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Asheville Museum of History

Asheville Museum of History

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Asheville Museum of History

Asheville Museum of History

  • About
  • Contact
  • Visit
  • Learn
  • Programs & Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Outdoor Programs
    • Thomas Wolfe Literary Award
    • Outstanding Achievement Award
    • Virtual Exhibits
    • Recorded Programs
    • Venue Rental
    • For Educators
  • Support

Blog

2013: a land more kind than home by Wiley Cash

Posted on December 1, 2013 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “In his phenomenal debut novel—a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and

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Literary Award a land more kind than home, wiley cash

2013: Fred Davis Chappell

Posted on March 8, 2013 by AMoH

          2013 Fred Davis Chappell Acclaimed poet and novelist Fred Chappell was born on a small

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2012: Blue Ridge Commons by Kathryn Newfont

Posted on December 1, 2012 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “In the late 20th century, residents of the Blue Ridge mountains in western North Carolina

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Literary Award blue ridge commons, environmental activism, forest history, Kathryn Newfont

2012: No Award Given

Posted on March 8, 2012 by AMoH

 

Outstanding Achievement Award

2011: Under the Mercy Trees by Heather Newton

Posted on December 1, 2011 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “Heather Newton’s Under the Mercy Trees tells the poignant and unforgettable story of a man forced to

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Literary Award heather newton, under the mercy trees

2011: Steve Hill, Thomas Wolfe Memorial

Posted on March 8, 2011 by AMoH

          2011 Steve Hill, Thomas Wolfe Memorial Steve Hill began managing the Thomas Wolfe Site after

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2010: Helen Wykle, UNC-Asheville Special Collections at D. Hiden Ramsey Library

Posted on March 8, 2010 by AMoH

          2010 Helen Wykle, UNC-Asheville Special Collections at D. Hiden Ramsey Library Ramsey Library Special Collections

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2010: Requiem by Fire by Wayne Caldwell

Posted on January 1, 2010 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “In Requiem by Fire, Caldwell returns to the same fertile Appalachian ground that provided the setting

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Literary Award cataloochee, requiem by fire, wayne caldwell

2009: Grove Park Inn by Bruce E. Johnson

Posted on December 1, 2009 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “The Grove Park Inn opened in scenic Asheville, North Carolina in 1913, at the height

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Literary Award arts and crafts, bruce johnson, grove park inn

2009: Henderson County Heritage Museum

Posted on March 8, 2009 by AMoH

          2009 Henderson County Heritage Museum The Henderson County Heritage Museum collects, preserves, researches, and exhibits

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2008: Chemistry and Other Stories by Ron Rash

Posted on December 1, 2008 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “From the pre-eminent chronicler of this forgotten territory, stories that range over one hundred years

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Literary Award chemistry and other stories, ron rash

2008: George A. Jones

Posted on March 8, 2008 by AMoH

          2008 George A. Jones Dr. George Alexander Jones founded the Henderson County Genealogical and Historical

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2007: On Agate Hill by Lee Smith

Posted on December 1, 2007 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “It is 1872, Agate Hill, North Carolina. On her thirteenth birthday, Molly Petree peeps out

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Literary Award An Agate Hill, Lee Smith

2007: Harley and Betty Jolley

Posted on March 8, 2007 by AMoH

          2007 Harley and Betty Jolley Dr. Harley E. Jolley, also known as “Mr. Blue Ridge

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2006: Shinemaster by Michael McFee

Posted on December 1, 2006 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “Shinemaster is a book about discovering plenitude in apparent scarcity. It presents this human paradox in

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Literary Award michael mcfee, poems, poetry

2006: Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

Posted on March 8, 2006 by AMoH

          2006 Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College The Asheville–Buncombe Technical Community College 144-acre main campus received the award

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2005: High Mountains Rising edited by Richard A. Straw and H. Tyler Blethen

Posted on December 1, 2005 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “This collection is the first comprehensive, cohesive volume to unite Appalachian history with its culture.

