This event will be held as a webinar over Zoom. Please RSVP below so that you can receive a zoom link before the event starts! From the author, Lee Smith: ...

The Western Regional Archives is located in a former Veteran’s Administration Hospital Nurses dormitory and part of the Charles George VA National Historic District. This location made Regional Archives staff ...

Ballads and unaccompanied traditional songs of Appalachia are timeless, soulful and evoke a deep sense of connection. For generations, people have kept these songs alive by teaching them to each ...

This book club discussion will take place as a webinar through Zoom. Please RSVP below to receive your Zoom link. From the publisher: "Winner of the North Carolina Society of ...

Westen North Carolina and east Tennessee have rich social and performative dance traditions. From small square dances held at local homes to the modern incarnation of Warren Wilson's Old Farmers ...

Join the Swannanoa Valley Museum for an online discussion of award-winning author Crystal Wilkinson's book "Blackberries, Blackberries," a series of short stories told from the perspective of Affrilachians living in ...

***We have cancelled this event due to weather conditions. Please check out our website to sign up for future History Explorers events, running through mid-October: https://www.history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org/events/ Children's programming is also ...

How did African Americans travel during the 20th century? Where did they go and why? How did they know where to go? What was the experience like?  Join the Swannanoa ...

In this online presentation, Elodie Covert will discuss the history of the historic Swannanoa 4-H Camp and the property's use as a prisoner of war camp in WWII. Construction of ...

Join the Swannanoa Valley Museum for an online book club discussion of award-winning songwriter Billy Edd Wheeler's autobiography "Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout." Registrants will receive a Zoom link before ...

In this webinar, museum director LeAnne Johnson will explore simple tips and tricks that can aid in preserving family artifacts at home. From old photographs and handwritten letters to flashy ...

In this program, children will get to view different historic, hand made quilts and learn to recognize quilt patterns. They will finish with an activity in which they color their ...

  You are cordially invited to our AbsenTea: A Zoom Fundraiser for the Swannanoa Valley Museum! Celebrate the culture of tea and support the Swannanoa Valley Museum at this fun ...

The South Asheville Cemetery, located in the Kenilworth neighborhood behind St. John "A" Baptist Church, is the resting place for approximately 2000 African American residents of Asheville, who were buried ...

Join the Swannanoa Valley Museum a 1-hour Zoom presentation with Gina Iacovelli of Mementos Entwined, on the 19th century techniques used to create sentimental and mourning jewelry with human hair, and ...

Celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day with an online discussion of An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States. The discussion will be facilitated by Delesslin George-Warren and Kassidy Maeghan Plyler of ...

In 1894, Asheville became the birthplace of the women’s suffrage movement in North Carolina when Helen Morris Lewis formed the Equal Suffrage Association of North Carolina, the first of its ...

The Swannanoa Valley Museum's Haunted Valley Rally Driving Tour, scheduled to take place October 23rd and 24th has been canceled. While we have received support and interest for the tour, ...

The Swannanoa Valley Museum's Haunted Valley Rally Driving Tour, scheduled to take place October 23rd and 24th has been canceled. While we have received support and interest for the tour, ...

How did Native peoples receive and interact with Spanish conquistadors in the mid-16th century? Contrary to popular narratives, Native peoples were not passive victims of Spanish colonization. Instead, Native leaders ...

In this online event, Brooke Bauer will examine Catawba women's interactions with the men in their world during a period of crisis. She will expand on our understanding of the ...

Come celebrate the holiday season at the Swannanoa Valley Museum's Holiday Open House! This event will be an opportunity to enjoy our nine-foot tall Christmas tree, listen to holiday music ...

In this workshop we will talk about why humans ferment food (hint: flavor, preservation, & health), we will discuss some of the history and culture of different fermentations, we will ...

"Mountain Songs for the Soul” comes from the idea that singing traditional ballads and folk songs can strengthen us for hard times as well as help us celebrate the good ...

This SVM Book Club event will feature a conversation with Mary Othella Burnette, author of Lige of the Black Walnut Tree: Growing Up Black in Southern Appalachia. Read a New ...

In this winter workshop, museum director LeAnne Johnson will teach how to make natural pigment tempera paint using egg yolk and pigments made right from your own yard. Grass for ...

This event will be a book club discussion of Mary Othella Burnette's Lige of the Black Walnut Tree: Growing Up Black in Southern Appalachia. This event is free, but an ...

The hike to Weatherford Heights explores the history and geography of Y.M.C.A. Blue Ridge Assembly. The hike follows the original boundary line of the conference center’s grounds, surveyed by educator, author, and religious leader Willis ...

This hike will follow the Kitsuma Trail to a viewpoint boasting sweeping vistas of the Swannanoa Valley, including a breathtaking view of Mt. Mitchell, which is visible on clear days. Today, Ridgecrest ...

From the publisher: "In the dawning years of the 20th century, Bessie Daniels leaves her home town of Hot Springs and travels east over the mountains to live with her ...

Mound and village sites like Kituwah, Nikwasi, and Cowee are prominent places in the Cherokee heartland of western North Carolina. Despite a history of encroaching development and site destruction, these ...

This difficult, 6-mile segment traverses the crest of the Blue Ridge (Continental Divide) along the eastern boundary of Montreat. Montreat was founded by Rev. John C. Collins in 1897 as a place “for physical and ...

Julia Elizabeth Westall Wolfe was born on February 16th, 1860, and grew up in the Swannanoa River Valley. Along with a life long passion of buying and selling real estate, ...

This hike will take hikers to see the grave of the first European settler west of the Blue Ridge – Samuel Davidson (located on private property),  who was killed by ...

From Wikipedia: "Selu: Seeking the Corn-Mother's Wisdom is a book by Marilou Awiakta. It uses poems, essays, and drawings to explore themes of unity and diversity. Awiakta uses the Cherokee ...

Hunting morels in the spring is a common tradition for many in our region, and a handful of other choice edible wild mushrooms are gaining in popularity. Few seem to ...

This will be a rewarding hike with some of the best views on the rim. However, it will be long and difficult. The hike will be a loop hike of ...

Take a guided walking tour of the eleven sites on the Christmount Christian Assembly property that comprise the Guastavino Estate "Rhododendron," located in Black Mountain, NC. Get historical insight into ...

In the Spring of 2021, teams of students in Dr. Ellen Holmes Pearson's UNC Asheville "Out of the Archives: Adventures in Digital History" class worked together to create digital history ...

Join us on Saturday, May 29th for Pollinator Day! This event is a collaboration between BMCA and the Swannanoa Valley Museum and History Center to celebrate the importance of pollinators ...

Join us for a historic tour of the Montreat College Athletic Campus, the former site on In-the-Oaks. We will take a short tour through the house and then walk the ...

From the publisher: "The ballad 'John Henry' is the most recorded folk song in American history and John Henry--the mighty railroad man who could blast through rock faster than a ...

The harvest of wild American ginseng has been an integral part of Appalachian history and culture for over 300 years. As one of the world’s most popular herbal remedies, ginseng ...

This strenuous 3.1 mile hike takes its name from the rock that resembles a Cherokee chief known as Grey Eagle sitting and overlooking Black Mountain. The hike begins at Black ...

Bull Creek Valley was traditionally a hunting ground and, possibly, a settlement for ancestors of the Cherokee. Before the turn of the 19th century, however, it became known as Riceville ...