DYKEMAN, Wilma

Born 20 May 1920, Asheville, North Carolina

Also writes under: Wilma Dykeman, Wilma Dykeman Stokely

Daughter of Willard J. and Bonnie Cole Dykeman; married James R. Stokely, Jr., 1940 (died 1977)

Wilma Dykeman's works betray a twofold love of Southern Appalachia: the fervid love of an immigrant for the new land, and the comfortable, well-rooted love of one whose forebearers have shaped a region's history. Her father came from New York state but married into a long-established Asheville family, thus partially removing the "newcomer" stigma. After graduating from Northwestern University, Dykeman returned home to marry poet/writer James Stokely. They remained in Appalachia, writing, teaching, raising a family, and lecturing. Stokely died in 1977. Dykeman continued her work, living in the village of Newport, Tennessee, as well as in Asheville, North Carolina.

The South—but most especially the Appalachian South—is Dykeman's subject. Her novels, biographies, histories, and regional landscapes explore such themes as the mountain woman's unique social role, technology and "progress" as threats to mountain environments, the interconnectedness of blacks and whites, the crucial impact of Protestantism. Dykeman's first work, The French Broad (1955, yet which remains in print today), nicely showcases her talent for social history. The French Broad River rises in the mountains of Transylvania County, North Carolina, changes directions through the region several times, and finally joins the Holston to form the Tennessee River at Knoxville. A river study, says Dykeman, is the best kind of travel book, for it enables one to get the feel of the region. The French Broad is structured both chronologically and thematically; central figures of the region's past and present are detailed, as anecdotes illuminate such topics as the divisiveness of the Civil War, Appalachian religiosity, the fashionable watering places of the 19th century, or the prototypical mountain midwife.

Dykeman's other social histories combine the same informality and personal engagement. Neither Black nor White (1957), coauthored with husband James Stokely, responded to the Brown school desegregation decision of 1954. It tried to understand "the many Souths" and "discover, record and interpret a republic of the human mind." For its contribution to race relations, the book received the Hillman Award. Dykeman and Stokely later produced The Border States (1968), and in 1975 Dykeman's bicentennial history of Tennessee appeared. The book depicts that state's three geographical regions and shows how Tennessee remains in many ways a frontier area.

Dykeman's storytelling knack is apparent in her novels, all of which explore regional themes. Centering on the character Lydia McQueen, The Tall Woman (1962, in its 39th printing in 1999) portrays the special functions mountain women performed during the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Far Family (1966) delineates the mountain woman's importance in preserving tradition and family; sociologically, her role resembles both that of the heroically strong black woman and the southern plantation wife. Return the Innocent Earth (1973) explores the impact of industrial development on the region.

Dykeman's biographies manifest her talent for social history and strong characterization. Seeds of Southern Change (1962), coauthored with Stokely, traces the life of Will Alexander (1884-1956), a Southern white liberal who, as director of the "Commission on Interracial Cooperation," and later as chief of Roosevelt's Farm Security Administration, did as much as any one person to direct the South toward economic and racial justice. Prophet of Plenty (1966) explores the life and work of W. D. Weatherford (1875-1970), a champion of Appalachia whose fundraising work at Berea College gave it national renown.

Edna Rankin McKinnon is the subject of Dykeman's third biography, Too Many People, Too Little Love (1974). The younger sister of Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress, Edna began lobbying in Washington in 1936 for birth control and then worked in Appalachia and around the world, establishing birth control and family planning clinics. Dykeman says Edna's story interested her because it combined the three most important issues of the 20th century—the population explosion, the changing status of women, and the necessity for world peace.

Dykeman, not often given a careful reading because of her "regionalism," deserves a wider critical audience. She uses an easy and flowing style, perfectly suited to the anecdotal character of much of her work. She excels in describing folkways and vividly captures mountain speech. Her themes—though regional at base—are in the best sense universal human concerns.