Leroy G. Fox Collection
This collection houses articles, assessments, brochures, correspondence, magazines, maps, newsletters, newspaper articles, notes, minutes, plans, reports, photocopies, and more documenting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Great Smoky Mountains organizations, including the Great Smoky Mountain Park Commission and the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club. The collection is broken down into eight series: personal materials, publications, articles, plans, organizations, places, subjects, and miscellaneous materials. Most documents discussing specific places or subjects have been filed under the subseries for the place or subject in question. Within the subject series (Series VII) there are three subseries. Subseries A consists of legislative materials, materials on roads, and scientific research meetings. Subseries B covers specific Smoky Mountain subjects. Subseries C provides subject materials for areas outside the GSMNP region.
Correspondence has been interfiled with other subject materials. To search for the correspondence of a specific person, a researcher will need to examine the organizations or subject subseries related to their activities. The subseries on Roads and Wilderness houses a great deal of correspondence from Representatives and Senators. When appropriate, “see also” references have been given for folders that might prove helpful for further research on a particular place or topic.
If conducting research on roads in the area, a researcher should look at Subseries A, Subseries B, and Subseries C within Series VII. Within Subseries A, material on roads has been grouped together chronologically and documents roads within GSMNP and the surrounding region. The Road to Nowhere, the proposed trans-mountain road, and the Robbinsville-Tellico Plains road are all represented in these folders. One should also look in the wilderness subseries, as these issues often overlap.
Dates
- 1927-1999
Conditions Governing Access
Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Conditions Governing Use
The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Extent
13 Linear Feet (13 record boxes)
Abstract
This collection houses articles, assessments, brochures, correspondence, magazines, maps, newsletters, newspaper articles, notes, minutes, plans, reports, photocopies, and more documenting Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Great Smoky Mountains organizations, including the Great Smoky Mountain Park Commission and the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club. The collection is broken down into eight series: personal materials, publications, articles, plans, organizations, places, subjects, and miscellaneous materials.
Biographical/Historical Note
Leroy G. Fox was born on December 22, 1917 in Pennsylvania. He was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, and the University of Tennessee. After graduation, he worked for Rohm and Haas Co. as an engineer for thirty-eight years. He began his career at the company's Philadelphia and Bristol locations, and moved to the Knoxville plant in 1943. Here, he worked as a Production Supervisor, Safety Director, Chemical Engineering Group Leader, and Manager of Environmental Controls. He retired in 1975.
Fox was also deeply concerned with the environment and served with several local environmental organizations, including the Clean Environment Council (1970-1976; President 1975-1976) and the Knox County Air Pollution Control Board (1969-1979; Chairman 1976-1979).
Fox was particularly concerned with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Beginning in 1963, he was a member of the Smoky Mountains Hiking Club, where he served as the president from 1969 to 1970 and coordinated the Club's Caretaker and Ridgerunner Project in the GSMNP from 1989 to 1997. He was also a member of the Appalachian Trail Conference, the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy, Foothills Parkway Association, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, and the Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association. He also served as a board member for the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy in 1980-1981 and as a Committee and/or Board member of the Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association for several years, beginning in 1988.
In 1979, Governor Lamar Alexander appointed Fox to the Tennessee Great Smoky Mountain Park Commission, where he served until 1986. From 1984 to 1986, he was the commission's chair. Beginning in 1980, he also worked in the GSMNP in a variety of volunteer and supportive capacities in the Ranger, Visitor Services, and Resource Management divisions. He was also active in the resolution of a series of complex issues, some of which have represented serious threats to the integrity of the GSMNP. Leroy Fox died in Knoxville on June 25, 2003.
