Carmack, Effie Marquess, 1885-1974, authorCarmack, Noel A., editorDavidson, Karen Lynn, editorUtah State University Press, publisher2007-01-032007-01-031999http://hdl.handle.net/10217/87745Edited by Noel A. Carmack and Karen Lynn Davidson.Includes bibliographical references and index.Effie Marquess Carmack (1885-1974) grew up in the tobacco-growing region of southern Kentucky known as the Black Patch. As an adult she moved to Utah, back to Kentucky, to Arizona, and finally to California. Economic necessity primarily motivated Effie and her husband's moves, but her conversion to the Mormon Church in youth also was a factor. Throughout her life, she was committed to preserving the rural, southern folkways she had experienced as a child. She and other members of her family were folk musicians, at times professionally, and she also became a folk poet and artist, teaching herself to paint. In the 1940s she began writing her autobiography and eventually also completed a verse adaptation of it and an unpublished novel about life in the Black Patch. Much of Effie's story is a charming memoir of her vibrant childhood on a poor tobacco farm. She describes a wide variety of folk practices, from healing and crafts to children's games. Her family's life included the backbreaking labor and economic trials of raising tobacco, but it was enriched by a deep familial heritage, communal music, creative play, and traditional activities of many kinds. After the family converted to the Mormon Church, religious study and devotion became another important dimension. Effie's account of Mormon missions contributes to the little-known record of Latter-day Saint attempts to establish a presence in the South. After marrying, the Carmacks moved west, eventually landing in the Arizona desert, where Effie took up painting in earnest. Her art began to attract modest attention, which brought exhibits, awards, and a new career teaching others what she had taught herself. After the Carmacks later retired to Atascadero, California, Effie became a more active and public folk singer as well.--Provided by publisher.Foreword / Maureen Ursenbach Beecher -- Pictures of Childhood -- Ponderous Milestones -- Raised in a Patch of Tobacco -- A One Horse Religion -- Dear Home, Sweet Home -- Bitterness and Sorrow Helped me Find the Sweet -- Epilogue [The Outskirts of a Desert Town] -- Appendix One: The Song and Rhyme Repertoire of Effie Marquess Carmack -- Appendix Two: Things to Accomplish -- Appendix Three: Henry Edgar Carmack.born digitalbooksengCopyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.All rights reserved. User is responsible for compliance. Please contact University Press of Colorado at https://upcolorado.com/our-books/rights-and-permissions for use information.Farm life -- KentuckyMormons -- Kentucky -- BiographyFolk singers -- United States -- BiographyPainters -- United States -- BiographyAuthors, American -- BiographyKentucky -- Social life and customsKentucky -- BiographyCarmack, Effie Marquess, 1885-1974TextAccess is limited to the Adams State University, Colorado State University, Colorado State University Pueblo, Community College of Denver, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University Denver, Regis University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, University of Denver, University of Northern Colorado, University of Wyoming, Utah State University and Western Colorado University communities only.