Curated by Greta Browning, Reference Archivist/Librarian & Curator, Rhinehart Collection, Special Collections, Belk Library and Information Commons
The exhibit, “Black Mountain College Writers & Artists in Printed Word”, will be open from January - July 2018 in the Special Collections, Belk Library and Information Commons, Appalachian State University.
Admission is free and the exhibit is open to our campus and community.
This exhibit provides just a glimpse of the numerous Special Collections holdings of writers and artists associated with Black Mountain College, which operated from 1933 to 1957 in the Swannanoa Valley of North Carolina. The interdisciplinary school attracted faculty and lecturers that included America's leading visual artists, poets and influential writers, musical composers, dancers and designers. Many students of the college became well-known and extremely influential individuals and artists in their own rights in the latter half of the 20th century.
This display also includes volumes from the Paul and Maryrose Carroll Beat Collection. Writer, editor, professor and publisher, Paul Carroll helped to publish Beat poets in the 1950s through his founding and editorship of Big Table, a literary journal. The Carroll collection includes the works of Robert Creeley, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Jonathan Williams.
All books displayed are available for use in Special Collections, and these and related texts can be found in the Library catalog. For more information, visit Special Collections, www.collections.library.appstate.edu.
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About Special Collections
Special Collections at Appalachian State University was formed in 2005 with the opening of the Carol Grotnes Belk Library and Information Commons. The formation of Special Collections united three major existing collections, the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Stock Car Racing Collection, University Archives and Records and added the developing Rare Books and Manuscripts Collection.
In keeping with the Library's mission, the core mission of Special Collections is to collect, preserve and provide public access to primary and secondary source material in the above collecting areas. In addition, the unit promotes use of and education about collections through exhibits, instruction, public programming and the World Wide Web. The collections and the activities of Special Collections support the teaching, learning, research and scholarship of the Appalachian State University community, as well as the local, regional, national and international research communities.
About Black Mountain College Semester
Black Mountain College was founded in North Carolina’s Swannanoa Valley in 1933 by John Andrew Rice (whose papers are housed in Appalachian’s W.L. Eury Collection) and closed its doors in 1957, yet to this day remains the greatest academic adventure ever launched on American soil.
The University and BMC share the same geographic backdrop and each locale has witnessed similar changes in rural livelihoods, demographics and ecologies that have reshaped the cultural meanings of place in southern Appalachia. Appalachian continues BMC’s tradition of progressive, experiential education with commitment to collaboration and respect between students and faculty. This semester will link BMC to place by drawing from archives, original field interviews, regional news, excerpts from the exhibition’s companion publication “Appalachian Journal,” and more. To learn more visit: www.cas.appstate.edu/black-mountain-college-semester
New Exhibit in Special Collections
New Exhibit in Special Collections