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Literary Award appalachia

2005: South Asheville Cemetery Association

Posted on March 8, 2005 by AMoH

          2005 South Asheville Cemetery Association The South Asheville Cemetery is a two-acre burial ground that

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2004: Thomas Wolfe Memorial, NC Department of Cultural Resources

Posted on March 8, 2004 by AMoH

          2004 Thomas Wolfe Memorial, NC Department of Cultural Resources The NC Department of Cultural Resources

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2004: No Award Given

Posted on February 22, 2004 by AMoH

 

Literary Award

2003: Harriet Styles, Swannanoa Valley Museum

Posted on March 8, 2003 by AMoH

          2003 Harriet Styles, Swannanoa Valley Museum In 1976, Harriet Styles created a small history exhibit

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2003: The Maya of Morganton by Leon Fink

Posted on February 22, 2003 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “The arrival of several hundred Guatemalan-born workers in a Morganton, North Carolina, poultry plant

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Literary Award

2002: Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County

Posted on March 8, 2002 by AMoH

          2002 Historic Resources Commission of Asheville and Buncombe County The Historic Resources Commission of Asheville

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2002: Sodom Laurel Album by Rob Amberg

Posted on February 22, 2002 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “When photographer Rob Amberg first met Dellie Norton and her adopted son, Junior, in 1975,

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Literary Award

2001: J. Ron Holland

Posted on March 8, 2001 by AMoH

          2001 J. Ron Holland Ron Holland served as the Manager of the Western Office of

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2001: May We All Remember Well: Volume II edited by Robert S. Brunk

Posted on February 22, 2001 by AMoH

      From the publisher: “Robert S. Brunk Auction Services, Inc. of Asheville published Volume II of ‘May We

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Literary Award

2000: Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Posted on March 8, 2000 by AMoH

          2000 Museum of the Cherokee Indian Founded in 1948, the Museum of the Cherokee Indian

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Outstanding Achievement Award

2000: Carolina Ghost Woods: Poems by Judy Jordan

Posted on February 22, 2000 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “The daughter of sharecroppers and raised on a small farm near the Carolinas’ border, Judy

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Literary Award

1999: Doris Cline Ward

Posted on March 10, 1999 by AMoH

          1999 Doris Cline Ward Doris Cline Ward received the award for her work with the

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1999: In the Family Way by Tommy Hays

Posted on February 22, 1999 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Tommy Hays’ second novel, In the Family Way, won the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award for 2000 and

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Literary Award

1998: Richard S. Dillingham

Posted on March 10, 1998 by AMoH

          1998 Richard S. Dillingham Born and reared on a tobacco farm in northern Buncombe County,

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1998: Living Stories of the Cherokee, collected and edited by Barbara R. Duncan

Posted on February 22, 1998 by AMoH

    From the publisher: This remarkable book, the first major new collection of Cherokee stories published in nearly a hundred

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Literary Award

1997: Cherokee Historical Association

Posted on March 10, 1997 by AMoH

          1997 Cherokee Historical Association The Cherokee Historical Association won the 1997 award for impressive historical

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1997: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

Posted on February 22, 1997 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Cold Mountain, the extraordinary story of a soldier’s perilous journey back to his beloved at the

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Literary Award

1996: Betty H. Sherrill

Posted on March 10, 1996 by AMoH

          1996 Betty H. Sherrill Betty Sherrill, former president of the Transylvania County Historical Society, received

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1996: The Last Chivaree: The Hicks Family of Beech Mountain by Robert Isbell

Posted on February 22, 1996 by AMoH

    From the publisher: The Last Chivaree creates a vivid and unsparing portrait of Appalachian mountain life in the first half

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Literary Award

1995: Waynesville Historical Society

Posted on March 10, 1995 by AMoH

          1995 Waynesville Historical Society The Waynesville Historical Society received the award in 1995 for their

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1995: Hillbillyland: What the Movies Did to the Mountains & What the Mountains Did to the Movies by J.W. Williamson

Posted on February 22, 1995 by AMoH

    From the publisher: The stereotypical hillbilly figure in popular culture provokes a range of responses, from bemused affection for

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Literary Award

1994: No Award Given

Posted on March 10, 1994 by AMoH
Outstanding Achievement Award

1994: Warren Wilson College: A Centennial Portrait by Reuben A. Holden and Mark T. Banker

