Narrative by Junebug Clark in the summer of 2014 Photograph of a group of teenagers from Lincoln Memorial University in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee playing a game of "Shoes in a Circle" A boy and girl team up and removed their shoes and pile them up randomly with other contestants shoes. A signal starts the mad rush to find and put on their shoes. The team to complete the task first wins. This photo appears on page 766 of National Geographic Magazine. A 21 page article on Cumberland Gap and its people with photographs by Joe Clark, HBSS appears in this early 1940's publication. It's a great article. I'm sorry that I don't have the date handy now, but if you have gotten this far... I'd highly recommend digging further for that Geographic Magazine. Overall Background: These Molasses Making Stir-off photos were shot by Joe Clark HBSS in the early to mid-1940s. Either on the farm of Fred Whitaker about four miles southwest of Cumberland Gap, or in Cumberland Gap on the farm of Baptist preacher the Rev. Hugh Vancel. More information about these images can be found in scrapbooks in the Clark Family Collection at the University of North Texas …

Photograph of numerous couples dancing at the molasses stir-off, with people watching from the background and a couple kissing in the foreground. This image is mounted to the left of a poem by Joe Clark, titled "Youth." Narrative by Junebug Clark: Additional photos and information can be found in the pdf document "Joe Clark HBSS LIFE Magazine Photos" page 20 and in the November 13, 1950. Life Magazine pages 156-160. Stir-off Time in Tennessee. Fun Starts in Hills as Molasses Boils. Photo by: Joe Clark, HBSS.