The River Area
This devastating event in 1916 caused the French Broad River to overflow by 20 feet, impacting Asheville’s Black-owned businesses.
What is the Flood of 1916?
This Black physician opened Asheville's first tuberculosis sanitorium for Black patients in 1910 at his Eagle Street home.
Who is Dr. William Green Torrence?
This Asheville man, born into slavery in 1841, became the city’s first Black elected official in 1882 and served as Alderman.
Who is Newton Shepard?
This early Asheville organization helped Black women find work and improve their lives, founded in 1913.
What is the Employment Club?
The development of this street by Isaac Dickson is credited with the foundation of Asheville's first Black business district.
What is Depot Street?
This was a thriving Black neighborhood where 20,000 people gathered on weekends. Urban renewal from the 1960s-80s led to the loss of 1,000 Black-owned businesses and homes, displacing much of the Black population.
What is Asheville’s Southside?
This 1934 legislation expanded homeownership for White families but contributed to the destruction of Black neighborhoods like Asheville’s Southside.
What is the National Housing Act of 1934?
Founded in 1887, this Asheville school provided education to Black students, including future trailblazers like Nina Simone and Dr. Christine Darden.
What is the Allen School?
This Asheville-based civil rights group pushed for desegregation with sit-ins and petitions.
What is ASCORE (Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality)?
This park, developed in 1916 by E.W. and Annis Pearson, became a cornerstone of Asheville’s Black community, hosting events and offering recreational space.
What is Oates Park?
Black men and women, many forced into labor after slavery ended, built this tunnel under brutal conditions, with nearly 400 dying during construction.
What is the Swannanoa Tunnel?
This Black entrepreneur ran McMorris Amoco Service Station from 1955 to 1976, providing vital services to Asheville's Southside.
Who is Robert McMorris?
This high school, which served Black students from five Western North Carolina counties, was known for its arts programs, sports teams, and civil rights activism.
What is Stephens-Lee High School?
This was the first Black elementary school in Asheville, founded by the Asheville Colored Graded School.
What is the Isaac Dickson School?
Established in 1882, this historic Asheville church played a central role in supporting the Black community, especially during times of adversity like the 1916 flood.
What is Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church?
This 1925 union, formed by Black rail workers, fought for fair wages and better working conditions, eventually securing a contract in 1937.
What is the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids?
Founded in 1921, this YWCA in Asheville provided housing, education, and social activities for Black women in the area.
What is the Phyllis Wheatley YWCA?
This formerly enslaved man developed Asheville’s first Black business district, known as "Dickson Town," and played a key role in the growth of the East End neighborhood.
Who is Isaac Dickson?
This federal agency, established after the Civil War, helped African Americans in Asheville with voter registration, education, and job placement.
What is the Freedmen's Bureau?
his Black-owned service station, operated by Robert McMorris from 1955 to 1976, was known for honest, affordable work and became a vital community hub despite the disruptions caused by urban renewal.
What is McMorris Amoco Service Station?
In 1951, this Asheville resident refused to give up his bus seat four years before Rosa Parks, though he lost his lawsuit for damages.
Who is William R. "Seabron" Saxon?
In 1912, E.W. and Annis Pearson developed this Asheville subdivision, which is now known as Burton Street.
What is the Pearson Park subdivision?
In 1961, Allen School student Viola Spells and Stephens-Lee High School student Oralene Simmons helped to desegregate this public institution in Asheville.
What is the public library?
This Asheville business, owned by William and Georgia Roland, not only provided jewelry but also served as a space for civic leadership, supporting the Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality.
What is the W.E. Roland Jewelry Company?
E.W. and Annis Pearson contributed to Asheville's Black community by developing Pearson Park and creating the Buncombe County Colored Agricultural Fair. In the 1970s, Annis co-founded two centers that supported seniors displaced by urban renewal. What are the names of these centers?
What are the Senior Opportunity Center and Burton Street Senior Club?