Echoes from the Hilltop: Margaret Henry–Heroine of the Southern Mountaineers

Echoes from the Hilltop is the story of Margaret Eliza Henry, the first scholarship secretary at Maryville College in Tennessee. For thirteen years, she traveled throughout the Northeast raising money for scholarships for children from the Southern Appalachians. Her audiences includedDaughters of the American Revolution chapters; various men’s, women’s, and children’s organizations; churches; schools; andindividuals. Margaret wrote letters of thanks to thesedonors and told them about the students receiving the benefit of their gifts.She stayed in touch with the administration, faculty, and students of the college when she was on the wing for months at a time.In addition, letters of introduction were mailedin the spring as she planned an itinerary for the next year.All these letters tell a story of love for the mountains and the people who lived there, devotion to Maryville College and its students, and a woman traveling alone during the early twentieth century.