Arrangement
Collection consists of thirteen boxes divided into eight series:
- Series I: Personal Materials, 1952-1995
- Series II: Publications, 1966-1997
- Sub-Series A: Publications with articles on the Great Smoky Mountains (Alphabetical by Title), 1966-1997
- Sub-Series B: Miscellaneous non-Great Smoky Mountains National Park Publications (Alphabetical by Title), 1967-1988
- Series III: Other Non-GSMNP articles, studies, etc. (alphabetical by title)
- Series IV: Assessments, Plans, Reports, etc., 1967-1997
- Sub-Series A: Miscellaneous Great Smoky Mountains National Park Plans, Reports, etc., 1975-1997
- Sub-Series B: Miscellaneous Guides, Manuals, Reports, etc., 1967-1996
- Series V: Organizations, 1965-1998
- Sub-Series A: Appalachian Trail Advisory Committee, 1988-1994
- Sub-Series B: Appalachian Trail Conference, 1966-1998
- Sub-Series C: Great Smokies Park Wilderness Advocates, 1977-1988
- Sub-Series D: Great Smoky Mountain Park Commission, 1970-1995
- Sub-Series E: National Parks Service, 1975-1993
- Sub-Series F: National Parks and Conservation Association, 1970-1997
- Sub-Series G: North Carolina Department of Commerce, 1980-1984
- Sub-Series H: Sierra Club, 1969-1996
- Sub-Series I: Smoky Mountains Hiking Club, 1933-1998
- Section 1: General Information, 1933-1997
- Section 2: Appalachian Trail [Management] Committee, 1974-1998
- Section a: General Information, 1974-1998
- Section b: Great Smoky Mountains Caretaker Program and Ridgerunner Program, 1974-1998
- Section i: Applicants & Workers (Alphabetical by Last Name), 1974-1998
- Section ii: Miscellaneous Caretaker and Ridgerunner Materials, 1976-1998
- Section iii: Caretaker and Ridgerunner Patrol Reports and Other Reports, 1989-1997
- Sub-Series J: Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, 1966-1997
- Sub-Series K: Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), 1962-1999
- Section 1: Newspaper Clippings, 1962-1992
- Section 2: Acid Rain and Air Pollution, 1978-1984
- Section 3: Steam Plants (Alphabetical by Name), 1979-1984
- Section 4: Tellico Project, 1965-1999
- Sub-Series L: The Wilderness Society, 1965-1996
- Sub-Series M: Wilderness Southeast, 1976-1980
- Series VI: Places, 1928-1997 (Bulk 1961-1997)
- Sub-Series A: Appalachian Trail, 1970-1997
- Sub-Series B: Big Bend National Park, 1984 December
- Sub-Series C: Biosphere Reserves, 1979-1984
- Sub-Series D: Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, 1987 March
- Sub-Series E: Cades Cove, undated
- Sub-Series F: Cherokee National Forest, 1966-1996
- Sub-Series G: Fort Loudoun, 1970-1972
- Sub-Series H: Grand Canyon, 1977
- Sub-Series I: Great Smoky Mountains National Park -- History, Staff, Maps, etc., 1928-1997 (Bulk 1961-1997)
- Sub-Series J: Kings Mountain National Military Park, 1976 September
- Sub-Series K: Michigan, undated
- Sub-Series L: Mojave Desert, 1976
- Sub-Series M: Nantahala National Forest, 1987 January
- Sub-Series N: Shenandoah National Park, 1975-1987
- Sub-Series O: Tennessee, 1962-1993
- Sub-Series P: Virginia, 1984 October 12
- Series VII: Subject Files, 1927-1998
- Sub-Series A: General Subject Files (Great Smoky Mountains and Other Areas), 1927-1997
- Section 1: Legislative Materials, 1927-1997
- Section 2: Roads, 1962-1996
- Section 3: Scientific Research Meetings, 1977-1986
- Sub-Series B: Great Smoky Mountains Subject Files (Alphabetical by Subject), 1929-1998
- Section 1: Aircraft, 1964-1997
- Section 2: Air Pollution, 1977-1992
- Section 3: Art, 1994
- Section 4: Backcountry Operations, 1964-1996
- Section 5: Balds, 1976 April
- Section 6: Bears, 1964-1997
- Section 7: Boars, 1962-1988
- Section 8: Conservation, 1967-1968
- Section 9: Deaths, Accidents, Crime, Lost People, etc., 1961-1998
- Section 10: Elk, undated
- Section 11: Elkmont, 1969-1997
- Section 12: Flora, 1976-1984
- Section 13: Golden Anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 1983-1985
- Section 14: Horses, 1966-1996
- Section 15: Houseboats on Fontana Lake, 1978-1985
- Section 16: Meetings and Workshops, 1980-1998
- Section 17: Mount Le Conte Lodge, 1961-1994
- Section 18: Mountain Lions, circa 1977
- Section 19: Roads, 1971-1998
- Section 20: Trout, 1976
- Section 21: Visitors and Volunteers -- Information For and About Them, 1929-1998
- Section 22: Wilderness, 1965-1993
- Section 23: Wolves, 1990-1997
- Sub-Series C: Non-GSMNP Subject Files (Alphabetical by Subject), 1966-1998
- Section 1: Acid Rain and Air Pollution, 1970-1997
- Section 2: Chain Saws, 1978-1983
- Section 3: Coal, 1970-1995
- Section 4: Conservation, 1966-1996
- Section 5: Deaths, Accidents, Crime, Lost People, etc., 1968-1998
- Section 6: Hazard Trees, 1991-1992
- Section 7: Oil, 1968-1987
- Section 8: Road from Robbinsville, NC to Tellico Plains, TN, 1971, 1979
- Section 9: Visitors -- Information For and About them, 1967-1994
- Section 10: Wilderness, 1967-1972
- Sub-Series A: General Subject Files (Great Smoky Mountains and Other Areas), 1927-1997
- Series VIII: Other Materials, 1939-1999
Acquisition Note
Leroy G. Fox donated these papers to the University of Tennessee's Special Collections in 1999.
- Air -- Pollution -- Tennessee.
- Appalachian Trail -- Maps.
- Appalachian Trail -- Pictorial works.
- Appalachian Trail Conference.
- Cherokee National Forest (Tenn.).
- Great Smoky Mountains (N.C. and Tenn.) -- Maps.
- Great Smoky Mountains (N.C. and Tenn.) -- Pictorial works.
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (N.C. and Tenn.).
- Little Tennessee River (Ga.-Tenn.).
- Missing persons -- Great Smoky Mountains (N.C. and Tenn.).
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository