Stephens-Lee High School, known of as “The Castle on the Hill,” was designed by Asheville architect Ronald Greene at a cost of $115,000 and opened on March 7, 1923. It was designed for a capacity of 900 students and it opened with 856. It was the only public high school for blacks in Asheville. Some
We’ve been so busy processing special collections, we haven’t been very good at letting you know what is new in the North Carolina Room. Donations are the life-blood of our collection, and we are so appreciative to our donors and to those who help push collections our way. And the variety of these new collections
Monumental Decisions: The Legacy and Future of Civil War Markers in Our Public Spaces Date: Saturday February 3rd Time: 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm Where: Pack Memorial Library, Lord Auditorium, lower level. This event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Friends of the North Carolina Room Like any local history room,
Henry A. Wallace served as vice president of the U.S. under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1941-1945. He made his final public action in a failed bid for the presidency of the U.S. in 1948. Still commanding a modest following from left-wing groups, he ran on the Progressive ticket, campaigning against Truman, the Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey, and the
The YMI Cultural Center is currently exhibiting a diverse cross-section of 52 portraits from the “Americans Who Tell the Truth” portrait project. The portraits, painted by artist Robert Shetterly, form an extraordinarily powerful and inspiring civic engagement/traveling art exhibition. This collection of paintings now contains portraits of 210 courageous truth-tellers, both historical and current day. These include
Tempie Avery was a young girl purchased in Charleston in 1840 by Nicholas Woodfin. During her time on his plantation she became a midwife delivering both black and white babies in Asheville. After the Civil War, Mr. Woodfin deeded property to Tempie at 26 Pearson Drive, the current site of the Montford Community Center. On
The North Carolina Room received a call from someone–with both musical and local history interests–asking if there really was a collapse of the Swannanoa Tunnel, as the song, “Swannanoa Tunnel” relates? I said I would send him an article about it, thinking in a free moment I would just slap the article on the scanner and have it off to him.
The Western North Carolina Railroad was chartered in 1852 by the North Carolina General Assembly. A railway was to be constructed from Salisbury to some point on the French Broad River beyond the Blue Ridge. By 1859 the road had reached Morganton, a distance of 84 miles. [Asheville News July 14, 1859.] The Western North