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August 2021
Play Music on the Porch Day
What if for one day everything stopped… and we all just listened to the music.” That’s the idea behind Play Music on the Porch Day, which is a worldwide event where people, well… do just that! Join the Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies at the Old Frog Level School (the log cabin on Bailey Street) on Mars Hill’s campus for an afternoon of mountain tunes. Don Pedi and friends will be playing some mountain tunes and you’re welcome to bring…
Find out more »September 2021
You Gave Me a Song
You Gave Me a Song Screening and Discussion You Gave Me a Song offers an intimate portrait of old-time music pioneer Alice Gerrard and her remarkable, unpredictable journey creating and preserving traditional music. The film follows eighty-four-year-old Gerrard over several years, weaving together verité footage of living room rehearsals, recording sessions, songwriting, archival work, and performances with photos and rare field recordings. Much of the film is told in Gerrard’s voice and via interviews with musical collaborators and family members…
Find out more »October 2021
Craft Pop-Up
During the Ramsey Center Craft Pop-ups, you get the chance to visit with a local artist, talk to them about their craft, and maybe even have a hands-on experience - all in the open air! Just look for a tent and table on the upper quad, and you can drop by at your convenience. It's a great way to unwind in between classes or even to get inspiration for your own art! On October 5 (rain date October 7), we'll…
Find out more »Mountain Frights: Ghost Stories with Adam Booth
Adam will share a program of traditional Appalachian spooky stories made contemporary, featuring haunts, witches, and inexplicable events that will leave you asking could that have really happened? We will gather around the campfire, but bring something warm to wear (even a blanket) and do be aware that Adam's stories are not for the faint of heart - they are indeed scary! Adam Booth's original stories blend traditional mountain folklore, music, and an awareness of contemporary Appalachia. A nationally touring…
Find out more »November 2021
“Voices of Truth and Pride”: Documenting, Remembering, and Celebrating LGBTQ Voices in Western North Carolina
West of Asheville there has been little done with LGBTQ activism. Just last year, Rountree and colleagues from Western Carolina received an internal grant to expand drag performer oral narratives to include other LGBTQ+ voices from Jackson County. This presentation will talk about how they collected these voices and how they inspired a local community performance. It will also touch upon how these narratives helped to spark the first ever Sylva Pride event (and the first Pride to occur west…
Find out more »P&J Coffeehouse
Sarah Ogletree holds a BA in sustainable development, with a focus in environmental justice, from Appalachian State University. She earned her Master of Divinity, with a concentration in religious leadership and ecology, from Wake Forest University School of Divinity. Sarah has worked at the intersection of faith and environment for nearly a decade, partnering with organizations like Creation Justice Ministries, GreenFaith, People's Justice Council, Interfaith Power & Light, United Methodist Women, and Presbyterians for Earth Care. She served as North…
Find out more »Old Time Holiday Crafts
Do you need a break from studying, working, or grading? Drop by the Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies (in the Renfro Library building, but enter from the Bailey Street parking lot) for a relaxing time creating an old-timey holiday craft. We are going to decorate our tree and we’d love for you to join us and make a craft either for our tree or to take home! Admission is free and the event is open to all on the Mars…
Find out more »December 2021
Museum Open House
The museum will be holding extra evening hours on Friday December 3rd. Stop in for some holiday cheer on the same evening as Mars Hill's downtown First Friday, MHU's Christmas tree lighting and MHU's holiday concert. (This will also be the last chance to see the "Educating Rural Appalachia" exhibit. Admission is free.
Find out more »January 2022
Friends of Bailey Mountain meeting
This community group convenes to support stewardship of Bailey Mountain including preservation, management and access. We meet quarterly and are open to all. The Chair reports any recommendations and concerns to the Town Manager of Mars Hill. Please fill out the form below if you are interested in joining our group, and thanks for your love of Bailey Mountain. https://form.jotform.com/210404622928047 Facebook Event Contact BaileyMtn@mhu.edu for more info.
Find out more »February 2022
The Farm and the Archive: ‘Old MacDonald’ Moves Online
At the 2022 Unveiling Our Treasures, this year’s Hart-Melvin Archival Research Fellows, Dr. Ethan Mannon and Chloe Metcalf, will present their work to create a Virtual Farm Tour by drawing on sources in the Southern Appalachian Archives. The presentation will describe the pair’s research in the archives that fueled the creation of this online tour of western North Carolina agriculture in the early decades of the twentieth century and will include the debut of the video tour of the Virtual…
Find out more »Exhibition Celebration: Unearthing Our Forgotten Past, Fort San Juan
The new exhibition on display in MHU’s Rural Heritage Museum (on loan from the Exploring Joara Foundation) chronicles the Spanish incursion into the area of present-day Burke County. Archaeologists have identified the site as the location of the Native American town of Joara, one of the largest Native American towns in western North Carolina, occupied from about A.D. 1400-1600. Joara was visited by the Hernando de Soto expedition in 1540 and by the Juan Pardo expedition from 1567-68. Fort San…
Find out more »March 2022
First Language: The Race to Save Cherokee
Join the Indigenous Student Association and the Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies for a screening of First Language: The Race to Save Cherokee (2014, 56 mins, dir. Neal Hutcheson and Danica Cullinan). The film explores the extraordinary steps the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians are taking to revitalize the Cherokee language. We will be joined by Rainy Brake, who is the head of the Cherokee Language Program at Western Carolina University. She was the first certified teacher in the New…
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