Former Highlands Town Board member Donnie Calloway discusses what it was like growing up in Highlands and the effects of tourism on the town over time. He talks about living and working in Highlands, the purchase of the Old Edwards Inn, the current…
Debbie Lewis describes living in Asheville in the 1960s and 1970s. She shares her view on race relations during this period, the impact that school integration had on the community, and how the Asheville High School Riot of 1969 impacted her…
Kirk Johnson examines moving from Augusta, Georgia to Asheville, North Carolina in the late 1960s. He describes his high school experience and explains the impact the Asheville High School Riot of 1969 had on his life. He describes race relations at…
Jim Johnson shares his experience in Asheville during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1965 he lived in Montford and attended a naturally integrated school, then moved to north Asheville and attended Ira B. Jones, a naturally segregated school. In…
Bobby Bishop recalls the 2004 Peeks Creek mudslide in Macon County from his point of view as chief building inspector. Having lived in Macon County for most of his life, he also shares his memories of the event as a member of the community. He…
Gary Holland was a prominent figure during the rehabilitation efforts that followed the devastation of the 2004 Peeks Creek mudslide in Macon County. As a member of the Macon County Baptists Association as well as the North Carolina Baptist Men
Dawn Gilchrist is interviewed by a Smoky Mountain High School student as a part of Mountain People, Mountain Lives: A Student Led Oral History Project. Gilchrist, a teacher at Jackson County School of Alternatives, talks about growing up in Swain…
Boyce Dietz is interviewed by a Smoky Mountain High School student as a part of Mountain People, Mountain Lives: A Student Led Oral History Project. Dietz talks about growing up in Jackson County as the oldest of five kids. He discusses playing…
Joe Sam Queen is interviewed by a Smoky Mountain High School student as a part of Mountain People, Mountain Lives: A Student Led Oral History Project. Queen talks about growing up in Panama in the 1950s and then in Waynesville in the 1960s. He…
Jim Buchanan is interviewed by a Smoky Mountain High School student as a part of Mountain People, Mountain Lives: A Student Led Oral History Project. Buchanan shares stories about growing up in Jackson County as well as stories of his Buchanan…