Hello, dear readers! We hope you’ll join us for upcoming events in the next few months, including the next installment of our Land of the Sky 101 Book Club, a series of flatfoot dancing lessons, an exhibition and series of programs on NC’s unique legacy of “moonshine and motorsports,” and an author talk about George Masa’s new biography! Plus, we’re highlighting a handful of other free community history events that we’re excited about from friends & partners.
Did you know? In addition to BCSC-hosted events, other branches in the Buncombe County Public Library system regularly hold local history events! Our event calendar can keep you up-to-date with what we’re doing as well as other public programs, like Swannanoa Valley Book Club meetings hosted at the Black Mountain Library in collaboration with the Swannanoa Valley Museum & History Center.
Schedule changes: If you are planning a research visit, please be aware that BCSC will be open by appointment only from September 14-21 for our quarterly in-service week.
Staffing changes: At the end of June we wished a fond farewell to our colleague Catherine Amos, who has been a constant presence helping researchers with inquiries at our reference desk for over a year.
Catherine will be bringing her talents to our friends at the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County. We wish her the best of luck & look forward to future collaborations!
Land of the Sky 101 Book Club
Saturday, August 3, 2024, 10:30am – 12pm
Activity Room, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
Land of the Sky 101 is a community learning circle for those who are interested in the history of Asheville, Buncombe County, and Western North Carolina.
This four-part series of readings and discussions is modeled after the themes of the exhibit An Incomplete History of Buncombe County in the BCSC reading room. Each session will be facilitated by a Buncombe County Special Collections librarian or special guest who will share their expert knowledge, additional resources, and set the context for the conversation.
For our third session of the 2024 cohort, we will be reading and discussing Serena by Ron Rash and Blue Ridge Commons: Environmental Activism and Forest History in Western North Carolina by Kathryn Newfont.
This session is almost full–please sign up if you plan to come! You can also view a complete list of dates and titles here for future sessions.
Flatfoot Dancing for Beginners
Three sessions:
Saturday, August 10, 10:30 – 11:30am
Tuesday, August 13, 6 – 7 pm
Tuesday, August 20, 6 – 7 pm
Lord Auditorium, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
Join Buncombe County Special Collections for a traditional mountain dancing lesson suited for true beginners.
During the month of August there will be three opportunities at Pack Memorial Library to learn the basics of this traditional Appalachian style of dance from one of the best instructors in the area, Linda Block, of the Green Grass Cloggers.
Classes are free to attend, but registration is required.
Reserve your spot now:
Adults and families are welcome! (Recommended for ages 10 and up, with parent present.) Make sure to wear comfortable clothing and shoes that can slide but stay on your feet! Open toed shoes are not recommended. Water bottles with lids are welcome.
Moonshine & Motorsports
Exhibition on view Tuesday, September 3 – Saturday September 28, 2024
Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
The traveling exhibit Moonshine & Motorsports will be on view at Pack Memorial Library throughout the month of September! Drop in any time the library is open to learn more about the rich history and legacy of moonshine and motorsports in North Carolina from the mountains to the coast.
The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) is developing a Moonshine and Motorsports Trail to highlight the state’s unique history. Distilling grew out of the state’s rich agricultural and social history, and auto racing in North Carolina has grown from occasional competitions among speed-hungry moonshiners during the 1930s to a multibillion-dollar industry that attracts legions of devoted followers across the nation and world.
We are excited to host several events that highlight local history in conjunction with the exhibition.
Thunder Road (1958) Film Screening
Saturday, September 7, 2024, 10:30 am
Lord Auditorium, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
Join BCSC at Pack Memorial Library for a screening of the 1958 film starring Robert Mitchum. Filmed largely in Asheville, the film follows a Korean War vet who returns home to take over the family bootlegging business.
Thunder Road: On Location “Then & Now”
Saturday, September 14, 2024, 2:30 pm
Lord Auditorium, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
Frank Thompson, a local film historian and author of a forthcoming book about the 1958 film Thunder Road, will share a presentation highlighting “then & now” views of local filming locations for the classic movie at Pack Memorial Library.
Light refreshments will be served. RSVP encouraged but not required.
West End Women: Liquor, Labor, & Love in Urban Appalachia
Tuesday, September 24, 2024, 6:00 pm
Special Collections Reading Room, Pack Memorial Library, 67 Haywood Street
While we may imagine the typical moonshiner as a gangly man in overalls, plenty of women were involved in the business, too! Mothers, grandmothers, sisters and aunties across the rapidly-urbanizing city of Asheville were operating stills and “drink houses” in their own homes. Many of them concentrated in the working-class neighborhood known as the West End, Factory Hill, or Chicken Hill.
