Carson Brewer (February 2, 1920 – January 15, 2003) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
journalist and conservationist, best known for his work documenting the folk life of
Knoxville and the surrounding
Appalachia
Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...
n communities in
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...
. During his 40-year career as a columnist for the ''
Knoxville News-Sentinel
The ''Knoxville News Sentinel, also known as Knox News,'' is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, owned by the Gannett Company.
History
The newspaper was formed in 1926 from the merger of two competing newspapers: ''The K ...
'', Brewer was a key voice for the promotion and protection of the region's natural wonders, especially the
Great Smoky Mountains. His historical work included the first extensive history of the Little Tennessee River valley and one of the first comprehensive histories of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
[Connie Lester]
Carson Brewer
''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2002. Retrieved: 19 February 2009.
Brewer was born in Hancock County, Tennessee in 1920, the son of a local postmaster. He attended Maryville College for two years before joining the U.S. Army in 1941 at the outbreak of World War II. After the war, Brewer attended the University of Tennessee, but due to illness, he never obtained a degree. He joined the staff of the ''News-Sentinel'' in 1945, and in 1948 he married pioneering female journalist Alberta Trulock (1917—2007).
Brewer wrote several books on the Great Smoky Mountains, most notably ''Hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains'' (1962), which was reprinted several times over three decades. In 1969, the Tennessee Valley Authority— which was planning to flood the Little Tennessee River valley by constructing Tellico Dam at the river's mouth— hired Brewer and his wife Alberta to compile a history of the valley and its inhabitants. Their work was published by the East Tennessee Historical Society in 1975 under the title, ''Valley So Wild: A Folk History''.
[Alberta and Carson Brewer, ''Valley So Wild'' (Knoxville, Tenn.: East Tennessee Historical Society, 1975), introduction.] In the early 1980s, Brewer wrote a series of articles documenting the history of the Tennessee Valley Authority and its effects on the inhabitants of East Tennessee. He retired from the ''News-Sentinel'' in 1985, but continued writing until his death in 2003.
References
External links
Finding Aid for the Carson Brewer Articles, 1985-1992— University of Tennessee Special Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Carson
1920 births
2003 deaths
People from Hancock County, Tennessee
American male journalists
20th-century American journalists
American conservationists
United States Army personnel of World War II
United States Army soldiers
People from Knoxville, Tennessee
Great Smoky Mountains National Park