WNC History at the Smith-McDowell House Museum

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On this day in WNC History: Black Mountain College opened to students for the first time in 1933. Based on the principle of progressive education, BMC offered a new model of learning, particularly in the liberal arts. The college initially rented buildings from the YMCA’s Blue Ridge Assembly, but eventually moved to a new campus at Lake Eden from 1941—1957. BMC was governed/owned by its faculty and all college members participated in its operations, maintenance, and even farm work. The president explained that the instructors would be advisors, facilitators, and friends to students. After entering the junior college, students would move on to the senior program after comprehensive exams in a broad array of liberal arts subjects and graduate when they chose. Students did not receive accredited degrees, but left with expected personal growth. BMC’s founding occurred alongside the rise of Nazism in Germany and the closing of the Bauhaus School there, encouraging many intellectuals and students to immigrate to this small campus. It also operated during the period of Jim Crow segregation, when some faculty were reluctant to strain their relationship with the surrounding community by integrating. After much deliberation, BMC admitted the first African American woman to attend a white higher-ed school in the Jim Crow South when Alma Stone Williams entered in 1944. Gradually, several African Americans began teaching in summer and then regular programs as more students arrived under Rosenwald-funded salaries and scholarships. BMC shifted in the 1950s to a literary focus, and began publishing a journal in 1954. Three years later, under mounting debts and declining enrollment, the school closed. Today both the Black Mountain College Museum and Arts Center as well as the Journal of Black Mountain College Studies work to explore the legacy of this experimental and influential school. (Images: Black Mountain College, 1934 and 1949 architecture class, courtesy Western Regional Archives; Boston Globe, Aug 28, 1933; Asheville Citizen, Sep 23, 1933) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory #BlackMountainCollege (at Black Mountain, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CUPkZsirqTD/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: The second hotel to stand on this prominent hill, Asheville’s new Battery Park Hotel opened on this day in 1924. In 1886, Frank Coxe financed construction of the first hotel, a sprawling Queen Anne-style structure with 270 rooms and multiple turrets or towers. It was built on the high hill where a Confederate battery once stood, and hosted guests and many important meetings until its demise in 1923. By that point, E.W. Grove, a tonic-water magnate from Tennessee, had moved to Asheville and constructed the Grove Park Inn. He then developed plans for a newer Battery Park Hotel alongside an adjacent arcade or shopping center. His construction projects required the grading and removal of a large part of “Battery Porter Hill” as well as the demolition of the existing structure. The hotel was completed in only eleven months. The new hotel, which featured brick, limestone, and even terra cotta on the roof, embodied many different architectural styles. Featuring 220 rooms, it rose fourteen stories, with the top floor containing penthouse rooms and a roof dining patio offered fantastic views of the burgeoning city. Many guests at the opening ceremony saw traces of the old building in the new, but Asheville native Thomas Wolfe described it as a “biscuit cutter” design, looking much like one thousand other hotels built in this period, including those in New York City, the base of its architect. Grove’s hotel aided the tourist influx into Asheville during the late 1920s, and managed to survive even through the Great Depression. E.W. Grove died at the hotel in 1927, but it became most famous as the site of Helen Clevenger’s murder in 1936. Battery Park Hotel hosted guests until 1972, and in the 1980s became an apartment building for senior citizens, still in use today. (Images: Last dirt removed from hill, 1924; Richard Hansley, photographer, Battery Park Hotel (back-middle), 1886; Hotel Construction, 12/1/1923; hotel dining room, 1924, all courtesy Buncombe County Special Collections; Asheville Citizen, Sep 19, 1924) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory #Asheville #BatteryParkHotel #History (at Asheville, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CT9jj_OLO7k/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: Hailing from what is today western NC (and several other states), on Sept 9, 1730, seven Cherokee chiefs including Attakullakulla signed a treaty with the British in London. This marked the first large-scale agreement by Cherokee delegations with the British and their colonists. Earlier that year at Nikwasi (modern Franklin, NC) Sir