This article appeared in the Volume 5, Issue 1 Spring/Summer 2024 issue of the Appalachian Curator. Click here to view a PDF of the full issue.
New collections in regional repositories:
Appalachian State University
University of North Carolina Asheville
Western Regional Archives, Asheville
Appalachian State University
The Mary Emma Harris and Black Mountain College Project, Inc. Oral History Collection: This collection contains the administrative and general documents of Black Mountain College Project, Inc., faculty and student files, and files and materials of oral history interviews conducted by Mary Emma Harris from 1974 to 2016. The administrative files of BMC Project cover the corporation’s organization and history, meeting minutes, annual reports, and financial documents
Appalachian Ohio Farmers’ Daily Diaries: This collection of nineteen (19) diaries include daily entries from January 1, 1872 to December 31, 1891. Each day briefly records the weather, William Symmes’s activities, the level of the river, events, such as deaths, visitors, hearing preachers, etc. and more. The first three years also record whether his business was “good,” “poor,” or otherwise. Other information includes a listing of his apple trees at the start of the 1876 volume and thebreeding of a cow at the start of the 1877 volume.
University of North Carolina Asheville
Hart Ephemera Collection:[M2024.02] – Contains thirteen binders of Western North Carolina ephemera documenting tourism, hotels, early railroad marketing of WNC, guides to WNC, summer camps, historic hotels and inns, Grove Park Inn, businesses, hospitals, sanatoria, the craft movement, regional crafts, forestry, Mt. Mitchell, and early regional development. Available in the Reading Room adjacent to the Bill and Alice Hart Collection.
Western Regional Archives, Asheville
Lore Kadden Lindenfeld Papers – Lore Kadden Lindenfeld (1921 – 2010) was an artist, weaver, textile designer, and instructor. During the 1930s, Lore and her family immigrated to the United States from Germany, settling outside of Boston. In addition to helping support her family, Lore enrolled in Adult Education Classes at Harvard. She later earned a scholarship to Black Mountain College where she studied with Anni Albers, Franziska Mayer, and Trudi Guermonprez. She worked designing for fashion houses in New York and taught weaving at Middlesex County College in New Jersey for 18 years. The Lore Kadden Lindenfeld Papers consist of photos of work, exhibitions and individual pieces, exhibition catalogs and postcards, course descriptions, newspaper clippings and photographs.
Myers Family Photographs – Willie Wilburn Myers (1901-1987) was the 11th and 8th surviving child born to Marion Leonidis “Lee” (1855-1918) and Athea Renia Gentry Myers (1861-1941). Willie grew up with his siblings in the Chicken Hill section of Asheville built for workers at the Asheville Cotton Mill. Most of the family worked at the cotton mill as spinners or doffers. Willie married and Rachel Hannah Stewart (1907-1997) they had four children, in the early 1960s, the family moved to Lincoln Avenue in the Oakley neighborhood. This collection consists chiefly of black and white photographs from roughly the early 1900’s to late 1950’s. depicting everyday life with families, couples, cars, children, and neighbors.
Nelson and Jump Families Papers – William Terry Nelson (1899-1968) was born in Pickens County, S.C. He first married Pansy Robinson (1901-1938) around 1927. They had 3 children, Dorothy, Boyd, and Ted. In 1940, William married Alice Jump (1914-2001) of Weaverville, N.C. They had two children, Mary Elizabeth and William “Bill” Edd. In 1950, the family was living together on Onteora Boulevard in the Oakley section of Asheville. This collection consists of papers from both the Nelson and Jump families, chiefly correspondence home from Bill Nelson while he served in the Navy as a Fireman Apprentice during the mid-1960s.
Jay Watt Music Manuscripts and Other Material, 1954-2005 – Jay Gilbert Watt (1929-2005) was born in Philadelphia. By the time Jay enlisted in the Army in 1946, he had attended 14 schools. The first half of his 18-months of service Jay assigned to the Coast Auxiliary Corps. He later played trombone in an Army band. Jay enrolled at Yale School of Drama under the G.I. Bill. Where he met former Black Mountain College student and member of the admissions committee, John Stix. Stix recognized Watt’s potential and recommended that he take classes at Black Mountain. He enrolled in the fall of 1948 and during his 3-year stay he took several music classes including harmony, style and structure in music, chorus, piano, composition, and rhythm in addition to a half-dozen non-related courses. This collection contains music manuscripts composed by Jay Watt, biographical information, Joseph Fiore Exhibit catalogs, ephemera, concert programs, greeting cards, and record albums.
Donald Folsom Cooper Music Manuscripts and Original Scores – Donald Folsom Cooper (1926-1994) grew up in Exeter, New Hampshire. He graduated from Spaulding High School in Rochester, New Hampshire in 1944. After service two years in the Navy, Cooper pursued a bachelor’s degree in music from the Philadelphia Musical Academy from 1947 to 1952, studying composition under Stefan Wolpe as part of his classes. He applied to Black Mountain College in 1952. He became interested in the college through Stefan Wolpe, who was also his primary instructor while he was studying there. He worked as a composer for most of his life, under his own employment. He passed away on May 25, 1994, in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
