Home > Kermit Hunter

Born Kermit Houston Hunter in West Virginia in 1910, Hunter went on to Ohio State University where he graduated in 1931. After graduation, he held a number of jobs and joined the army in 1940. After rising to the rank of lieutenant colonelIn the US Army, US Air Force and US Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a commissioned officer superior to a major and inferior to a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is comparable to the rank of commander in the US Navy. The insignia for all four, he became the assistant chief of staff of the Caribbean Defense Command . He was later awarded the Legion of MeritThe Legion of Merit is a decoration of the United States military which is awarded to for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. The decoration is issued both to United States military personnel and. After World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough, he served as the business manager for the North Carolina Symphony .

In 1947Events January January 1 British mines nationalized January 1 Nigeria gains limited autonomy January 1 The Canadian Citizenship Act went into effect January 3 Proceedings of the United States Congress are televised for the first time. January 10 United Na, Hunter decided to pursue graduate studies in the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is the oldest public university in the United States. It is known to many as Carolina or simply UNC . It is consistently ranked amongst the top tier of American Univer. While enrolled, three of Hunter's plays were produced by the Carolina Playmakers , a dramatic group at the University. When the Cherokee Historical Association began looking for a playwright to write an outdoor drama to be performed in Cherokee, North CarolinaCherokee is a town in Swain County, North Carolina. It is the headquarters for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. It is also a tourist-oriented area, located at the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the southern end of the Blue Ri, Hunter won the commission and wrote his most famous play Unto These HillsUnto These Hills is second oldest outdoor historical drama in the United States after The Lost Colony in Manteo, North Carolina. The play, written by Kermit Hunter (who is also credited with writing the scripts for many other outdoor dramas), opened at th. The play opened July 1July 1 is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 183 days remaining. Events 1097 Battle of Dorylaeum Crusaders under Bohemond of Taranto defeat a Turkish army under Qilich Arslan I. 1690 Battle of the Boyne as reck, 1950 and still plays on at the Mountainside Theatre.

After receiving his masters, Hunter remained in Chapel Hill to pursue his Ph.D. After receiving his Ph.D in 1955, he accepted the position of professor of drama at Hollins College (now Hollins University) in Roanoke, Virginia. Leaving Hollins in 1964, he became the first dean of the Meadows School of Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. After stepping down as dean in 1976, he remained at Southern Methodist as a writer in residence until 1978. After leaving Southern Methodist he was named as a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Arlington. He retired in 1993 and died in Dallas on April 11, 2001.

During his extraordinary career, Hunter wrote over 40 historical dramas that were performed all over the United States. Of these dramas, only three, Unto These Hills, Horn in the West in Boone, North Carolina and Honey in the Rock in Beckley, West Virginia, are still performed at present.