Okefinokee Album [Paperback]

DELMA E. PRESLEY, a professor of English at Georgia Southern University, prepared Francis Harper's Okefinokee Album for publication.Based on the photographs and writings of Francis Harper, a naturalist who visited the Okefinokee Swamp repeatedly between 1912 and 1951, Okefinokee Album recalls life in the "land of trembling earth" before the outside world encroached in the 1940s. Filled with profiles of the swamp dwellers, their wisdom, superstitions, songs, stories, and folkways, as well as a wealth of information about the natural history of the swamp, Okefinokee Album richly documents a vanished age and the heritage of a remarkable people.

A tantalizing sampler that manages to capture the mystique of the swamp and its former inhabitants

Marvelous, candid photos out of time itself . . . The photographs are worth the price of admission. Not to mention the 'Swamp Talk' vocabulary that is itemized, the wonderful ballads, stories of the conjure doctor, and plain tales that embellish the serious documentary with the art of life

Harper did an invaluable service in capturing the Okefinokee's peculiar brand of culture before it began to decline in the 1930s. The expression 'rare treat' is overused but perfectly accurate with regard to this abridgement of Harper's work

Based on the photographs and writings of Francis Harper, a naturalist who visited the Okefinokee Swamp repeatedly between 1912 and 1951, Okefinokee Album is filled with profiles of the swamp dwellers, their wisdom, superstitions, songs, stories, and folkways, as well as a wealth of information about the natural history of the swamp.