Bill Lea Interview Tapes
This collection contains eleven cassette tapes of interviews with various Smoky Mountains locals conducted by Bill Lea, a former U.S. Forest Service forester and wildlife photographer. Excepting tape #3, dates are written on the tapes and span from April 1984 to July 5, 2005.
Most of the interviewees are locals from the Fires Creek and Leatherwood Falls areas of the Smoky Mountains. They discuss the genealogies of families that have resided in the area for many generations such as the Leatherwoods, Bristols, Martins, Ledfords, and more. The interviews also discuss life in the Smokies and various life experiences of the interviewees.
Some of the tapes have writing on their cases and all of them have writing on the tapes themselves; transcriptions of this identifying information can be found in each individual tape’s notes section. Tapes #3 and #12 run for 60 minutes and the remainder run for 90 minutes.
Dates
- 1984 April-2005 July 5
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
0.1 Linear Feet (4 folders)
Overview
This collection contains eleven cassette tapes of interviews with various Smoky Mountains locals conducted by Bill Lea, a former U.S. Forest Service forester and wildlife photographer. Excepting tape #3, dates are written on the tapes and span from April 1984 to July 5, 2005.
Biographical / Historical
Bill Lea was born in Peoria, Illinois, in 1952 and developed a strong passion for the outdoors. He graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Forest Resources and Conservation.
He began working with the International Paper Company in 1978 as a forester, and two years later accepted a forester position with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) overseeing reforestation. As he worked in several national forests, his love of nature only grew and he decided to start a hobby in wildlife photography in his free time. After retiring early from the USFS in 2005, he became an advocate for black bears, later co-founding a bear sanctuary called the Vince Shute Sanctuary in Orr, Minnesota.
Arrangement
This collection is in four folders. The cassette tapes are numbered one through twelve by the creator are arranged according to these numbers; tape #11 is not included.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository