Emersion into the society of York was an easy task for Patrick, a native of a nearby Gastonia, North Carolina, and with familial ties to York’s elite. But his personal connections proved to be a mixed blessing to the project. His informants were more forthcoming than they might have been with an outsider, but Patrick felt so deep an obligation to protect their privacy that he never published his findings.Established from Patrick’s 1954 Harvard dissertation, this first publication of
Townways of Kent
invites modern readers to experience mid-century small-town life from the vantage of the white upper and middle classes, and in particular from the viewpoint of
Old Kent
families. Often disparaging in their views of the African American and mill village communities, the townfolk prove to be further subdivided along rigorously defined lines of economic status and ancestry - established families versus newer arrivals - but pride in their community’s history and in maintaining a particular vision of the town shines through. The introduction by the Reeds places Patrick’s work in its historical context and to bring the story of town life in Kent up to the present day.