Alexander Cumming convinced some Cherokees to designate Moytoy of Tellico (modern TN) as their emperor in exchange for Moytoy recognizing King George II as the chief protector of the Cherokee. The Cherokee found themselves in a battle for land and allegiance between the British and French empires and had organized into a distinctive tribe controlling the southern Appalachians by this time. Colonial agents from VA and SC began leading trade expeditions into Cherokee lands by the late 1600s, and in 1721, the Cherokee signed their first land cession relinquishing a large chunk of modern SC. During this time, SC also began enslaving large numbers of natives to be exported, all while disease continued to ravage already decimated native populations. While the Cherokee may have numbered over 22,000 in 1650, they were reduced to an estimated 8,500 by 1776. The seven Cherokee, with Attakullakulla in Moytoy’s stead, travelled to England and stayed from June-October. The met the king in native attire, including loincloths, with one holding a bow and one a musket, and were accompanied by a translator. After months of interaction they signed a treaty with the king expressing love for his Cherokee “children” as their father and proclaiming a chain of friendship between the two nations. He expressed his intent that the Cherokee should live where they please and that South Carolinians should trade with them. This pact also bound the Cherokee to return captured enslaved people in exchange for guns. Critically, it bound them to fight against any group, native or white, which threatened the British settlements. The delegates departed on October 8, but arrived home to find many of their towns angry with the agreement. (Images: Isaac Basire, engraver, The Seven Cherokee, 1730; London Public Advertiser, Mar 15, 1760) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTmWWfhrAyi/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: Defeating the Nashville Cubs 2-1 in a game at McCormick Field, the Asheville Blues of the Negro Southern League won their first official championship in 1946. The season was split in two halves and the Asheville squad won both, including their final sixteen games, to finish at .800 on the year. They proceeded to win the next year’s pennant as well, defeating the New Orleans Creoles in a best of five playoff series. Asheville’s first Black baseball team, the Royal Giants, played from the 1910s through the 1920s, and transitioned into the Black Tourists in the 1930s. The Negro Southern League formed in 1920 and operated until 1937, after which time national leagues for Black players acquired many of their stars. In February, 1945, nine representatives of potential teams met in Nashville and voted to re-start their league. Asheville’s team, managed and owned by C.L. Moore, finished at 18-14 on the year in third place. As the season was split, and Asheville finished on a hot streak, they apparently believed they had won the second half crown, and debuted the next year in 1946 with the Asheville Citizen marketing them as champions of the league. They played under the Blues moniker as Moore disliked the common practice of designating teams as the “Black” counterpart of whatever white team played in a city. The Blues played in front of a segregated crowd at McCormick Field, often hosting exhibition games versus national league Black teams. They completed three successful seasons before they switched to the Negro American Association for the 1948 season, alongside their Atlanta rivals. That year they hosted the Brooklyn Dodgers with Jackie Robinson in and exhibition game and lost their league championship series to the Raleigh Tigers four games to two. (Images: 1946 Blues Team (Moore kneeling, left front, and team doctor Dr. White in suit); 1918 Royal Giants play at Oats Park on Southside Avenue, courtesy Buncombe County Special Collections; Asheville Citizen, Sep 9, 1946, Feb 18, 1946, and Apr 11, 1948) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory #NegroSouthernLeagueMuseum #BaseballHistory #AshevilleBlues (at Asheville, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CTj-LsPrTsQ/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this Day in WNC history: Though he spoke from the Tennessee side, on this day in 1940, President Franklin Roosevelt officially dedicated the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with a speech at Newfound Gap. The push for a park or forest reserve in NC (and eastern TN) began decades earlier as concerned citizens and civic leaders recognized the growing destruction wrought by industrial logging following the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s. From 1899-1905, the Appalachian National Park Association (later called the Southern Forest Reserve Association) advocated for protection of mountain forests which contributed to the region’s tourism appeal and also helped lessen flooding, among other things. This early effort also fostered