“Prayer is an attitude. Thanksgiving is a mood,” The Asheville Citizen wrote in a Nov. 27, 1930, editorial reflecting on the season of gratitude at the onset of the Great Depression.
Asheville Archives: Salvation Army establishes a local chapter, 1890
First established in London in 1865, the Salvation Army’s local branch formed in Asheville a quarter of a century later in 1890.
Q&A: Tadd McDivitt, occult researcher, storyteller extraordinaire
McDivitt shares his theories of the supernatural and his work as a guide for Haunted Asheville.
Asheville Archives: City faces housing shortage for summer tourists, 1920
With the number of visitors expected to reach new highs, residents and local officials worried about housing issues for Asheville’s 1920 summer tourists.
Asheville Archives: Women’s professional attire, 1911
In honor of our annual Women in Business issue, we explore professional women’s attire in the early 1910s.
Asheville Archives: Local resident reflects on Cherokee history, 1903
“Too little has been written about the early Indians who peopled North Carolina,” The Asheville Citizen declared on July 19, 1903. Fortunately for the paper’s readers, a June 1903 booklet — North Carolina Cherokee Indians — offered a detailed account on the very topic.
Cherokee fight to save language from extinction
In classrooms throughout North Carolina and Oklahoma, students are learning about the periodic table of elements or the origins of the Civil War. However, in some classrooms, the lessons are a bit more personal — Cherokee students are learning the history and language of their people. Cherokee speakers have made great efforts to keep their […]
Asheville Archives: The city celebrates Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt’s birth
On Aug. 22, 1900, Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt was born. The Asheville Citizen and other papers reported on the arrival of the newborn at the Biltmore Estate.
News in brief: Disaster relief available for Fred victims
The N.C. Division of Employment Security announced the approval of Disaster Unemployment Assistance benefits on Sept. 10. The move follows a federal major disaster declaration Sept. 8 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and White House at the request of Gov. Roy Cooper.
Asheville Archives: Residents protest new construction on public land, 1891
Local resident E.J. Armstrong began work on constructing a pavilion on Court Square (today’s Pack Square) in 1891. The initial project was met without resistance; but as the size of the structure became apparent, citizens called for its removal.
WECAN Man project spotlights diverse neighborhood
JP Chalarca discusses his new oral history project, which tells the stories of people who live and work in the West End Clingman Avenue Neighborhood.
Asheville Motor Speedway’s legacy endures
More than two decades after the speedway closed, some of its most passionate supporters gauge the historical significance of “The River,” as well as the opportunities available to modern racing fans and drivers.
Asheville Archives: Literary expectations hound Thomas Wolfe, 1931
Despite public outcries over his 1929 debut novel, Look Homeward, Angel, local residents were still eager to know what Thomas Wolfe had planned next. As pressure mounted to deliver his next book, Wolfe begged his mother to not leak any information to the Asheville press.
Asheville Archives: 1891 resident shares his vision of the city’s future
In an 1891 article, published by The Asheville Daily Citizen, an unnamed writer shared his visions from a recent dream wherein he time-traveled to 1950.
New book explores 1936 slaying at the Battery Park Hotel
After nearly a decade’s worth of research, local author Anne Chesky Smith celebrates the publication of her new book, Murder at Asheville’s Battery Park Hotel: The Search for Helen Clevenger’s Killer.
New exhibit chronicles South Slope and Southside history
The South Slope Neighborhood Association has created an exhibit of six weatherproof panels that chronicle important topics and people from far before the current food and beverage boom.
Asheville Archives: The city hires its first Black police officers, 1946
In 1946, at the urging of local residents, the city of Asheville hired its first two Black officers.
Cullowhee’s enigmatic Judaculla Rock continues to inspire conjecture
A tribal historian with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, a local author and a Western Carolina University biology professor share thoughts on the Jackson County landmark, which bears some carvings thought to predate the recorded history of the Cherokee.
Asheville Archives: Imaginary melee at the Biltmore Estate makes front-page news, 1891
On Sept. 14, 1891, the Asheville Daily Citizen falsely reported that roughly 600 Black workers nearly broke out into a riot at the Biltmore Estate. Subsequent letters to the editor refuted the paper’s unfounded claims.
Asheville Archives: Workers go on strike at American Enka, 1941
Demanding higher wages, better working conditions and paid time off, workers at American Enka went on strike in late March 1941.
Asheville Archives: The influence of white supremacy in the women’s suffrage movement
In the summer of 1920, local residents disputed the merits and perceived risks associated with the passage of the 19th Amendment. Racism, rather than sexism, was a key factor on both sides of the argument.