From Asheville’s first elected Black person in 1882 to the destructive outcomes of one of the South’s largest urban renewal projects in the 1960s and ’70s on a previously thriving Southside community, the mile-long trail takes visitors through the under-told stories of Black Asheville’s long history in three sections.
The Orange Peel has earned a reputation as one of the premier concert venues in the Southeast over the past two decades. But the musical roots of the building at 101 Biltmore Ave. stretch back to long before the current club opened in 2002.
A local attorney pens a new children’s book. Plus, UNCA hosts the Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, a new art exhibit highlights creatures of the Serengeti and the Mount Mitchell Crafts Fair returns to Burnsville’s town square.
Leaders at the Explore Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau are looking for new approaches to put the city on the map as a diverse destination by tapping into Asheville’s rich Black history and Black entrepreneurs.
A blog series from the Buncombe County Public Libraries details the occupations of Black women in 1890. Plus, the Swannanoa Valley Museum presents a look at historic Black Mountain College photos, a local artist honors women with free art and more.
Plummer shares her thoughts on the Young Men’s Institute Cultural Center, which celebrated its 129th birthday Feb. 12.
“The importance of black history and the contributions of many African-Americans in our state and national history cannot be overstated.”
“So if we are going to rise forth, let us begin to courageously open the gates of true intellect and research and let go of holding back hidden facts in fear.”
From textbooks to newspapers, from monuments to public orations, the Lost Cause narrative sought to present the Confederates’ wartime efforts, not as one of defeat, but heroism in the face of great odds. The campaign also aimed to reimagine slavery as both a benign and beneficial institution.
Last year, historian and eight-time Story Slam winner, Ray Christian, launched his podcast series, ‘What Ray’s Saying.’ The monthly program is a combination of storytelling, Black history and social commentary.
While WNC remained segregated, Horace Rutherford — rumored to never turn away business — wasn’t opposed to allowing white people to drink at his bar, and Roseland Gardens may have been the first integrated establishment in the region.
A revitalized volunteer push is underway to rescue Western North Carolina’s oldest known African-American cemetery from the ravages of neglect and obscurity. The effort includes a new website that features an interactive map of the cemetery and a digital guide to each of its graves.
A handful of documents changed the character of the United States. The 13th Amendment, formally ending legal slavery in this country, is one of them. North Carolina’s copy of the document will be exhibited in WNC for the first time on June 12 at Vance Birthplace in Weaverville.
In Buncombe County, thousands of slaves toiled as cooks, farmers, tour guides, maids, blacksmiths, tailors, miners, farmers, road builders and more, local records show. And after mostly ignoring that troubled history for a century and a half, the county is now taking groundbreaking steps to honor the contributions of those former residents by making its slave records readily available online.
Urban renewal, once hailed as the savior of urban areas, has often led to unintended consequences. The drastic reshaping of a city can prompt the demolition of entire neighborhoods, often including homes that were historically owned by African-American families. Asheville has its own history of troublesome urban renewal, especially in the East End neighborhood, where […]