competition between NC and TN for the first eastern national park, with both hoping to attract tourists. In 1911, NC ceded the first eastern tract of land purchased for forest conservation under what became the National Forest Service, but the competition for a national park continued: all while logging companies kept cutting. In 1926, President Coolidge signed legislation creating the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The federal government purchased lands through the 1930s, acquiring tracts from residents as well as timber companies. This gave some cash-poor locals opportunities, but often came with great sadness as traditional livelihoods and communities were displaced, sometimes through eminent domain. At the same time, the NPS strove to create an imagined “wildnerness” in the park, and interpreted those who still lived there in pockets such as Cades Cove as “pioneers” or relics of the first white settlers. In his speech, dedicating the park to the American people, Roosevelt alluded to this “frontier” and “untamed” area, attracting national news coverage. Visitation quickly boomed, and for several decades, the Smokies and the adjoining Blue Ridge Parkway have been the most visited of our national parks. (Images: Asheville Citizen, Sep 3, 1940; “Address at Dedication of Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” The American Presidency Project; Knoxville News Sentinel, Sep 2, 1940) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory #GSMNP https://www.instagram.com/p/CTUh_n4LRRN/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: WNC is a large region, comprising 23 counties since the creation of Avery County in 1911. But did you know it was once even larger? On this day in 1776, the NC Provincial Council received a petition from the residents of the Watauga Association asking for annexation into North Carolina. In 1772, settlers in what is now northeastern Tennessee negotiated a lease with the Cherokees for ten years on lands far west of the Proclamation Line of 1763. They established a semi-autonomous government known as the Watauga Association, though, like most colonists, viewed themselves as British subjects. By the time of the American Revolution in 1775, they expressed loyalty to the united colonies, and formed a committee of safety to handle wartime functions. At this point, the Cherokee allied with the British and launched an unsuccessful multi-pronged attack on the Watauga settlement in July, 1776 after settlers refused to vacate Cherokee lands. Under these circumstances, the Wataugans first asked Virginia for incorporation, but with no success, turned to NC. They noted the slander often lodged against them as being a lawless mob, but sought to demonstrate their success in organizing a functional government in their petition. They also stated their ability to raise a capable fighting force to “act in the common cause on the sea shore.” Signers included John Carter, John Sevier, and several members of the Crockett family. The new Washington District sent representatives to the Provincial Congress at Halifax in November, 1776, and was accepted into NC as Washington County in 1777. The county became part of the short-lived State of Franklin in 1784 before reverting to NC. In 1790, it became part of the incorporated Southwest Territory, and finally became part of Tennessee in 1796. (Images: Washington District Map, J.D. Lewis, Carolana.com; “Petition from inhabitants of the Washington District concerning the annexation of the district to North Carolina,” NC Colonial and State Records, v10; Reconstructed Fort Watauga at Sycamore Shoals State Park, courtesy Brian Stansberry) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory #WataugaSettlement #CherokeeHistory #NCHistory https://www.instagram.com/p/CS4GZNgLS0S/?utm_medium=tumblr

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From BeLoved-Asheville: Tropical storm Fred destroyed many parts of WNC, especially our neighbors in Swannanoa, Black Mountain, Candler, Canton. We need your help to continue making sure these folks are receiving the help they need! PLEASE HELP Via BeLoved's Website: belovedasheville.com Venmo: @BeLoved-Asheville CashApp: $BeLovedAsheville Other places to donate supplies (from the Rev. Todd Donatelli, Interim Rector, St. Andrew's, Canton): 1) Shining Rock Classical Academy, on Dellwood Road is accepting- Bottled water, Personal Hygiene Supplies (Toothbrushes, paste, soap, etc.), Cleaning Supplies, Bleach, Non-perishable food items from 7:30 am – 5:30 pm on Thursday and Friday, Saturday from 8:00 am-noon. 2) Haywood County DSS (at the Old Walmart site on Paragon Parkway in Clyde) is also collecting the same items AND gifts cards, especially to Wal Mart. Collecting Thursday and Friday from 8:00 am-5:00 pm. 3) Open Doors/Second Blessing Thrift Store, Waynesville, 32 Commerce Street, Sliced luncheon meat and cheese, Large frozen family meals (Lasagna, Macaroni & Cheese), Individually wrapped snacking food, Linens (Blankets, Pillows), Travel size hygiene products (soap, shampoo, etc). Taking donations at Second Blessing Thrift Store. 