The Role of African Americans in the History of WNC
Building the 1870s Swannanoa Train Tunnel and the South Asheville Cemetery Project, presented by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
On Saturday, April 14 at 2 p.m., join Warren Wilson College professors Jeff Keith and Kevin Kehrberg, as they present public memories about slavery and the Jim Crow South through the story of the Swannanoa Tunnel and efforts to maintain the South Asheville Cemetery.
While often associated with southern Appalachia, the “myth of racial innocence” is lost in the exclusive use of African American convict labor to build the Swannanoa Train Tunnel that connected the mountains of Western North Carolina to the NC Piedmont in the late 1870s. This tragic construction story is highlighted through the conversations as well as the music of the laborers.
In addition, an overview of the current community work to cultivate and protect the oldest public African American cemetery in WNC, the South Asheville Cemetery, will be developed. The South Asheville Cemetery is the final resting place for nearly two thousand people—many of them slaves.
Scheduled to take place in UNCA’s Manheimer Room at the Reuter Center, tickets will be available at the door for a $5 donation; WNCHA members free. For more information, please visit the Western North Carolina Historical Association, www.wnchistory.org.
For more details, call (828) 251-6140 or visit olliasheville.com/special-programs
