Darin Waters Is Newly Appointed North Carolina Deputy Secretary for Archives and History

Congratulations to Darin Waters, who will begin his new position as deputy secretary for the Office of Archives and History for the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources next month in Raleigh.

For 11 years, Waters has been an inspiring connector and effective educator at UNC Asheville as an associate professor of history and the executive director of the Office of Community Engagement. As a member of the Department of History, Waters taught courses in American history, North Carolina history, Appalachian history, African American and Brazilian history. He also specializes in the history of race relations in both the United States and Latin America.

In 2017, Waters became UNC Asheville’s executive director of the Office of Community Engagement. In this role, he would bridge relationships with community leaders and organizations to strengthen and establish new partnerships on behalf of the University.

“Darin’s experience and expertise in both North Carolina history and community engagement will accelerate our efforts to provide more comprehensive stories of the people, places and events that have shaped the state we live in today,” said Reid Wilson, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, in a statement.

As deputy secretary of the Office of Archives and History, Waters will serve as North Carolina’s State Historian. He will oversee the North Carolina Historical Resources Commission as well as North Carolina’s currently established 27 historical sites, including the Thomas Wolfe Memorial in Asheville.

Waters’ reputation as one of North Carolina’s leading experts on the influence of historical forces on race relations will undoubtedly lend to his new position. In 2018, he was awarded The Old North State Award by North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper. Additionally, the Governor appointed Waters to serve on the North Carolina Historical Commission, the third oldest historical agency in the nation. He has also served as a member of a special commission for the North Carolina Supreme Court.

And although Waters’s new position requires him to move to the state capitol, radio fans can rest assured that his co-hosted program with UNC Asheville faculty member Marcus Harvey, The Waters & Harvey Show airing on Blue Ridge Public Radio, will continue to broadcast new shows on the second and fourth Fridays of each month at 9 AM.

Additionally, Waters is also looking forward to the release of his forthcoming book, Life Beneath the Veneer: Black Community in Asheville, North Carolina from 1793 to 1900, which the University of Illinois Press will publish. The book is heralded as the first full-length history of African Americans in the Western North Carolina region.