10:00 am - 3:30 pm. 4) Waynesville First Baptist, 100 S. Main Street. Taking new clothes for school age young people. Drop off Friday 9:00 am- 1:00 pm, Sunday 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm. Financial Contributions: United Way of Haywood County- mark any checks with 'Flood Recovery'. P.O. Box 1139, Waynesville, NC 28786 Volunteer opportunities: 1) Cruso Methodist has become a location for emergency workers to park and operate from. They will be opening their parish hall on a daily basis to provide a place for workers and residents in the area to rest, have coffee, cookies, use the restrooms. 2) Ongoing Volunteers Opportunities are being coordinated by John Chicione with the Mountain Projects Volunteer Services Center. Please contact John Chicoine at either [email protected] or call 828-356-2833 to offer your assistance. #Volunteer #Flood #asheville #wncmountains (at Asheville, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSz1TpjLXci/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: The 1916 flood wreaked unimagined havoc, but twenty-four years later, another deluge spread destruction and death throughout the mountains. The two catastrophes bore marked similarities. On August 11, 1940, a hurricane again hit SC and moved west, before turning north over the mountains. As before, storms had saturated the region—21 inches of rain had fallen in August alone. By the 13th, rivers overflowed as flooding ravaged the mountains, wreaking havoc from Sylva to North Wilkesboro. In Canton, the Pigeon River swelled and over 100 families were forced to evacuate. A twenty-year-old college student died in Black Mountain attempting to open flood gates on Lake Eden, and in Asheville, the three mains controlling the city’s water supply burst. At least twenty in the high-country region perished from flooding and landslides. Downtown Boone, at 3,333 feet above sea level, flooded after receiving eight inches of rain in a day. Watauga County alone experienced over 2,000 landslides, many occurring in the dark, giving residents little to no warning. Rail service to Boone was permanently disabled as the flood washed away the line leading from Cranberry Gap. Elsewhere, the Tuckaseegee River writhed in Jackson County, washing away bridges and roads, with some residents clinging to tree tops to save themselves. Meanwhile the Watauga and New Rivers crested several feet above their records from the 1916 flood. Several towns and villages in the region, such as Blowing Rock, were completely cut off for days, if not longer. In the agricultural region around Hendersonville, entire crops and fields were ruined. The Red Cross worked to arrange relief sites, and many evacuees were inoculated for typhoid fever. Adjusted for inflation, the damage toll of the 1940 flood likely exceeded $300 million, and at least eight stream gauges in the mountains still register this as the high-water mark. (Images: Floodwaters Swirl in Boone, Paul Weston, courtesy Digital Watauga; Old Cullowhee Rd Bridge, WCU Hunter Library; Figure 3 from Witt and Wooten, 2018 (Paper); Canton Enterprise, Aug 15, 1940; News and Observer, Aug 16, 1940) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory https://www.instagram.com/p/CSg1kV-r5Hj/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: In 1985, one of Asheville’s iconic residents passed away at 92. Emily Jones, known as “the flower lady” was an Asheville-born resident who sold flowers downtown to passersby for nearly sixty years, brightening the day of many residents and tourists. She was one of, if perhaps not the last of her kind. WNC is home to an array of native wildflowers and herbs which have been valued for their ornamental and medicinal values by natives and later settlers. Galax, which grows in large patches, is often used in floral arrangements, while ladyslippers, cohosh, and various worts have long been sought for medicinal properties. And, famously, ginseng has a long history of commercialized harvest. Many women eked out livings harvesting flowers and herbs to sell for supplemental income in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in WNC. As tourist hotels developed in the late 1800s, many of these women sold their wares by these lodges, rising long before dawn to harvest fresh specimens. This practice began to wane by the mid-1900s though. Emily Jones was born in 1893, and found her market selling flowers in Asheville in 1925. Her husband died in the 1960s and Jones, who was illiterate, took care of herself selling flowers seven days per week in front of the hospital on Charlotte Street. Many admiring customers came from nearby towns to buy specifically from her. When a business owner forced her to move, the JC Penny manager gave her a spot in the front vestibule of his store and in 1975, she was made