Posted on February 22, 1994 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Today’s Warren Wilson College emerged from modest beginnings. Indeed, the band of missionary educators who founded

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Literary Award

1993: Historic Valdese Foundation

Posted on March 10, 1993 by AMoH

          1993 Historic Valdese Foundation The Historic Valdese Foundation won the award in 1993 for their

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1993: The Airwaves of Zion: Radio and Religion in Appalachia by Howard Dorgan

Posted on February 22, 1993 by AMoH

    For much of the mainstream media, religious broadcasting evokes images of Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart, Jerry Falwell, or

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Literary Award

1992: Walter F. Ashe

Posted on March 10, 1992 by AMoH

          1992 Walter F. Ashe Retired naval lieutenant, Walter Ashe received the award in 1992 for

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1992: Wildwood Flower: Poems by Kathryn Stripling Byer

Posted on February 22, 1992 by AMoH

    In Wildflower Flower, whose title derives from a traditional country song, Byer speaks through the fictional voice of a

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Literary Award

1991: Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County

Posted on March 10, 1991 by AMoH

          1991 Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County The Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1991: No Award Given

Posted on February 22, 1991 by AMoH

: Now 

Literary Award

1990: Appalachian Cultural Center

Posted on March 10, 1990 by AMoH

          1990 Appalachian Cultural Center The Appalachian Cultural Center, a museum of mountain life, opened at

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1990: No Award Given

Posted on February 22, 1990 by AMoH

:

Literary Award

1989: Millie Barbee

Posted on March 10, 1989 by AMoH

          1989 Millie Barbee Millie Barbee, executive director of the Historic Burke Foundation, won the award

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1989: Mountain Masters: Slavery and the Sectional Crisis in WNC by John C. Inscoe

Posted on February 22, 1989 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Antebellum Southern Appalachia has long been seen as a classless and essentially slaveless region – one

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Literary Award

1988: Big Ivy Historical Society

Posted on March 10, 1988 by AMoH

          1988 Big Ivy Historical Society The Big Ivy Historical Society won the award in 1988

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1988: Cades Cove: The Life and Death of a Southern Appalachian Community by Durwood Dunn

Posted on February 22, 1988 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Drawing on a rich trove of documents never before available to scholars, the author sketches the

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Literary Award

1987: Roy A. Taylor

Posted on March 10, 1987 by AMoH

          1987 Roy A. Taylor Roy A. Taylor (1910 – 1995), former representative in Congress from

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1987: A Southern Family by Gail Godwin

Posted on February 22, 1987 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Gail Godwin’s new novel is told in a multiplicity of voices; and what emerges is a

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Literary Award

1986: S. Kent Schwarzkopf

Posted on March 10, 1986 by AMoH

          1986 S. Kent Schwarzkopf Asheville native S. Kent Schwarzkopf (b. 1953) won the award for

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1986: Rural Community in the Appalachian South by Patricia D. Beaver

Posted on February 22, 1986 by AMoH

    From the publisher: A fond indentification with a certain place, close ties with people, a shared history of experiences

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Literary Award

1985: Robert G. Fortune, Jr.

Posted on March 10, 1985 by AMoH

          1985 Robert G. Fortune, Jr. Robert Greer Fortune, Jr., Asheville historian and retired executive for

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1985: Minstrel of the Appalachians: The Story of Bascom Lamar Lunsford by Loyal Jones

Posted on February 22, 1985 by AMoH

    From the publisher: It is said that Bascom Lamar Lunsford would “cross hell on a rotten rail to get

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Literary Award

1984: Johnny Baxter

Posted on March 10, 1984 by AMoH

          1984 Johnny Baxter Johnny Franklin Baxter (1910 – 1996), a native Asheville preservationist, historian, and

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1984: Last One Home by John Ehle

Posted on February 22, 1984 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Last One Home, the final book in John Ehle’s masterful Appalachian series that traces the King

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Literary Award

1983: Sarah G. Upchurch

Posted on March 10, 1983 by AMoH

          1983 Sarah G. Upchurch Sarah G. Upchurch (c1921 – 2000), won the award for her

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1983: Strangers No More by Lucy S. Herring

