Part One: Blacks Vote for Public Education, Win a Separate but Unequal Place in the New School System When Asheville went to the polls in July 1887 and narrowly approved a resolution establishing tax-supported public schools, black voters provided the crucial margin of support. The city took this step forward during an era of educational … Continue reading Asheville’s First City Schools for Black Students
In our recent post "PART 2: A WHO’S WHO LIST OF PROMINENT BLACK ASHEVILLE BUSINESSMEN IN 1922" we were giving the story of Noah Murrough and said that he had joined the Maceo Volunteers, a company of “colored men under Capt. Thomas L. Leatherwood” that left Asheville in July 1898 for Cuba. It occured to me … Continue reading Did your African American Ancestor March From Asheville to Volunteer in the Spanish American War?
"View of the Mountains from a Villa in Kenilworth, Asheville, NC" Postcard Of all the communities on our list, one of the most photographed besides Downtown Asheville, may be Kenilworth. This Asheville Suburb in the southeast part of the city sprung onto the scene in the late 1910's and rose in popularity into the 1920's … Continue reading A Kenilworth Research Album: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
One of the resources hiding away in the North Carolina Room reference stacks are various church histories and minutes. Most of the time, these valuable records sit around on the shelf and do not see much use. If you think about it, it’s easy to understand why. On the surface, it may not seem like … Continue reading “We found all in Fellowship” at Flat Creek: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
Hiding away in the Five Points neighborhood of Asheville are some of Asheville's stories of philanthropy and heroism. The neighborhood, though it was officially established and named only fairly recently, was developed much earlier. Most of the extant homes were constructed in the late 19th and early 20th century, the bulk of them in the … Continue reading A Couple of Folks from Five Points: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
WEDNESDAY JUNE 26, 2019 FROM 6:00 TO 7:00 PM “HOLLERING: FARM CALLS FROM RURAL NORTH CAROLINa" PRESENTED BY SARO LYNCH-THOMASON LORD AUDITORIUM, PACK MEMORIAL LIBRARY, LOWER LEVEL. ALL EVENTs ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Light Refreshments will be served Blanche Wells (Mrs. Buck Abrams) feeding chickens at Sandy Mush. July 3, 1923. … Continue reading “Sue Cow! Sukee, sukee, sukee! Sue cow!” Farm Hollering: Wednesday June 26th
“Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king's dale: …and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom's place.” 2 Samuel 18:18 Though he died in 1838, by 1887 Absalom Dillingham managed, in his own way, … Continue reading “Keep My Name in Remembrance,” Dillingham: 52 Weeks, 52 Communities
Remembering the Kenhurst lodge North Carolina Room Friend Cliff Lively is the current resident of the stately home on Elk Mountain Highway that was known for 30 years as Kenhurst Lodge. We thank Mr. Lively for lending the Library his collection of material relating to the Lodge, including guests' letters, brochures, guest book, guest registers, and a … Continue reading Remembering the Kenhurst Lodge on Elk Mountain Scenic Highway
Sometimes things just make you wonder, like the name "Chicken Hill." As a Buncombe County native, I remember asking my dad as we would cut through West Haywood to avoid (what we called then) the Westgate Bridge, "Why is that place called Chicken Hill?" and his response, always trying to teach me better observe my … Continue reading Where are All the Chickens on Chicken Hill? : 52 Weeks 52 Communities