Join BCSC collection manager, Katherine Cutshall, to learn about how working-class women living in the West End neighborhood of Asheville supported their families by participating in the moonshine business.
RSVP encouraged but not required.
CANCELLED: Since the Thunder Stopped: 25 Year Anniversary of the Final Race at Asheville Motor Speedway
Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER!
New date: Tuesday, October 1, 2024, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
CANCELLED DUE TO EVEN MORE, WORSE WEATHER 🙁
Carrier Park Picnic Shelter, 220 Amboy Road
Join BCSC and local NASCAR and moonshine historian Dr. Daniel Pierce (Real NASCAR, Tarheel Lightning) to learn and share stories and memories about the history of the New Asheville Motor Speedway that occupied the site of what is now Carrier Park. We especially encourage folks with special connections to AMS to join us!
Light refreshments will be served. RSVP encouraged but not required.
George Masa: A Life Reimagined
Wednesday, September 11, 2 – 3:30 pm
East Asheville Library, 3 Avon Road
From Cornell University librarian Janet McCue and documentary filmmaker Paul Bonesteel comes the first comprehensively researched biography of the visionary Japanese photographer whose dedication to art and conservation helped spur the national park movement in the Great Smoky Mountains and the creation of the Appalachian Trail.
What moves a person to leave all that they have known for something new, something different, something adventurous?
Paul Bonesteel and Janet McCue will discuss their groundbreaking new book, in which they tell Masa’s story in full for the first time with the benefit of years of research conducted in both the United States and Japan.
This free author event will be held at the East Asheville Library in partnership with Malaprop’s Bookstore / Cafe and Smokies Life.
Community Events
We’d also like to highlight a few other selected upcoming local history events coming up in August and September from our friends and partners! All of the below events are free to the public, but please refer to the links for further information or to RSVP. These events are not held by BCSC; please contact their respective host organizations with any questions.
Thomas Wolfe Memorial: Genius Film Screening and Discussion
Friday, August 23, 2024 at 5:30 pm
Thomas Wolfe Memorial, 52 North Market Street, Asheville
Based on A. Scott Berg’s biography Editor of Genius, the film Genius focuses on famed literary editor Maxwell Perkins (Colin Firth) and his friendship and working relationship with Thomas Wolfe (Jude Law). Join the Thomas Wolfe Memorial for a screening of Genius and a short discussion on the real people behind the actors, and the story of Wolfe’s last years.
If you’d like to attend, please call the Thomas Wolfe Memorial at 828-253-8304, or email Kayla Seay at kayla.seay@dncr.nc.gov to reserve a spot. This event has a maximum capacity of 40.
Wilma Dykeman Legacy: An Evening of Appalachian Ballads
Thursday, September 19, 7 – 8:30pm
Weaverville Community Center, 60 Lakeshore Dr, Weaverville
Saro Lynch-Thomason is an award-winning singer, song leader, folklorist, documentarian, and illustrator from Asheville, North Carolina. She has studied and taught traditional song and balladry from Appalachia, the American South, the British Isles and Ireland for over a decade. Saro believes that old songs can help us understand the beliefs and struggles that shape human history, and that in turn, these songs enable us to build a more compassionate and just future.
Asheville Museum of History: Opening of The Photography of Andrea Clark: Remembering Asheville’s East End Community
Saturday, September 21, 11am – 5pm
Asheville Museum of History, Smith-McDowell House, 283 Victoria Road, Asheville
The Asheville Museum of History will celebrate the official opening of the exhibition The Photography of Andrea Clark: Remembering Asheville’s East End Community with a free Community Day. The exhibition features photographs on loan from the Andrea Clark Collection at Buncombe County Special Collections.
Community Day programming is free to the public, and will include scholarly lectures on Asheville’s urban renewal, a panel discussion with the artist Andrea Clark and East End community members, live music, and other activities. For the full schedule, programming details, and attendee sign-up, visit the AMOH website, or contact director@ashevillehistory.org for more information.
POSTPONED: YMI Cultural Center: Grand Re-Opening & Ribbon-Cutting
Thursday, September 26, 10am – noon
YMI Cultural Center, 39 South Market Street, Asheville
We look forward to joining our friends at the YMI to celebrate their long-awaited grand reopening! This special event will mark the beginning of a new chapter for the YMI, featuring engaging programs, performances, and tours of their updated spaces.
As part of the Black Asheville History Project, BCSC has been working with YMI staff and volunteers to maintain and share their archives. For the past two years, the records of the YMI were housed at the Western Regional Archives and Pack Memorial Library, and were recently returned to the YMI.
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Learn more on our event calendar below:
