Loyal Jones Appalachian Manuscripts Collection

Born in 1928, Loyal Jones grew up on a mountain farm in western North Carolina. He graduated from Hayesville North Carolina High School in 1945, earned an undergraduate degree in English at Berea College in 1954, and received his masters in English (becoming certified to teach) from the University of North Carolina in 1957. Jones served as Director of the Appalachian Center (now the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center) at Berea College from 1970-1993. Before coming to Berea College as director of the Appalachian Center, Jones served in the United States Army, was a public school teacher in Jefferson County, Kentucky, and was Associate Executive Director and later Executive Director of the Council of the Southern Mountains in Berea.  Over the years, he has also been active in many local and regional organizations. He is a prolific writer with dozens of published articles and nine books concerning Appalachian culture and its people to his credit. As most of Jones’ life has been spent in the Southern mountains, nearly all of his writing is connected to the region.  In his years of writing and speaking about the region, Jones has become one of its best-known and best-loved figures.  Jones continues to live and conduct research in Berea.