Cecelia Mathis of Sparta is working on a book encompassing the social and cultural history of Alleghany County.

Mathis is recording a social history of area

As Alleghany County children study the history of the state through the years, one thing Sparta resident Cecelia Butler Mathis does not want left out is the cultural history of the people of Alleghany County. To rectify the matter, she has started work on a book, one she hopes will be completed by this time next year. At this time, she is considering self-publishing the book.

“The driving force behind writing a book is that we don’t have any documentation of what life was like in 1910, 1920, 1930 and 1940,” Mathis said. “We have two very nice books (“History of Alleghany County: 1859 through 1976” and “Alleghany County Heritage”) that have wonderful historical information. But we don’t have documented how people lived on a day-to-day basis. That’s the kind of thing that I want to put down because 50 years from now, people will look back, and they will want to know what did the people eat? How did they cook their food? How did they preserve their food? What were some funny stories that happened in the community at the schools? Those are the kinds of things that make the other things come to life.”

To date, Mathis has worked with five individuals and noted that two others have agreed to work with her on the project. She then noted her fascination with the stories she has already been told by a number of local residents.

“Once you get people talking, they just remember so much about what life was like when they were growing up,” Mathis said, with a sound of awe in her voice. “People can just sit there and tell me what their house looked like when they were children, where the furniture was in the room and it’s fascinating, absolutely fascinating to hear these stories about what life was like.”

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