On Monday, September 29, 1969 at 9:15 a.m., around 200 African-American students walked out of Asheville High School.
Legacy of loss, part 2: Food access challenges in Asheville’s Southside community
In the 1970s, changes caused by urban renewal efforts stripped the historically black Southside community of its thriving network of corner stores and markets. Today the neighborhood fights its food insecurity issues with community gardens and donation-based dinners as it faces gentrification.
Tuesday History: Before and after the East Riverside Urban Renewal Project
Conversations about the East Riverside Urban Renewal Project began in the mid-1960s. The project’s goal was to provide more public housing in Asheville. It wouldn’t be until 1977 that the plan would go into effect. The government-funded project sought to build 1,300 new homes on 425 acres. However, in order to accomplish this, many residents […]
Tuesday History: Thelma Caldwell calls out the YWCA’s shortcomings
In 1965, Thelma Caldwell became the Executive Director of the Central YWCA in Asheville: the first African-American in the South to hold the position.
Tuesday History: Eleanor Roosevelt’s 1956 visit to Asheville
In 1956, Eleanor Roosevelt announced a planned trip to Asheville to speak on the U.N.’s behalf. Her visit to Asheville, however, depended upon the city’s willingness to have an integrated audience.
Asheville’s special collections excavate the city’s history
Archivists at all three of Asheville’s primary special collections say there’s a need for more diversity in what’s on offer, urging community members to consider both their own legacy and how they might go about preserving it for future generations.
Legacy of loss: Food insecurity and its disproportionate impact on Asheville’s black community
This two-part series traces the history and examines the current state of the Southside neighborhood’s food access situation.
Tuesday History: Outrage over Langston Hughes’ unreported visit to Asheville, 1949
“I would like to ask you, the editor, what is the purpose of a newspaper? Is it not to report the news, to give its readers a full account of all important events, as soon as possible after they have taken place?” writes Anne Hunter Jenkins of Fletcher, N.C. in her 1949 letter to the editor.
Lunch and Learn Lecture Series hosts second talk
On Tuesday, July 25, Darin Waters will offer a lecture on the history of African-American education in Asheville and Western North Carolina as part of the Buncombe County Lunch and Learn Lecture Series, hosted by the county’s Department of Health and Human Services. The free event will run noon-1:30 p.m. at Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, 30 George Washington Carver Ave. in Asheville.
Tuesday History: The YWCA of Asheville’s 1930s integration attempts
The Asheville YWCA’s African American division, the Phyllis Wheatley branch, began as an informal weekly meeting of women who worked to support and aid each other in finding employment opportunities. It officially opened in 1921.
Debate over Asheville’s Confederate memorials continues
With the recent removal of Confederate monuments in New Orleans and other Southern cities capturing national headlines, local residents, historians and scholars once again turns their eyes to Asheville’s Confederate landmarks and what they symbolize to our community.
Tuesday History: Headlines from July 4, 1917
We thought it would be interesting to see what Asheville residents were reading about on Independence Day, 100 years ago, today.
Evidence of pre-Colonial Spanish soldiers reshapes WNC history
Discoveries at an archaeological site in Morganton support an astonishing conclusion: Long-lost Fort San Juan, which may have been the earliest permanent European settlement in the interior of North American, may have stood on the site, which was also the location of the large Native American settlement of Joara.
Carolina Beer Guy: Green Man Brewery’s local roots originate from Jack of the Wood pub
Founders Joan and Joe Eckert reflect on the pub’s history, including being the original home of Asheville’s second brewery.
Tuesday History: Local historian Bruce Johnson discusses the Grove-Seely family feud
On Wednesday, June 28, Bruce Johnson will offer a talk titled “Family Feud: The Bitter Battle Between E.W. Grove and Fred Seely For the Grove Park Inn.” It will take place at the Lord Auditorium, on the lower level of Pack Memorial Library.
Tuesday History: “Death was on his brow,” the discovery of Elisha Mitchell’s body
‘We, the petty actors, will pass away, forgotten; but never, while the everlasting mountains stand, the name of professor Mitchell.’ — The North Carolina Standard, 1857
New film explores the multicultural roots of traditional music and dance
The film’s world premiere is set for Thursday, June 22, at Blue Ridge Community College. Subsequent screenings will take place at the Fine Arts Theatre on Thursday, June 29, and at White Horse Black Mountain on Friday, June 30.
Hazel Creek author Daniel Pierce details community’s convoluted past
Hazel Creek: The Life and Death of an Iconic Mountain Community, by UNC Asheville history professor Daniel Pierce, explores the complex history of the so-called “Road to Nowhere” and the people it was meant to serve. Released in April, the book details the multifaceted and often overlooked story of the ill-fated town of Proctor and its inhabitants.
Tuesday History: Tracing the doomed tracks of Elisha Mitchell
On July 22, 1857, The North Carolina Standard ran a letter relaying the discovery of Elisha Mitchell’s fallen corpse. The Chapel Hill professor had made his way back to the Black Mountains to confirm his previous 1935 measurement of present-day Mount Mitchell.
It takes a village to preserve a city
Various tax credits and preservation easements offer financial benefits to owners of historic properties; advocates also tout broader benefits, such as job creation, the reduced environmental impacts of restoration versus demolition, and the intangible value of connecting the present with the past.
Tuesday History: A dispute about the mountains, 1869
“No one can approach Asheville without being struck with the awful sublimity of those dark ranges that tower from two thousand to six thousand feet into mid heavens,” writes Dr. J.P. Purcell in 1869 article “Wayside queries and Information.”