by Anne Smith | Nov 7, 2022 | On this Day
On this day in WNC history: Amid the charged climate of the Reconstruction period, the Asheville Election Riot occurred on this day in 1868. After mounting tensions between Black and white voters erupted in a flurry of gunfire, one Black man—James Smith—soon died...
by Anne Smith | Oct 17, 2022 | On this Day
Before an audience of 3,400 in the new City Auditorium, renowned singer Marian Anderson made her first performance in Asheville in 1941. Anderson, one of the most famous contralto performers and African American musicians of her time, sold out the venue and an...
by Editor | Oct 3, 2022 | On this Day
On this day in WNC history: On October 3, 1880, the first passenger rail service arrived in Asheville at a small station along modern Depot Street. The engineer and passengers were greeted by clamoring onlookers. During the mid-1800s, train service becoming...
by Editor | Oct 2, 2022 | On this Day
On this day in WNC history: Convening in the St. Paul AME Church in Raleigh, African American representatives from seven WNC counties joined the second Freedmen’s Convention on this day in 1866. In the 1865 Freedmen’s Convention almost all representatives came from...
by Anne Smith | Sep 26, 2022 | On this Day
September 26, 1923: One of the most visible incidents of racial terror and intimidation in WNC began on this day in 1923 near the small town of Spruce Pine in Mitchell County. The terror inflicted had parallels with other contemporary violence such as the Tula...
by Editor | Sep 16, 2022 | On this Day
September 16: Dubbed “the greatest event, politically at least, in the history of Asheville and Western North Carolina” by the Asheville Citizen, the famed populist William Jennings Bryan made a presidential campaign appearance in WNC on this day in 1896. He appears...