an unofficial member of the Asheville Merchant’s Association. Beloved by many, Jones told the Citizen-Times: “People come by and want a bunch of flowers and say they don’t have the money, and I let ‘em have the flowers and they always come back and pay me. People are honest, most of ‘em. At least they’re honest with me.” (Images: Emily Jones, 1974; Family (middle right) of Galax harvesters near Linville Falls, c. 1915-1933; flower girls outside Mountain Park Hotel in Hot Springs, c. 1884-1920 all courtesy Buncombe County Special Collections; Asheville Citizen, Aug 7, 1985) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory #Asheville #AppalachianWomen #NativeWildflowers (at Asheville, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSO8F1RrGhY/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: A steamboat in the mountains? As far-fetched as this may seem today, on August 2, 1881, the “Mountain Lily” was christened for the French Broad Steamboat Company with a barbecue and brass band. The short-lived steamboat transported passengers along a stretch of the French Broad between Brevard and Hendersonville until it was stranded by a flash flood in 1884. The river where the Lily ran was slowly improved for navigation in the middle decades of the 1800s. Still, many scoffed and jeered at the idea the boat could paddle upstream or navigate river hazards and bridges. Buncombe County civic leader S.V. Pickens was determined, however, to see the boat constructed and secured congressional funds and army engineers to dredge the river and construct jetties to raise the water level. After securing a state charter in February, he had Godwin&Co. of Norfolk build the two-deck, ninety-foot-long boat propelled by two sidewheel paddles. It was capable of carrying up to 100 passengers between Brevard (Horseshoe Bend) and just outside of Asheville. It was billed as “the highest boat line in the world.” According to passengers, it had a draft of only 18 inches, but mules were often needed to pull it along the river in periods of drought. Rather than reliable transportation, the Lily turned into a periodic party floater. While the boat struggled to turn a profit (and to turn its wheels in the shallow and unpredictable river) many journalists and delighted passengers enjoyed the novelty of boating in the “Land of the Sky.” Ultimately, the boat washed ashore in a flood near Mills River, and was slowly scavenged for lumber and its engines. Many of its boards were used in constructing the Horseshoe Baptist Church, and its bell is thought to survive still in private hands. (Images: The Mountain Lily aground, Ramsey Library Special Collections, UNCA: The Rutherford Banner, Sept 9, 1881; Charlotte Observer, August 27, 1881) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory (at Asheville, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSFUL2Urf6N/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: On July 26, 1827, in New Echota, the Cherokee Nation adopted a formal constitution, “in order to establish justice, ensure tranquility, promote our common welfare, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty.” The Cherokee had been pushed from much of their lands through colonization, violence and treaties. They once resided in portions of modern NC, SC, GA, TN, KY, VA, and AL, but after several wars, continual encroachment, and treaties with states and the federal government, lost a great portion of their home. The discovery of gold in northeast Georgia (where James Smith soon operated a mine) also added urgency to their fight for sovereignty. Just a few years prior, Sequoyah developed a writing system and Cherokees adopted many white American customs as well as legal strategies for defending their home. They even modeled their constitution around the American one, establishing executive, legislative, and judicial branches of governance. The constitution was not well-received by many individuals, including several Cherokee who viewed it as a threat to their traditional ways. The state of Georgia also disliked the Cherokee attempt to undermine their authority. Just three years later, Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, forcing tribes in the southeast to vacate their lands for reservations in the Oklahoma Territory. The Cherokee fought this removal for eight years, citing their constitution which asserted “the lands therein are, and shall remain, the common property of the Nation” and that Cherokee citizens “shall possess no right nor power to dispose of their improvements in any manner whatsoever to the United States, individual states, nor individual citizens thereof.” The Supreme Court even held in Worcester v Georgia that Georgia had violated Cherokee sovereignty. Nevertheless, despite 16,000 Cherokee signatures against removal, President Van Buren forcibly evicted the large majority of Cherokees from their homes in 1838. (Images: Cherokee Constitution in Cherokee Phoenix, WCU Digital Collections; 1884 Royce Map, Library of Congress) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory #CherokeeNationHistory #History https://www.instagram.com/p/CRynJMWhuDM/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: On July 19, 1898, eleven companies of African American soldiers from North Carolina—including Companies F and K from Rutherford and Buncombe counties—mustered at Ft. Macon to begin training for war as the Third Volunteer Infantry Regiment. They were commanded by Black officers, including captains Thomas Leatherwood of Asheville and William Carter of Rutherfordton. 