Olive Tilford Dargan (January 11, 1869 – January 22, 1968) was a writer and a poet. Her early works revolved around mountain poetry. Her works like: ''The Cycle's Rim, Lute and Furrow, Highland Annals ''were inspired from her love of mountains and nature. Later in her career, she published novels that focuses on

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...

, and

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

through her feminist visions of

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

and

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

. Her most notable works were ''Call Home the Heart ''and ''A Stone Came Rolling ''which were written as part of her ''Gastonia'' novels.

Early life

Olive Tilford Dargan was born on January 11, 1869, on a farm in Grayson County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. She moved to the southern Ozarks with her parents Elisha Frances Tilford & Rebecca (Day) Tilford, around age eleven and started her work in elementary education. She became a teaching assistant at her Parents school until the time that she graduated. Dargan attended Peabody Teacher's College and later Radcliffe College where she met her husband Pegram Dargan, who was a senior at Harvard and a poet. She taught in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 1898 she married Pegram Dargan. During her time as a writer, Tilford published a number of novels, dramas, and poetry. Her husband drowned near the coast of Cuba in 1915 and she returned to North Carolina. During that time she published ''The Cycle's Rim ''which were poems dedicated to her husband. She won the Southern Society of New York Prize for her work ''The Cycle's Rim ''in 1916. She was also awarded the Belmont-Ward Fugitive Prize in 1925. Dargan received an honorary degree in Literature from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

in 1925. Olive Tilford Dargan started her writing career in 1904 when she published poetic dramas and

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...

. Her themes heavily revolved around mountains and nature. She traveled extensively and published ''The Welsh Pony'' and her first mountain poetry ''Path Flower and Other Verses'' in 1906. Her poem ''Lute and Furrow'' and ''The Spotted Hawk'' both contained her theme on mountains and the beauty of its nature."Olive Tilford Dargan." North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.

''Gastonia'' novels

After a fire at her Round Top home, Dargan moved to

Asheville Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous ci ...

, where she lived in Bluebonnet Lodge, once owned by Rutherford Platt Hayes. Dargan took a pen name and wrote under the name Fielding Burke. She began writing short stories and three other novels as well. Her most notable works were ''Highland Annals'' and the ''Gastonia'' novels: ''Call Home The Heart'' and ''A Stone Came Rolling''. ''Call Home the Heart'' and ''A Stone Came Rolling'' were influenced by the mountain migrant workers during the 1929

Loray Mill strike The Loray Mill strike of 1929 in Gastonia, North Carolina, was a notable strike action in the labor history of the United States. Though largely unsuccessful in attaining its goals of better working conditions and wages, the strike was considere ...

Gastonia, North Carolina Gastonia is the largest city in and county seat of Gaston County, North Carolina, United States. It is the second-largest satellite city of the Charlotte area, behind Concord. The population was 80,411 at the 2020 census, up from 71,741 in 20 ...

.Cella, Laurie J.C. " Radical Romance in the Piedmont: Olive Tilford Dargan's Gastonia Novels, The Johns Hopkins University Press, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2015. ''Highland Annals'', based on people Dargan knew when she was a widowed farmer in

Swain County, North Carolina Swain County is a county located on the far western border of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,117. Its county seat is Bryson City. Four rivers flow through the mountainous terrain of Swain County: ...

, was retitled ''From My Highest Hill'' in 1941, and this version included photos by Bayard Wooten.

Legacy

A North Carolina historical marker went up at the West Asheville library in 2000. Bluebonnet Lodge was torn down for office development after Dargan's death in 1968.

References

1.
Finding Aid for the Olive Tilford Dargan Manuscript, 1958
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 2. Booker, Keith M. 200
Encyclopedia of Literature and Politics: Censorship, Revolution, and Writing
Volume I: A-G” ''Greenwood Publishing Group,'' March 1, 2015, Print. 3. Cella, Laurie J.C.

The Johns Hopkins University Press, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2015. 4. Burke, Fielding. ''Call Home the Heart: A Novel of the'' Thirties''. Old Westbury, NY: Feminist, 1983. Print.'' 5. Ackerman, Kathy C
"A Heart of Revolution: The Radical Life and Novels of Olive Dargan,"
First ed. Knoxville: U of Tennessee, 2004. ''Google Books''. University of Tennessee Press. Web. 03 Mar. 2015 6. Elfenbein, Anna Shannon
"A forgottenRevolutionary Voice: 'Woman's Place' and Race in Olive Dargan's Call Home the Heart."
Manning, Carol S. "Female Tradition in Southern Literature." University of Illinois Press, 1993. March 2015. 7. "Olive Tilford Dargan."
North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame RSS
'. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2015.

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dargan, Olive Tilford 20th-century American women writers 1869 births 1968 deaths Vanderbilt University alumni Radcliffe College alumni Proletarian literature American women novelists 20th-century American novelists People from Grayson County, Kentucky People from Asheville, North Carolina Novelists from Kentucky Novelists from North Carolina People from Swain County, North Carolina