Posted on February 22, 1983 by AMoH

    From the publisher: In 1916, sixteen-year-old Lucy Saunders, a young black teacher from Orangeburg County, South Carolina, presided over

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Literary Award

1982: Harley E. Jolley

Posted on March 10, 1982 by AMoH

          1982 Harley E. Jolley Dr. Harley E. Jolley, also known as “Mr. Blue Ridge Parkway,”

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1982: Miners, Millhands, and Mountaineers: Industrialization of the Appalachian South by Ron D. Eller

Posted on February 22, 1982 by AMoH

    From the publisher: An examination of the social and economic history of the Appalachian South from 1880 to 1930,

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Literary Award

1981: Frances McDowell and Ruth Camblos

Posted on March 10, 1981 by AMoH

          1981 Frances McDowell and Ruth Camblos Under the aegis of the Western North Carolina Historical

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1981: Cabins and Castles: The History & Architecture of Buncombe County, North Carolina by Douglas Swaim, Talmage Powell, and John Ager

Posted on February 22, 1981 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Cabins & Castles was first published in 1981, a joint effort of the Historic Resources Commission and

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Literary Award

1980: Bob Terrell

Posted on March 10, 1980 by AMoH

          1980 Bob Terrell Bob Terrell (c1929 – 2009), columnist for the Asheville Citizen, was the 1980

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1980: The Mountains Have Come Closer: Poems by Jim Wayne Miller

Posted on February 22, 1980 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Mountains Have Come Closer is a collection of poems by Jim Wayne Miller which draw on his

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Literary Award

1979: George Myers Stephens

Posted on March 10, 1979 by AMoH

          1979 George Myers Stephens George Myers Stephens (1904 – 1978) took a job appraising timber in Swain and Haywood counties

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1979: Slavery and the Evolution of Cherokee Society, 1540-1866 by Theda Perdue

Posted on February 22, 1979 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Slavery was practiced among North American Indians long before Europeans arrived on these shores, bringing their

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Literary Award

1978: Ora Blackmun

Posted on March 10, 1978 by AMoH

          1978 Ora Blackmun Ora Blackmun (1892 – 1984), the Asheville author of Western North Carolina: Its

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1978: Day of Miracles by Charlotte Young

Posted on February 22, 1978 by AMoH

    From the author: “This volume, my fourth book of poetry, is different from the kind of poetry in

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Literary Award

1977: Lena Penland Purkey

Posted on March 10, 1977 by AMoH

          1977 Lena Penland Purkey Lena Lucas Penland Purkey (1904 – 1994) grew up in Madison

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1977: From the Banks of The Oklawaha, Vol. I by Frank L. Fitzsimons

Posted on February 22, 1977 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Part of a three volume set of the history of Henderson County and Hendersonville, embracing a

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Literary Award

1976: The Appalachian Consortium Press

Posted on March 10, 1976 by AMoH

          1976 The Appalachian Consortium Press The Appalachian Consortium Press was founded in 1973 – the

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1976: Mountain Measure: A Southern Appalachian Verse Notebook by Francis Pledger Hulme

Posted on February 22, 1976 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “Here is history at its best–a story of the Southern Appalachian people that has been gathered

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Literary Award

1975: Mary Myrtle Cornwell

Posted on March 10, 1975 by AMoH

          1975 Mary Myrtle Cornwell Mary Myrtle Cornwell (1911 – 2001) won the award in 1975

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1975: The Appalachian Consortium Press

Posted on February 22, 1975 by AMoH

    From appstate.edu: The Appalachian Consortium Press was founded in 1973 – the first publisher devoted to Appalachia. The Press published

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Literary Award

1974: Goingback Chiltoskey

Posted on March 10, 1974 by AMoH

          1974 Goingback Chiltoskey Goingback Chiltoskey (1904 – 2000), noted Cherokee woodcarver, was presented the 1974

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1974: Blanford Barnard Dougherty, mountain educator by Ruby J. Lanier

Posted on February 22, 1974 by AMoH

    From the publisher: Born in the mountain town of Boone, NC, in 1870, Blanford Barnard Dougherty remained there for