1898 marked a pivotal year for the larger United States as well as North Carolina, specifically. In early April, the U.S. declared war on the Kingdom of Spain and sent soldiers to fight in various locations. Some historians have also argued that the former Confederate states reconciled with the rest of the nation during this time. In North Carolina, however, this election year saw a self-styled “white supremacy” campaign by numerous politicians and newspaper editors that culminated in the Wilmington Massacre in November, and a political realignment in the larger South based on one-party rule. Amid this change and conflict, the Third Regiment trained for an assignment that never came. In August an armistice was declared but the Third remained on duty and were sent by train to Knoxville, Tennessee in September. In route, one car derailed east of Asheville and three were wounded, but families gathered to greet them as they pulled into the station. The happiness was short-lived; they encountered racism, violence, and ran afoul of locals in Tennessee as well as Macon, Georgia where they were reassigned in November. They were portrayed by newspapers and politicians as reasons for Black disenfranchisement as the bitter election drew near. Cpt. Leatherwood was reportedly the only man in his company who returned home to vote. Many in the unit expressed desire to be mustered out as material and social conditions worsened and it became apparent they would not go abroad. The unit disbanded with the Treaty of Paris in February, 1899. (Images: NC Third Officers, Library Company of Philadelphia; Third NC in Johnson, Edward, “History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War.” (Raleigh, 1899); “Roster of the North Carolina Volunteers in the Spanish-American War, 1898-1899.”) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRglItFB9Tf/?utm_medium=tumblr

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On this day in WNC history: In 1916, the worst flood in WNC history ravaged the region, sweeping away people and buildings, isolating communities, and changing the courses of rivers. At least twenty-five were killed. WNC is no stranger to flooding. Before the area’s industrialization, these events were not always entirely destructive. Native Americans and settlers learned to depend on these seasonal alluvial floods (“freshets”) that deposited rich silt along river bottom crop-land. The flood of 1916 would prove to be different. On July 8, rain began falling as a tropical storm from the Gulf Coast dumped between three to five inches of rain. The French Broad River rose to eight feet above normal on the 11th before receding. Residents had no idea of the other storm heading their way from the Atlantic. On July 15, rain began falling again on the already saturated mountains as another storm moved inland. Fourteen inches of rain fell in Brevard and twelve in Hendersonville within twenty-four hours. Unable to hold more water, the French Broad swelled. By 9am on the 16th, the river had risen to over eighteen feet and an hour later, the gauge washed away. The French Broad hit an estimated twenty-four feet while the Swannanoa River likewise crested at over twenty feet. The writhing waters spread almost a mile-wide in Asheville. Six Ashevillians died, while eight in the Hickory Nut Gorge region perished. Reports circulated that Chimney Rock Village had virtually been washed away by the racing mass of boulders and water. In the Hickory Nut Gorge, the Broad River had changed course in several places and carved banks 75-feet-high. Over 1,000 incarcerated laborers and free citizens were pressed into service repairing roads and railways across the region and, by July 19th, a train was able to enter Asheville. By late August though, some sections of the region were still only accessible by foot or horse, including an entire mile between Bat Cave and Gerton. (Images: Flood along French Broad River, courtesy Buncombe County Special Collections; Asheville Citizen, Jul 19, 1916) #OnThisDay #WNCHistory #FloodOf1916 #Asheville #History https://www.instagram.com/p/CRY4U2LBUbC/?utm_medium=tumblr

