Emma Bell Miles
Encyclopedia
Emma Bell Miles was a writer, poet, and artist whose works capture the essence of the natural world and the culture of Southern Appalachia.
when she was a young child. Later, she and her family moved to Walden's Ridge (now Signal Mountain
), Tennessee. A talented young woman, she left home to study art in St. Louis, Missouri
. However, she fell in love with a young man named Frank Miles and moved back to Walden's Ridge to become his wife.
and poems Emma sold to magazines such as Harper's Weekly. She also made money selling her art. Emma's major success was The Spirit of the Mountains published in 1905. This genre-defying book has elements of local color, short story, travel narrative, personal memoir, and cultural analysis
. Her other works include Our Southern Birds and Our Southern Flowers. She also wrote several articles for local newspapers, the most popular of which were entitled The Fountain Square Conversations, a fanciful series in which birds gather at a fireman's memorial fountain in downtown Chattanooga and have philosophical conversations on life. A fourth book, presumably focused on nature, The Good Gray Mother, was never published and the manuscript has been lost.
Emma and Frank had a difficult marriage. They and their children often suffered from poverty and hunger, and Emma was very bitter about Frank's inability to find paying work to support the family. The separated a number of times, and during these times Emma lived in the Francis Willard Home for Women in Chattanooga, in order to make money in town. Emma proved to be a darling of society, and she often gave lectures which were highly regarded and well-received. Emma also held the post of writer-in-residence at Lincoln Memorial University
in Harrogate, Tennessee for one term. Yet no matter how much Emma enjoyed the intellectual life of the city, she always returned to her simple life on the mountain with her husband.
This life of continual poverty eroded Emma Bell Miles's health and after spending several years in the Pine Breeze Sanitarium in Chattanooga, she died in a small house Frank had rented in what is now North Chattanooga, in 1919. By this time their children were mostly living with others better suited to care for them. She was buried in a simple grave in Red Bank, Tennessee
.
The major scholarly source on Emma Bell Miles's life is the biography, Emma Bell Miles by Kay Baker Gaston published by the Walden's Ridge Historical society. There are two collections of Emma Bell Miles material in the Special Collections and Archives of the Lupton Library at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
: The Kay Baker Gaston Collection (Emma Bell Miles' biographer), and the Jean Miles Catino Collection (Papers of Emma's daughter, including several of the unpublished journals Emma kept in the last eleven years of her life).
The Spirit of the Mountains has been republished in a facsimile edition by the University of Tennessee
Press in 1975.
Early life and education
Miles was born in Kentucky in 1879 and moved to the area that is now Red Bank, TennesseeRed Bank, Tennessee
Red Bank is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 12,418 at the 2000 census. Red Bank is an enclave; its area is completely surrounded by that of Chattanooga. As of the 2010 election, the Board of Commissioners has Monty Millard , Greg JonesRed Bank is a city in...
when she was a young child. Later, she and her family moved to Walden's Ridge (now Signal Mountain
Signal Mountain
Signal Mountain may refer to:*Signal Mountain, Tennessee, a town in Hamilton County, Tennessee**Because of the proximity of this town to it, Walden Ridge is often mistakenly called Signal Mountain....
), Tennessee. A talented young woman, she left home to study art in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. However, she fell in love with a young man named Frank Miles and moved back to Walden's Ridge to become his wife.
Career as writer
Emma and Frank struggled to make ends meet, and oftentimes their major source of income was from the short storiesShort story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
and poems Emma sold to magazines such as Harper's Weekly. She also made money selling her art. Emma's major success was The Spirit of the Mountains published in 1905. This genre-defying book has elements of local color, short story, travel narrative, personal memoir, and cultural analysis
Cultural analysis
As a discipline, cultural analysis is based on using qualitative research methods of the social sciences, in particular ethnography and anthropology, to collect data on cultural phenomena; in an effort to gain new knowledge or understanding through analysis of that data...
. Her other works include Our Southern Birds and Our Southern Flowers. She also wrote several articles for local newspapers, the most popular of which were entitled The Fountain Square Conversations, a fanciful series in which birds gather at a fireman's memorial fountain in downtown Chattanooga and have philosophical conversations on life. A fourth book, presumably focused on nature, The Good Gray Mother, was never published and the manuscript has been lost.
Emma and Frank had a difficult marriage. They and their children often suffered from poverty and hunger, and Emma was very bitter about Frank's inability to find paying work to support the family. The separated a number of times, and during these times Emma lived in the Francis Willard Home for Women in Chattanooga, in order to make money in town. Emma proved to be a darling of society, and she often gave lectures which were highly regarded and well-received. Emma also held the post of writer-in-residence at Lincoln Memorial University
Lincoln Memorial University
Lincoln Memorial University is a private four-year co-educational liberal arts college located in Harrogate, Tennessee.LMU's campus borders on Cumberland Gap National Historical Park....
in Harrogate, Tennessee for one term. Yet no matter how much Emma enjoyed the intellectual life of the city, she always returned to her simple life on the mountain with her husband.
This life of continual poverty eroded Emma Bell Miles's health and after spending several years in the Pine Breeze Sanitarium in Chattanooga, she died in a small house Frank had rented in what is now North Chattanooga, in 1919. By this time their children were mostly living with others better suited to care for them. She was buried in a simple grave in Red Bank, Tennessee
Red Bank, Tennessee
Red Bank is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 12,418 at the 2000 census. Red Bank is an enclave; its area is completely surrounded by that of Chattanooga. As of the 2010 election, the Board of Commissioners has Monty Millard , Greg JonesRed Bank is a city in...
.
The major scholarly source on Emma Bell Miles's life is the biography, Emma Bell Miles by Kay Baker Gaston published by the Walden's Ridge Historical society. There are two collections of Emma Bell Miles material in the Special Collections and Archives of the Lupton Library at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is a public university located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The University, often referred to as UTC or simply "Chattanooga" , is one of three universities and two other affiliated institutions in the University of Tennessee System; the others being in...
: The Kay Baker Gaston Collection (Emma Bell Miles' biographer), and the Jean Miles Catino Collection (Papers of Emma's daughter, including several of the unpublished journals Emma kept in the last eleven years of her life).
The Spirit of the Mountains has been republished in a facsimile edition by the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
Press in 1975.
External links
- Some Real American Music -- Reexamined Article about Miles' pioneering writing on American folk music, "Some Real American Music."