Welcome to Katherine Calhoun Cutshall
Katherine on her first day of work in the North Carolina Room. Note the clean desk.
Katherine Calhoun Cutshall joined the staff of the North Carolina room last week, and she’s excited to put her skills and knowledge of local history to work at Pack Memorial Library. A Buncombe County native and lover of all things western North Carolina, she is thrilled to be downtown, and among the reference stacks. Katherine graduated in 2016 from the University of North Carolina Asheville with a degree in History, and is pursuing her Master of Liberal Arts and Sciences degree from her alma mater. Katherine lives in the Dix Creek community of Leicester with her husband Doug, her dog Scooter, an ever-growing flock of chickens, and an abundance of wild turkeys and other flora and fauna found on their little farm.
This is her first job in a library setting. Cutshall began her career in museums while still studying at UNCA. From 2013-2016 she took on internships and employment with the Governor Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace state historic site in Weaverville and the North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center in Fayetteville. While she enjoys studying all history related to WNC, she is especially interested in pre-civil war and working class histories.
Her undergraduate research titled, “In the Grip of Slavery: The Development of a Slave Society Surrounding the Establishment of Stock Stands on the Buncombe Turnpike 1790-1855” examines how a slave-labor driven economy developed along the Buncombe Turnpike, a major trade road that cut through Buncombe, Madison and Henderson Counties. In addition to that research she is interested in Appalachian arts and culture, and likes to spend her spare time researching her family history in Asheville and the southern highlands.
She loves to help patrons explore their research topics, learn about new digital resources, and find creative ways to connect the dots when all hope seems lost to find a seemingly forgotten story.
Katherine after her first full two weeks and her first manuscript collection. Please note desk.
Please come by and welcome Katherine.
On behalf of the Friends Board, welcome! We feel very lucky to have you in the Room and look forward to working with you.
[…] along with local indigenous people to get the school system to stop the use of the racist mascots. Katherine Cutshall, who will serve as my mentor throughout the internship, showed me the three huge cardboard boxes […]