Pellissippi State Community College has acquired over 70 first editions, photos, correspondence and other materials from acclaimed Appalachian writer and teacher Jesse Stuart, who published nearly five dozen major works in his lifetime and was the Poet Laureate of Kentucky in 1954.

The collection was donated by Strawberry Plains Campus Dean Mike North’s mother, Martha “Marty” Deane North, whose aunt and namesake, Naomi Deane, was married to Stuart from 1939 until his death in 1984.

“This is the perfect place for the collection,” said Marty North, who cited Pellissippi State’s foundation in Appalachia and its mission for student success. “And I think Uncle Jesse would be proud and happy for that.”

The Jesse Stuart collection debuted in February at the James Agee Conference, an annual event at the Strawberry Plains campus that spotlights artists from East Tennessee and beyond, sponsored by Pellissippi State Libraries’ Appalachian Heritage Project, which curates programming and exhibits to support humanities education.

Mike North thanked James Agee Conference Director Charles Dodd White, as well as Mary Ellen Spencer, dean of the School of Academic Advancement and Libraries, and Allison McKittrick, Strawberry Plains campus librarian, for their work in acquiring the collection.

“After the books mom donated had been placed in the case, I noticed that the copy of ‘Old Ben’ – one of Uncle Jesse’s books for younger readers and one of the first books I read years ago – is open to the page where Jesse signed it to me,” Mike North said. “I never thought much of it when I stood next to him as he signed it, but that has certainly changed over time.”

She lauded Marty and Mike North for protecting the Jesse Stuart collection and ensuring that it was not divided and sold off.

As a child in Kentucky, Marty North said she had no idea her uncle – who would always end up soaking wet during water fights at family reunions – was famous.

She remembers playing with her cousin, Stuart’s daughter, and sneaking into the smokehouse that served as Stuart’s workspace and scribbling on one of his manuscripts, Marty North said.

“It’s been exciting to discover things about him I didn’t know, and what a dynamic person he was, and how he just soaked in information and how he loved Kentucky,” she said. “… I wish I’d been old enough to pay more attention – but I did. I didn’t know he was famous, but I knew he was special. There was something about him.

“They’re normal people who did fantastic things and loved people and their land,” Marty North said.

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Pellissippi State Community College is a public community college based in Knox and Blount counties in Tennessee and operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents. The college operates four campuses: Hardin Valley, Blount County, Strawberry Plains and Magnolia Avenue.

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