A detailed account of the lives of three Christian educators and their impact on underserved populations of southern Appalachia.

The author unpacks the social and political foundations of the area’s pervasive poverty as she specifically highlights three women whose actions helped its future generations. While chronicling the lives of missionary Sophia Sawyer (1792-1854), philanthropist Emily Prudden (1832-1917), and school founder Martha Berry (1866-1942), Reed, who previously wrote The Brevard Rosenwald School (2004), takes the time to detail the barriers that these outsider women faced and uses their stories to examine the hardships and often violent struggles in the communities they served, which included members of the Cherokee Nation, emancipated black communities across the Reconstruction-era South, and the isolated, often illiterate white highlanders in the hills of Georgia and Alabama.

Professional educator Reed’s exhaustive research and clear respect for southern Appalachian cultures shines through in her historical examination of education in the region. Along the way, she fastidiously dispels common myths and stereotypes: “Southern Appalachians have been depicted as possessing a stereotypical hillbilly culture marked by poverty and ignorance…. In general, they valued learning and regretted being deprived of an education.” Certain elements of the women’s lives are more engaging than others; Sawyer’s life, for example, is fraught with confrontation, sabotage, and even murder while most chapters about Prudden focus on cataloging the names of various teachers and administrators in the many schools she established. Also, some of the attitudes that these women express come off as paternalistic and exotifying at times.

However, Reed admirably tries to address the inequities in various communities as well as to clearly state the faults and prejudices of people of the era—including the women she champions. Although it’s not a page-turner, Reed’s account is extremely thorough and shows a deep admiration for educators and their efforts. A well-researched study on the lives and legacies of women who sought to empower others.

Book Review by Kirkus Reviews