Black Mountain College

Black Mountain College

In 1933, Black Mountain College opened near Black Mountain, North Carolina. Dedicated to the arts, it marked a radical departure from most colleges of the time. It was an experiment in progressive education and communal work.

Craft Guild

Craft Guild

In 1892, Frances Goodrich, a New England educated Presbyterian Missionary, moved to the Madison County community of Allanstand. Her goal: to improve the quality of life for mountain families. Her means was the promotion of traditional crafts to a growing American market for authentic handicrafts. . .

Highlander Folk School

Highlander Folk School

The Highlander Folk School was founded in 1932 in Monteagle on Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau. Its founders envisioned an adult education center where mountain people could tackle community problems. . .

Mountain Dance and Folk Festival

Mountain Dance and Folk Festival

In 1928, Bascom Lamar Lunsford turned his vast knowledge of traditional music and his organizational skills to the creation of a local music festival. The Asheville Chamber of Commerce had long sponsored an annual Rhododendron Festival, highlighting mountain arts and crafts. . .

Highlander Folk School

Mud Creek Missionary Baptist Church

In May 1867, having been led by the spirit of God, newly freed slaves from Charleston joined with their ministers to establish the Mud Creek Missionary Baptist Church in East Flat Rock, North Carolina. With no permanent meeting house and only circuit riding clergymen. . .

Highlander Folk School

Riverside Cemetery

Riverside Cemetery, located in Asheville’s historic Montford District overlooking the French Broad River, was established in 1885 to serve a growing city. The beautiful and historic cemetery’s 87 carefully landscaped acres. . .