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A scholar, delving into what makes the Ozarks unique, leans heavily on history

Dr. Brooks Blevins, the Noel Boyd professor of Ozarks studies at Missouri State University, at the Jacob Wolf House in Norfork, Arkansas.
Bob Linder
Dr. Brooks Blevins, the Noel Boyd professor of Ozarks studies at Missouri State University, at the Jacob Wolf House in Norfork, Arkansas.

Historian tells the cultural history of the Ozarks as a regional variation of an American story.

Our weekly program, Missouri State Journal, is a collaboration between KSMU Radio and Missouri State University. It's hosted and produced by MSU's Office of Strategic Communication, and it airs each Tuesday morning at 9:45 a.m. on KSMU. 

What comes to mind when you think about the Ozarks? Perhaps it is its unique geographic features or rich history. It may be the hillbilly stereotype or story of the Baldknobbers.

With the goal of presenting the region’s most complete portrait, historian Dr. Brooks Blevins started to write a comprehensive history of the Ozarks a few years ago.

It resulted in a trilogy. The first and second books were “A History of the Ozarks, Volume 1: The Old Ozarks” and “A History of the Ozarks, Volume 2: The Conflicted Ozarks,” respectively. The final book, “A History of the Ozarks, Volume 3: The Ozarkers” came out recently.

Blevins, the Noel Boyd professor of Ozarks studies at Missouri State University, shares more about volume three.

Read the full audio transcript

A native of Malaysia, Emily moved to Springfield in 2010 and started working at Missouri State University in 2014. She’s currently the assistant director in the Office of Strategic Communication. She has a BA in Mass Communications from Colorado State University-Pueblo and a Master of Journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
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