Digital Collections: Letters, Diaries, Scrapbooks, & More
Appalachian Collection
Taylor and Moore Store Ledger
The Taylor and Moore Store, operated by Henry Taylor, served the citizens of Valle Crucis, North Carolina in the 1860s to 1870s. The 616-page ledger documents the business activity of the Taylor and Moore General Store. It includes various advertisements, handwritten notes, cancelled checks, letters, legal documents, and account records, dated 1853-1917.
Ralph Fickel’s Mountain Notes
This digital collection includes 12 of Fickel’s climbing journals from the Ralph Fickel Papers (AC-490).
Moonshining in Burke County
The Moonshining in Burke County: The Career of N.C. ABC Officer Fred Hennessee scrapbook collection was created by Fred Hennessee during his law enforcement career.
Leo Finkelstein Papers
This collection contains materials relating to Leo Finkelstein, resident of Asheville, North Carolina, the Asheville Lions Club, and the Beth Ha-Tephila Cemetery in Asheville.
Kirby and Eller Family Letters, 1826-1938
This digital collection contain correspondence between the Kirby and Eller families of Ashe County, North Carolina. The letters focus mainly on day-to-day events such as planting and harvesting crops, health and illness, and household tasks, but also include references to the Civil War.
John Ross
This collection contains the Resolutions of Pin League to John Ross Document, which is a copy of a resolution of the Cherokee Nation’s Pin League regarding Major General James G. Blunt’s General Order Number 7 and the dismissal of Colonel William A. Phillips.
Isaac Sansbury Diary
Isaac Sansbury Diary chronicles Sansbury’s service with the 2nd West Virginia Volunteer Cavalry (Co. A) for the year 1864. Sansbury was from Ohio and born in 1847. Most entries only cite current locations, which were primarily in West Virginia. It also contains a list which appears to be members of his company. Few narratives of the 2nd West Virginia Volunteer Calvary exist.
Camp Yonahlossee
The digitized scrapbooks, photographs, guest books, and other items in this digital collection are from the Camp Yonahlossee Collection (AC-687). Founded in 1922 by Mrs. A. P. Kephart as a summer camp for girls, Camp Yonahlossee.
Black Mountain College: Innovation in Art, Education, and Lifestyle
The “Black Mountain College: Innovation in Art, Education, and Lifestyle” exhibit examines the history and legacy of the experimental educational institution known as Black Mountain College in the Swannanoa Valley of North Carolina from 1933 to 1957. This digital exhibit and document repository is based off a physical exhibit by the same title on display in 2013 at Belk Library and Information Commons. It was greatly expanded and developed in 2018.
Andrew Jackson Greene Collection
The Andrew Jackson Greene Collection consists of more than 160 diaries written by Greene who describes Watauga County’s education system, including Appalachian State Teachers College, cultural and religious life, and agriculture from 1906 to 1942.
Rare Books & Manuscripts
Grohs Family Papers
This collection includes items created by members of the Grohs family, with the majority relating to Lothar Grohs. There are letters written in German by members of the family, mainly Julius Gross and a wedding telegram book compiled to commemorate the wedding of Julius Gross and Clara Lonnerstadter in 1909.
“Thirty Years of My Life,” An Autobiography by Bingham Dai and Selected Items from the Dai Papers, 1899 – 2006
“Thirty Years of My Life”, an autobiography, was written by Bingham Dai as a requirement for attending the Seminar on the Impact of Culture Upon Personality held at Yale University in 1932-1933. Bingham Dai (1899-1996) was born in China and studied and taught 20th century psychology and psychiatry. After his retirment from Duke University in 1969, he relocated to Spruce Pine, NC where he lectured at Appalachian State University.
Stock Car Racing Collection
University Archives
Ella W. Thompson and Lloyd L. Hobbs Collection
Ella W. Thompson and her husband Dr. Lloyd LeRoy Hobbs were students at Appalachian State Teachers College from 1933-1937. Their collection includes scrapbooks, plaques, yearbooks, and ephemera. Only the scrapbooks have been digitized.