During the Spring, 2017 semester, four teams conducted research in UNC Asheville’s Special Collections and the Western Archives of the State of North Carolina. They used their research to construct websites on projects that explored the history of four of the area’s community religious and cultural organizations:

• The Black Mountain College During World War II , by Kristen Walden, Keira Roberson, and Joe Mitchell, examines the experiences of the faculty and students of Black Mountain College, through pages on those faculty who arrived in the U.S. as war refugees, those faculty and students who enlisted in to fight during the war, and the activities of those who remained at the college during the war.
• The Agudas Israel Synagogue of Hendersonville, by Mikayla Bennett, Evan Bretan, and Kevin Stallings, relates the founding and early history of the synagogue through the stories of the Jewish community’s prominent families and their economic, cultural and social impact on the town of Hendersonville in the early 20th century.
• The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville, by Haylee Carringer, Timothy Harden, and Zoe Hickey, highlights the history of the UUCA and their community activities, particularly those involving social justice issues.
• The Mountain Dance and Folk Festival, by Ethan Edwards, Catherine Euchner, and Andrea Hyatt, covers the founding and early history of the first folk festival in the nation, which celebrates Western North Carolina’s music and culture.

The Digital History teams collaborated with Dr. Marietta E. Cameron’s Games Programming class to produce interactive components for each website — make sure to check out the interactives, which include virtual tours, trivia games, and other activities that allow participants to learn even more about Western North Carolina’s history. Click on the links below for more about this collaboration.

The Future of History: Students in History and Computer Science Team Up to Bring the Past to Life