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"It's five past five and time to jive with Nat the Cat, your host who loves you the most. We're going to be around for the next fifty-five minutes with some of the best rhythm and blues." Nathaniel Lowery, aka "Nat the Cat" hosted a popular radio program on WWIT out of Canton, NC from 1953-1963. He had a large following through WNC and into parts of Georgia and eastern Tennessee. Lowery worked as a mail clerk at Champion Paper in Canton until shortly before 5pm when he would head to "Radio Hill" for his show, which would become a link between the area's African-American and white communities. Learn more about Lowery and other African American residents from far Western North Carolina in Ann Woodford's exhibit "When All God's Children Get Together" on display now at the Smith-McDowell House Museum. Join us on February 23 for a presentation and Q&A with Woodford live via Zoom. wnchistory.org/events Image: Haywood County Public Library #natthecat #canton #ashevillehistory #avlhistory #gospel #rhythmandblues #wwit #wnchistory #exploreasheville (at Canton, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CK-TRU0hng-/?igshid=lgole4bs1rsc

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A project recognizing the laborers who completed one of the greatest feats of construction in their time received an endorsement from the Town of Black Mountain. The Railroad and Incarcerated Laborer (RAIL) Memorial Project, headed by UNC Asheville Professor of History Dr. Dan Pierce and Steve Little, the mayor of Marion, will honor the men who worked, and died, to bring the first trains across the Swannanoa Gap. https://www.thevalleyecho.com/all-news/town-of-black-mountain-supports-memorial-for-railroad-laborers. #blackmountain #blackmountainnc #wnchistory #avlhistory #railroad #railroadtracks #memorial #asheville (at Black Mountain, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CKFivfCBAGq/?igshid=g4eq7izv7jw1

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On this day in WNC history: On January 11, 1918, many western North Carolina schools hesitantly resumed operations, unclear on how long they could remain open. Like the rest of the country, our region felt the effects of the great global war and the resulting fuel shortage. American entry in the conflict prompted a range of governmental controls, including daylight savings, production oversight and restrictions, and the creation of a fuel administration. Coal, used to heat and power businesses and homes, became scarce in December of 1917 as American production could not keep pace with war demands. Frigid temperatures in New England and the Northern states eventually led to inflamed tempers, and rioting began in NYC on January 2, 1918. Many citizens tipped over coal cars and looted coal offices. East Coast plants were ordered closed from Jan 18-22 to alleviate the shortage and non-essential businesses were required to curtail their operations. Many school systems also delayed opening. Here in the southern Appalachians, schools weighed reopening and some chose to delay their start as well. Officials in Greenville, SC closed schools for a month while Hendersonville, NC reopened theirs with the promise of quick resupply (and threats of punitive service). Several Asheville schools closed temporarily to repair frozen pipes, but most reportedly had enough fuel to remain in operation. Meanwhile, the Champion Fibre Co. of Canton, with roughly 1,000 employees, closed for several days. The nationwide shortage lasted until Valentine’s Day of that year when temperatures abated and supply met the adjusted demands. Coal remained the predominant source of energy in the United States all the way through the 1950s. (Images: Western North Carolina Times, Jan 11, 1918; Asheville Sunday Citizen, Jan 6, 1918; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Online Catalog) #OnThisDay #ThisDayInHistory #Asheville #Hendersonville #Canton #WNCHistory #NCHistory #AmericanHistory #1918FuelShortage (at Asheville, North Carolina) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ7jGvDB8ME/?igshid=1q4nf4za6k3me

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Before the involvement of concerned voices like Julian Price (pictured) in the late 1980s and 1990s, the core of downtown Asheville seemed a hollow shell of its former state. With a goal of helping others and making the city a more livable place, he invested in the Affordable Housing Coalition and a host of other funding and grant organizations, many of which focused on social justice and the environment. He was a vital team player in Asheville's comeback. Join us Thursday, January 14 for a virtual film screening of “Julian Price: Envisioning Community. Investing in People.” with director Erin Derham, and learn more about the life and legacy of this Asheville transplant turned activist. (Images courtesy of Erin Derham) Tickets and Info: https://www.wnchistory.org/event/film-screening-julian-price-documentary/ #Asheville #AVL #AshevilleHistory #ExploreAsheville #Community #WNCHistory #WNCPeople #SustainableDevelopment #Documentary #JulianPrice https://www.instagram.com/p/CI_bxL7BCAR/?igshid=10clani5m9m6c