This article appeared in the Volume 4, Issue 1 Spring/Summer Winter 2023 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. By Liz Harper (Western Carolina University) and Gene Hyde (UNC Asheville) When it opened in 1908, the Champion Fibre Company was the largest pulp mill in the world. For 60 years it was under the leadership of Reuben B. Robertson and was a source of employment, a site of innovation, and a hub of community life for the town of Canton. The population of Canton tripled in size between the start of construction and the opening of the mill and the local economy flourished.…
-
-
What’s New in Appalachian Special Collections?
This article appeared in the Volume 3, Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2021 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. New collections in regional repositories: Appalachian State University Berea College Eastern Kentucky University University of Tennessee Virginia Tech Western Carolina University W. L. Eury Collection, Appalachian State University MerleFest Archives (AC-1279): The W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection received the MerleFest Archives (AC-1279) in June. MerleFest is an annual music festival held on the grounds of Wilkes Community College. It began in 1988 in memory of Merle Watson, son of musician and songwriter Doc Watson. The collection includes audio and video recordings of performances, photographs, and…
-
Raising Archival Awareness in a Regional Studies Organization: The Appalachian Studies Case
This article appeared in the Volume 2, Issue 3 Winter 2021 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. By Gene Hyde and Liz Harper In September 2020 Gene Hyde and Liz Harper presented a virtual Ramsey Library Brown Bag Talk at UNC Asheville. Their presentation, “Raising Archival Awareness in a Regional Studies Organization: The Appalachian Studies Case,” was originally accepted for the 2020 Society of North Carolina Archivists’ Conference in March 2020 at Elon University, which was canceled due to COVID. Their presentation describes how archivists led efforts to create a Special Collections Committee in the Appalachian Studies Association and also discusses…
-
Community Archiving Profile: Mountain People, Mountain Lives Oral History Project
By Elizabeth McRae and Alex Macaulay, Department of History, Western Carolina University This article appeared in the Volume 1, Issue 3 Winter 2020 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. For the past five years, history faculty at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC, have collaborated with students at a local high school on the Mountain People, Mountain Lives Oral History Project. Beginning each January, Drs. Elizabeth McRae and Alex Macaulay conduct a series of workshops, preparing students at Smoky Mountain High School to research, organize, and conduct oral interviews with a wide range of local people. In May, the participants scatter throughout…
-
What’s New in Appalachian Special Collections?
This article appeared in the Volume 1, Issue 3 Winter 2020 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. New collections in regional repositories: Appalachian State University Berea College East Tennessee State University University of North Carolina Asheville Virginia Tech Western Carolina University nbsp; W. L. Eury Collection, Appalachian State University Private William Rufus Barlow Civil War letters – In the summer of 1862, William Rufus Barlow (1827-1865) of King’s Creek, Iredell County, North Carolina was conscripted into the Confederate Army, joining other draftees in Company B of the 18th North Carolina Infantry. The letters sent home by Barlow to his wife, Elizabeth German…
-
What’s new in Appalachian Special Collections?
This article appeared in the Volume 1, Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2019 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue. New collections in regional repositories: Appalachian State University Berea College East Tennessee State University Marshall University Radford University University of Kentucky University of North Carolina – Asheville University of Tennessee Virginia Tech Western Carolina University W. L. Eury Collection, Appalachian State University Recently processed… Munsey Webb collection on the Norfolk and Western Railway, 1887-1995 – Collection of Munsey Willard Webb (1927-2006), who worked as a depot agent and telegraph operator at various railway stations between Pulaski, Virginia and Galax, Virginia. Through photographs and…
