AGOS 301The Mountain People:The Dispossessed
From: Charles McGuigan
Series: A Grain of Sand
Length: 53:21
Just a little more than 75 years ago the most scenic drive in America opened to the public. It would eventually become 469 miles of asphalt and concrete, a continuous ribbon of roadway from the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Some 20 million people drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway every year, making it the most visited of all the National Park Service’s holdings.
But not everybody celebrated the birth of that section of the Blue Ridge Parkway called Skyline Drive. There are more than a few Virginians who remember what happened back in the 1930s as the government took their lands, burned their homes and forced them into resettlement communities.
A little over 75 years ago Shenandoah National Park opened to the public for the first time. One of the most scenic routes in Virginia— Skyline Drive wends its way through the heart of this park. It was the first national park dedicated in the backyard of Washington, D.C. and is one of the most visited holdings of the National Park Service.But to create this park, federal and state government agents removed some five hundred mountain families from their homes. This was all part of the New Deal and employed the Civilian Conservation Corps, but for the mountain people living in Page and Madison Counties it was a raw deal.
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Related Pieces
Piece Description
Just a little more than 75 years ago the most scenic drive in America opened to the public. It would eventually become 469 miles of asphalt and concrete, a continuous ribbon of roadway from the Shenandoah Mountains in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina. Some 20 million people drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway every year, making it the most visited of all the National Park Service’s holdings.
But not everybody celebrated the birth of that section of the Blue Ridge Parkway called Skyline Drive. There are more than a few Virginians who remember what happened back in the 1930s as the government took their lands, burned their homes and forced them into resettlement communities.
A little over 75 years ago Shenandoah National Park opened to the public for the first time. One of the most scenic routes in Virginia— Skyline Drive wends its way through the heart of this park. It was the first national park dedicated in the backyard of Washington, D.C. and is one of the most visited holdings of the National Park Service.But to create this park, federal and state government agents removed some five hundred mountain families from their homes. This was all part of the New Deal and employed the Civilian Conservation Corps, but for the mountain people living in Page and Madison Counties it was a raw deal.
Broadcast History
Aired or WRIR-FM 97.3
Transcript
NARRATIVE 1
0:40
A Grain of Sand is back with the Dispossessed. A little over 75 years ago Shenandoah National Park opened to the public for the first time. One of the most scenic routes in Virginia— Skyline Drive wends its way through the heart of this park. It was the first national park dedicated in the backyard of Washington, D.C. and is one of the most visited holdings of the National Park Service.
But to create this park, federal and state government agents removed some five hundred mountain families from their homes. This was all part of the New Deal and employed the Civilian Conservation Corps, but for the mountain people living in Page and Madison Counties it was a raw deal.
ACT 1
0:45
(From Track 121, 0:10-0:57)
I grew up in Madison County which is one of the counties that donated land to Shenandoah National Park during the 1930s and so when I gre...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
AGOS 301 The Mountain People:The Dispossessed
Timings include a five-minute news hole.
BILLBOARD
0:00-0:59
(Intro music)
Welcome to A Grain of Sand. I’m your host and producer Charles McGuigan. And this time we’ll hear stories about dispossession. Find out how hundreds of families were thrown off their land to make way for a scenic drive just outside of Washington, D.C. We’ll hear one man who’s over a hundred years old remember when federal and state agents destroyed a community that had been thriving for the better part of two hundred years. We’ll even get a recipe for moonshine. And there’s lots more, right after this.
(Music)
INSERT NEWS HOLE
1:00 - 5:59
Segment 1: 6:00 – 20:31
In cue: [MUSIC :12] " A Grain of Sand is back with the Dispossessed. . .”
Out cue: " But soon enough their way of life would be gone. A Grain of Sand is produced by Charles McGuigan in Richmond, Virginia."
Break 1: 20:32-21:32
Segment 2: 21:33– 37:26
In cue: " This is a Grain of Sand with Charles McGuigan. And our story continues with author Katrina Powell . . . "
Out cue: " This is a Grain of Sand and I’m your host and producer Charles McGuigan. Please stay tuned."
Break 2: 37:27-38:27
Segment 3: 38.28-58:06
In cue: "Welcome back to A Grain a Sand and this episode about the dispossession of Virginia’s mountain people..."
Out cue: “. . . thanks for joining me for a Grain of Sand. You can hear other episodes of this program at PRX.ORG. Take care." [MUSIC ENDS]
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original work for A Grain of Sand | Charles Arthur | 00:00 |
