Rehder, John B. 1942–

views updated

Rehder, John B. 1942–

PERSONAL:

Born 1942. Education: Louisiana State University, Ph.D. Hobbies and other interests: Golf, trout fishing, boating, hiking, photography.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Geography, University of Tennessee, 313 Burchfiel Geography Bldg., Knoxville, TN 37996-0925. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, educator. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, professor of geography.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Abbott Lowell Cummings Award, Vernacular Architecture Forum, 2000, for Delta Sugar; Fred Kniffen Award, Pioneer America Society, for Appalachian Folkways.

WRITINGS:

Delta Sugar: Louisiana's Vanishing Plantation Landscape, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1999.

Appalachian Folkways, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 2004.

Contributor of articles to The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. Member of editorial board, University of Tennessee Press.

SIDELIGHTS:

Cultural geographer John B. Rehder is the author of Delta Sugar: Louisiana's Vanishing Plantation Landscape, "an ominous account of the coming of the farmerless farm in the late twentieth century," observed Southern Cultures reviewer John Michael Vlach. In the work, Rehder presents case studies of six commercial sugar plantations, noting their stages of development and changes in ownership. "The primary focus and main strength of the book are its amazingly detailed descriptions of the physical elements of a sugar plantation," according to Geographical Review contributor John R. Grimes. The author also examines the restructuring of the traditional business model of sugar production. "While Rehder concludes that change is always inevitable and that not all of the elements of plantation history (especially substandard workers' houses) are worthy of preservation, he does more than merely offer the usual preservationist's lament," Vlach stated. "Throughout Delta Sugar Rehder describes the consequences of a perilous transformation as local ownership was replaced by an aloof international corporate order."

In Appalachian Folkways, Rehder offers a portrait of Southern Appalachia, focusing on the region's history, geography, economy, anthropology, and folklore. Eschewing popular cultural stereotypes, Rehder "shows us just how wonderfully diverse and creative this region truly is—from the ways people make their living to the types of housing that have evolved over the years," remarked Carol Ann Gillespie in the Journal of Cultural Geography. In the Southeastern Geographer, Katie Algeo commented that the author "has produced a comprehensive and systematic treatment of material and non-material folk culture that synthesizes an impressive array of scholarship and incorporates insights garnered from years of his own research."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Agricultural History, winter, 2002, John C. Rodrigue, review of Delta Sugar: Louisiana's VanishingPlantation Landscape, p. 122; spring, 2006, Sara M. Gregg, review of Appalachian Folkways, p. 263.

American Historical Review, February, 2002, Greta De Jong, review of Delta Sugar, p. 255.

Choice, March, 2005, W.K. McNeil, review of Appalachian Folkways, p. 1271.

Geographical Review, July, 2000, John R. Grimes, review of Delta Sugar, p. 464; April, 2006, George Towers, review of Appalachian Folkways, p. 313.

Journal of American History, June, 2001, Thomas N. Ingersoll, review of Delta Sugar, p. 197.

Journal of Cultural Geography, fall-winter, 2005, Carol Ann Gillespie, review of Appalachian Folkways, p. 139.

Journal of Historical Geography, October, 2005, David R. Jansson, review of Appalachian Folkways, p. 814.

Journal of Southern History, August, 2001, review of Delta Sugar, p. 698; February, 2006, Melanie Beals Goan, review of Appalachian Folkways, p. 204.

Southeastern Geographer, May, 2005, Katie Algeo, review of Appalachian Folkways, p. 151.

Southern Cultures, winter, 2000, John Michael Vlach, review of Delta Sugar, p. 109.

Technology and Culture, July, 2002, Leo E. Landis, review of Delta Sugar, p. 619.