Smoky Mountains Hiking Club Collection
McClung Historical Collection
Back to: SMHC ARCHIVES
The Smoky
Mountains Hiking Club (SMHC) Collection was placed in the McClung
Historical Collection, Knox County Public Library System, in 1956. The collection includes Board Minutes
from 1929-1968, correspondence from 1929-1968, President’s Files
from 1969-1997, Happy Trails (March 1992-August 1995), publications beginning
February 1996 highlighting Appalachian Trail (AT or A.T.) news, Hike
Notices (later known as Newsletters) from 1925, subject files, Ridgerunner
and Caretaker Patrol Reports beginning 1995, photographs and slides,
and two complete sets of Handbooks from 1926 to 1999 (and as received).
The arrangement
of the earliest records of the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club Collection
reflects a subject arrangement which had been in place prior to,
and for a number of years after, their deposit with the McClung Collection. Starting with material created
in 1969, combined records known as the President’s Files are arranged
chronologically except for category designations in 1984, 1985, 1988,
1989, 1990, 1991 (and as received). They are arranged in Board
Minutes and President’s Files for the year in which the records
were created.
The manuscripts
are placed in acid-free folders upon receipt. To accommodate the active, growing nature
of the SMHC Collection, the boxes are numbered within each category. The
categories are as follows: AR (Artifacts), BDMIN (Board Minutes), COR
(Correspondence), HB (Handbooks), HN (Hike Notices/Newsletters/Happy
Trails/AT Publications), PH (Photographs), PF (President’s Files
and Board Minutes), RR (Ridgerunner and Caretaker Reports), SL (Slides),
SB (Songbooks), SUB (Subject Files), and TR (Tape Recordings).
Subject
files include information on the cabin in the Greenbrier, Fontana
Road, the Olmsted report on “Wilderness
Values in the Great Smoky Mountains”, the Greenbrier Cove report,
the 1966 Wilderness Hearings on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
and many other topics. The 1937 Charter of Incorporation, the Constitution
and By-laws of the SMHC are with the subject files, as is the record
book signed by hikers to Mt. LeConte between 1922 and 1924. An
itemized listing appears under the heading “Subjects” in the
Finding Aid.
The copper
box which originally held the Mt. LeConte record book is housed as
an artifact with the SMHC Collection. Two
copper engraving printing plates, the club emblem designed by Louise
Smith in 1924 and a sketch of a moonlit trail designed by Robert Lindsay
Mason, are found with the artifacts. There are two tape recordings in
the collection: “A History of Cades Cove” by Henry R.
Duncan in 1955, and talks by Duncan and others on Greenbrier Cove recorded
in 1956.
SRP/AMS
1984
Rev. 8/1999
More: SMHC/McClung Collection Finding Aid
Back to: SMHC ARCHIVES