In October 1918, in the midst of a worldwide influenza pandemic, Asheville residents opted to wear medical masks as opposed to Halloween costumes.
Tag: #tuesdayhistory
Showing 1-21 of 48 results
Asheville Archives: Asheville Colored Hospital opens, 1943
In 1941, two years before the Asheville Colored Hospital opened, Asheville’s African-American population numbered 14,500. At the time, the segregated city only had 21 hospital beds available for the entire African-American community.
Asheville Archives: The Beaucatcher Tunnel project, 1927-29
In May 1927, work officially began on Beaucatcher Tunnel. Controversy and catastrophe would haunt the two-year project.
Asheville Archives: The death of George Willis Pack
On Aug. 31, 1906, Asheville mourned the loss of George Willis Pack.
Asheville Archives: Buffalo return to WNC
In 1916, plans were underway to bring herds of elk and buffalo to Pisgah Forest. Difficulties and delays would plague the project.
Asheville Archives: The Asheville library opens, 1879
Anna Aston, Fannie L. Patton and Anna Chunn were among the earliest advocates for a library in Asheville. The institution finally opened in May of 1879.
Asheville Archives: ‘These innocent little unfortunates’
On March 11, 1890, the the Buncombe County Children’s Home opened.
Asheville Archives: Emancipation Day
Throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, Asheville’s African-American community took to the streets on Jan. 1 of each year to celebrate Emancipation Day.
Asheville Archives: The short life of Dr. William Green Torrence
In 1906, Dr. William Green Torrence arrived in Asheville. Four years later, he would set up the city’s first African-American hospital inside his home on Eagle Street.
Asheville Archives: The Langren Hotel brings the latest amenities to the city, 1912
The Langren Hotel opened on July 4, 1912. It had 210 rooms and was capable of accommodating 500 guests. The city celebrated the new hostelry. Meanwhile, the Asheville Gazette News declared it “the most important achievement in the way of provision for the tourist business, in western North Carolina in a decade.”
Tuesday History: A daredevil comes to town
In the mid-1920s, a daredevil arrived to Asheville ready to scale the city’s tallest buildings.
Tuesday History: The half-known life of Tempie Avery
Tempie Avery was a midwife, nurse and former slave of Asheville attorney and state senator Nicholas Woodfin.
Tuesday History: ‘We are born alone’
October was a significant month in writer Thomas Wolfe’s life. The Asheville native was born Oct. 3, 1900. Decades later, his first novel, Look Homeward, Angel came out on Oct. 18, 1929. Local responses were not favorable to Wolfe’s book.
Asheville Archives: ‘On the highest hill in the town’
Anticipation for Col. Franklin Coxe’s Battery Park Hotel was evident in early newspaper reports.
Asheville Archives: The Asheville Club moves to Haywood Street, 1901
On Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1901, The Asheville Citizen offered readers a detailed description of the Asheville Club’s new headquarters built on the corner of Haywood and Government [now College] streets.
Asheville Archives: Asheville’s streetcars take a farewell tour, Sept. 6, 1934
After 45 years of service, the final seven street cars departed from Pritchard Park on Thursday, Sept. 6, 1934, heading toward West Asheville for one last ride.
Tuesday History: YWCA’s 75th anniversary celebration
“[F]or roughly half a century, two YWCAs operated in Asheville, operating the program that is the YWCA. And during all these years parallel programs were operating in our city,” says Thelma Caldwell, in her 1981 speech at the YWCA’s annual meeting.
Tuesday History: Controversy surrounds the merger of YWCA’s two branches, 1970
On October 24, 1970, Virginia Bailey, president of the Asheville YWCA, shared with the Asheville Citizen the most common complaint the organization received following the announcement: “‘We want our white Y; it is as important to us as the South French Broad branch is to the blacks.’”
Tuesday History: The 1969 Asheville High School walkout, as recalled by Roger Ball
In 1969, Roger Ball was a senior at Asheville High School. He was also the school’s photographer. Before the walkout occured, Ball was asked by Principal Clark Pennell to capture the day’s events on his camera.
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.