Organizer Waterrock Knob Folk Festival, Balsam, North Carolina, 1992.
Storyteller Oxford (Mississippi) Storyteller Guild, 1993, Cades Cove Storytelling Festival, Townsend, Tennessee, 1997. Consultant Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, Asheville, North Carolina, since 1998. Member Modern Language Association, American Studies Association, American Folklore Society, Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment, Appalachian Studies Association.
