Black Asheville: Historical Resources
Buncombe County Special Collections Library
Mission and Purpose
The Buncombe County Special Collections Library is dedicated to actively collecting, preserving, promoting, and providing equal access to the history of Asheville, Buncombe County, and the surrounding area. We are proud of our historic resources and are committed to preserving them for the future, through preservation, digitization, and decreasing barriers to public access.
About the Collection
The Buncombe County Special Collections Library is home to thousands of unique historical records including photographs, maps, books, and other materials that provide researchers the resources they need to understand and interpret the history of Western North Carolina. The collection is not restricted to Buncombe County Public Library card holders; anyone can visit and utilize the resources of the Buncombe County Special Collections Library.
Stephens-Lee Historical Community Center
The Buncombe County Special Collections Library (formerly the North Carolina Room) is a medium-sized archival facility located on the lower level of Pack Memorial Library in Downtown Asheville. Buncombe County Special Collections specializes in the social, cultural, and natural history of Asheville, Buncombe County, and Western North Carolina.
Asheville’s historic Stephens-Lee Center marks 100th anniversary
Pictured, March 7, 2023: Exclusive look inside the archives of Asheville’s historic Stephens-Lee Recreation Center, which originally opened on March 7, 1923. Even though March 7, 2023 marks 100 years since opening, the center and alumni have decided to postpone the big celebration until next year, in honor of the first class graduation. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)
Stephens-Lee High School Slideshow
Weariness of the Flesh
This project is a partnership between consultant and Black On Black Project founder Michael S. Williams and the North Carolina Museum of Art. It is made possible through funding from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust.
Interviews and short films further share Asheville’s Black history and encourages today’s citizens to remember who they are and from which they come.
“In Asheville and western North Carolina, blacks were virtually invisible — especially politically — and were thus marginalized in all areas of the city’s post-Civil War development. This marginalization might have been missed by the casual observer because the city’s white leaders were successful in constructing a veneer that suggested the city was peaceful and progressive in all areas of life.”
Darin J. Waters, Life Beneath The Veneer
AFST Black Education Resources
Handouts/Guides created by Dr. Tiece M. Ruffin
Mapping Racial Equity
A collection of maps about History, Displacement, and Neighborhood Change. Interactive maps. (Source City of Asheville)
Buncombe County School Desegregation
(Source: By Joe Newton and Zoe Rhine, Buncombe County Special Collections, North Carolina Room) School desegregation in Asheville
(Source AVL Today)
Racial Equity Report Cards
Produce by Youth Justice Project: A project of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice
Newspaper Resources
- Asheville’s First City Schools for Black Children, Part One: Blacks Vote for Public Education, Win a Separate but Unequal Place in the New School System,
- Asheville’s First City Schools for Black Children , Part Two: African Americans Help Build the City and Its School System,
- Asheville’s First City Schools for Black Children, Part Three: Builders of Black Schools,
- Asheville’s First City Schools for Black Children, Part Four: Builders of Black Schools continued . . .
- Asheville’s First City Schools for Black Children, Part Five: Builders of Black Schools (concluded)
(Source: By Joe Newton and Zoe Rhine, Buncombe County Special Collections, North Carolina Room) School desegregation in Asheville