Willis Duke Weatherford lived from 1875 to 1970 and played a key role in many of the significant social and political issues of his day, namely, race relations, education, religion, and Appalachian reform. Weatherford was driven to do so because of his Christian beliefs, particularly a philosophy known as personalism. Beginning in 1908, Weatherford became a pioneer in interracial work in the U.S. South, staying active in this field until the end of his life. From 1900 to 1945 Weatherford was also one of the central figures in the YMCA, a time when this institution wielded strong influence on communities and college campuses in this region and across the country. In the last twenty-five years of his life he addressed primarily Appalachian poverty and that region’s religious life. Living until 1970, Weatherford was able to see the demise of segregation. For the greater part of his life, however, he never challenged the Jim Crow structure, nor did he seriously question the capitalist economy that contributed to the poverty of African Americans and of Appalachia. In general, he steered clear of politics, concentrating his efforts on the power of education to change the perceptions of people and bring gradual social improvement. Weatherford’s reform activities were limited by his southern background, the financial constraints he faced as director of several institutions, the climate of white supremacy in the South, and his religious focus. These limitations were also shared by many other white southern progressives of his era.
LAYARD ENTERPRISE: VICTORIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND INFORMAL IMPERIALISM IN MESOPOTAMIA