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Literary Award

1973: Bascom Lamar Lunsford

Posted on March 10, 1973 by AMoH

          1973 Bascom Lamar Lunsford Bascom Lamar Lunsford (1882 – 1973), 91-year-old Buncombe County folklorist, won

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1973: Western North Carolina Since the Civil War By Ina W. and John J. Van Noppen

Posted on February 22, 1973 by AMoH

    From the publisher: No region has undergone more dramatic changes in the last century than Western North Carolina. Published

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Literary Award

1972: Cratis D. Williams

Posted on March 10, 1972 by AMoH

          1972 Cratis D. Williams Dr. Cratis Dearl Williiams (1911 – 1985), dean of the graduate

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1972: A Long, Long Day For November by Moffitt Sinclair Henderson

Posted on February 22, 1972 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “When Samuel Price Carson became a state senator at the age of 24, he launched a

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Literary Award

1971: John A. Parris

Posted on March 10, 1971 by AMoH

          1971 John A. Parris John Alvis Parris, Jr. (1914 – 1999), Sylva-native and Asheville Citizen-Times

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1971: Arts and Crafts of the Cherokee by Rodney L. Leftwich

Posted on February 22, 1971 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “The traditional arts among the Eastern Band of Cherokees which are surveyed in this document

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Literary Award

1970: The Carson House

Posted on March 10, 1970 by AMoH

          1970 The Carson House The Carson House historic site project in McDowell County was presented

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1970: The Grandfather and the Globe by Dell B. Wilson

Posted on February 22, 1970 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “This is a chronicle of how the Civil War affected the lives of certain families

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Literary Award

1969: W. Clark Medford

Posted on March 10, 1969 by AMoH

          1969 W. Clark Medford Haywood County historian, W. Clark Medford (1882 – 1974), won the

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1969: The Blue Ridge Parkway by Harley E. Jolley

Posted on February 22, 1969 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “For 469 miles the Blue Ridge Parkway follows the crests of ridges and mountains on a

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Literary Award

1968: William E. Bird

Posted on March 10, 1968 by AMoH

          1968 William E. Bird Dr. William E. Bird (1890 – 1975), president emeritus and longtime

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1968: A Biography of Thomas Wolfe by Neal F. Austin

Posted on February 22, 1968 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “Neal Austin describes the Wolfe family with humor and pathos: ‘W. Oliver Wolfe had been considered

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Literary Award

1967: Myra Champion, NC Collection at Pack Memorial Library

Posted on March 10, 1967 by AMoH

          1967 Myra Champion, NC Collection at Pack Memorial Library Myra Champion (1905 – 1988), librarian

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1967: Strangers in High Places: The Story of the Great Smoky Mountains by Michael Frome

Posted on February 22, 1967 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “Frome’s superbly written account tells the story of the Great Smoky Mountains and their inhabitants—Eastern

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Literary Award

1966: Florence Harrison Dunlop

Posted on March 10, 1966 by AMoH

          1966 Florence Harrison Dunlop Florence Leftwich Harrison Dunlop (1901 – 1979) was an educator and

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1966: Zeb Vance: Champion of Personal Freedom by Glenn Tucker

Posted on February 22, 1966 by AMoH

    From the publisher: “Rugged, dynamic, controversial — Zebulon Baird Vance was one of the dominant personalities of the South

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Literary Award

1965: Paul A. Rockwell

Posted on March 10, 1965 by AMoH

          1965 Paul A. Rockwell Col. Paul Ayres Rockwell (1889 – 1985), a past president of

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1965: No Award Given

Posted on February 22, 1965 by AMoH

 

Literary Award

1964: Cordelia Camp

Posted on March 10, 1964 by AMoH

        1964 Cordelia Camp Dr. Cordelia Camp (1884 – 1973) of Asheville, retired educator, received the award

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Outstanding Achievement Award

1964: Thomas Wolfe by Bruce R. McElderry, Jr.

Posted on February 22, 1964 by AMoH

    From the author: “Reconsideration of Thomas Wolfe is timely. It is now 25 years since his death, and 34

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Literary Award
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Asheville Museum of History

Asheville Museum of History