News & Events

UNC Asheville Hosts Historical Exhibit on the Urban Influences on the Blue Ridge Parkway

July 1, 2010

In honor of the 75th anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, UNC Asheville's Ramsey Library is hosting a special historical exhibit, "Not So 'Back of Beyond': Urban Echoes on the Blue Ridge Parkway," which explores the urban influences on the aesthetics, politics, socioeconomics, people and environment of the parkway. The exhibit will be on view through August 14 in UNC Asheville's Blowers Gallery, located on the main level of Ramsey Library. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

"Not So 'Back of Beyond'" was prepared by Ramsey Library volunteers and staff in cooperation with Jackie Holt of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It includes a variety of historical and contemporary photographs, documents, drawings and objects that provides a glimpse into the construction, use and future of the parkway. Interactive portions of the exhibit allow patrons to contribute their own experiences.

A complementary exhibition of photographs of the flora of the Western North Carolina mountains is on view through August 14 in Ramsey Library's Special Collections, located on the second floor. This exhibit features the work of well-known local photographers, including E.M. Ball, Elliot Lyman, George Masa and Herbert Pelton. The images are part of a large folio, "Native Plants of the North Carolina Mountains Suitable for Naturalization," and from a small set of color transparencies of local plants. Both sets of images were recently donated to the university by the French Broad River Garden Club Foundation.

For more information, call UNC Asheville's Ramsey Library Special Collections at 828/251-6645.