North Carolina Hospital for the Insane (Dorothea Dix Hospital), Raleigh. Built 1850-1852. Image courtesy of NC Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill
The Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County, Buncombe County Special Collections and Pack Memorial Library are hosting We Built This: Profiles of Black Architects and Builders in North Carolina through October 10. The new traveling exhibit is being presented at Pack Memorial Library in downtown Asheville.
The traveling exhibit highlights the stories of those who constructed and designed many of North Carolina’s most treasured historic sites. Spanning more than three centuries, We Built This provides more than two dozen personal profiles and historic context on key topics including slavery and Reconstruction; the founding of HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and Black churches; Jim Crow and segregation; and the rise of Black civic leaders and professionals.
The exhibit is open to the public during normal library hours: Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information about the display, email Erica LeClaire at erica@psabc.org or call 828.254.2343. Pack Memorial Library is located at 67 Haywood Street in Asheville.
