Information presented throughout this website surrounds the Urban Renewal implementation. Content includes before, during, and after the Urban Renewal era. The Gallery connects the human side…the faces… lives who experienced the Urban Renewal impact.  The Gallery 2 shows people on one accord.  The “remapping menu” displays parcels and home in the Southside community before, during, and after the implementation.

The Urban Renewal implementation resulted in economic changes, life, and physical disruptions- a community root shock.  In an effort to share our stories, this website invites contribution from all  community members impacted in Asheville. The website’s contents predominately represent what happened on the Southside of Asheville, NC. My vision is that this website will serve as our voices.

Community Root Shock 

There were four thriving and close knit Black communities; Stump Town, East-End, Hill Street, and Southside. I lived in the Southside during a time when community meant unity.  Everyone knew each other and no one was hungry or homeless. The children played safely in the streets. Young men and women were taught trades by the Black business owners. There was much respect for one another; and the children were taught at an early age. It was home – until the change began.

The Redevelopment Commission begun the East Riverside Redevelopment Program in 1968. The 407-acre project was a combination of rehabilitation and redevelopment.  It also involved improved street and utility systems. This project was the largest project in the southeast.  Substandard housing in the Southside (East Riverside) area was replaced unit for unit with federal assistance by the Housing Authority. These units are known as public housing. From 1970 through 2000, Asheville drastically change. In attempt to integrate institutions and improve living conditions in the Black community, the city of Asheville implemented the program of Urban Renewal. Homes, businesses, people, and even the trees were uprooted. Residents were scattered across the city. Some were able to purchase homes and relocated to unwelcomed areas. Most residents were relocated to public housing with the “high-rise” designated specifically for the elderly. Other residents relocated to other cities and states.

Sadly, along with some deteriorating structures and in the name of progress, the Black citizens of Asheville lost beloved neighborhoods, schools, black-owned homes, businesses, and a strong sense of community. Where homes once stood, the current lay of the land is filled with empty lots. Many community members question what happened to the $1 lots that were not sold back to community members, as promised. How many remain?  How many were sold to developers?

• 1730s – African Americans traveling through East Flat Rock with the Cherokee as both slaves and free men.
• 1781 – Samuel Davidson along with wife, child, and a female African-American slave crossed the Blue Ridge Mountains into Cherokee territory and settled east of Gugder’s Ford of the Swannanoa River
• 1785 – Asheville’s original name, Morristown, was changed in honor of Governor Samuel Ashe who redeemed a soldier’s land grant from the state of North Carolina
• 1792 – Creation of Buncombe County from Burke and Rutherford Counties. Created by William Davidson Vance and name after Colonel Edward Buncombe’s fatal Revolutionary battle at Germantown in 1777.
• 1840 – Census reported Asheville’s total population was 600 and 240 of those were slaves.
• 1861 – Civil War started
• 1862 – Asheville becomes a training center for Confederate soldiers.  Battle of Asheville, a Civil War battle is fought. The Confederacy opened a hospital, commissary, and a post office on Public Square.
• 1865 – Upon Emancipation, many Blacks moved further west toward Tennessee while others moved to Henderson County to establish their own community, “The Kingdom of the Happy Land.”
• 1867 – Nazareth First Baptist Church created for Blacks
• 1868 – Hopkins Chapel created due to discrimination in the Central Methodist Church. The congregation was led by W.J. Walls the “Boy Minister.”  Walls founded Camp Dorothy Walls in Black Mountain.
• 1880 – Start of the rapidly growth of Asheville’s Black population due to service industry jobs available as Coxe, Grove, and Vanderbilt opened tourist resorts and made Asheville the premiere health resort for the Victorian wealthy.
• 1880 – Vast majority of labor came from Black chain-gangs and free laborers.
• 1881 – Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church created and led by Robert Rumley for the Black community.
• 1883 – The first City Directory is printed for Asheville.  Population is recorded as $3,874  (2,408 white and 1466 colored).
• 1885 – First Sanborne Fire Map is drawn for Asheville and first public phone lines were hung.
• 1887 – Black business leader, Isaac Dickson cast the deciding vote at a Asheville School Committee to bring the public school system to Asheville – operating under the official name of “Asheville City Schools.”
• 1888 –  The first public school opens for Black students on S. Beaumont Street, but too small to accommodate all 380 children.
• 1889 – George Vanderbilt relocates and makes Asheville his new home. He purchases 125,000 acres of land to build the Biltmore Estate – some of the land owned Black community members.
• 1890 – Asheville’s population 10,240.  Students enrolled in school counted at 580 white students and 520 Black students.
• 1891 – The Catholic Hill School opens for Black children.
• 1892 – The Young Men’s Institute (YMI) was funded by George Vanderbilt as a recreation center for his Black workers. The original idea came from Edward Stephens whom influenced Vanderbilt because there were no public places for Blacks to gather in Asheville.
• ABOUT Us | YMI Cultural Center
• 1895 – George Vanderbilt donated the land for the creation of Saint Matthias Episcopal Church because Blacks were not allowed in All Souls Cathedral.  | Access to St. Matthias webpage (stmatthiasepiscopal.com)
• 1904 – The first gymnasium for Blacks schools was built by John Michael.
• 1906 – The Black community pay debt to Vanderbilt for the YMI
• 1906 – E.W. Pearson moved to Asheville after serving in the United States Army in the Spanish America War. 1912, he introduced a new subdivision for West Asheville which included a park name Pearson Park. The first Buncombe County District Agriculture Fair was held at Pearson Park in 1914 and in 1916, the first Black baseball team (Royal Giants) in Asheville began playing there.
• 1914 – World War 1 begins.
• 1915 – Hill Street Baptist Church opened for Black congregation
• 1917 – The first public school (Catholic Hill) for Black children burned, killing seven children. The school was replaced in 1922 and is known as Stephens Lee (Castel on the Hill), the first four-year high school in Asheville. Name after W.S. Lee who promoted vocational training, self-help, and Shakespeare.  Stephens-Lee remembered | Mountain Xpress
• 1917 – West Asheville annexed into Asheville
• 1920 – Asheville’s population 28,000. Buncombe County grew from 64,000 to almost 98,000 from 1920 to 1930.
• 1922 – Asheville City Plan by John Nolan ( click on link below to transition through the plan).
• Asheville city plan : Nolen, John, 1869-1937 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
• 1928 – Work on Beaucatcher Tunnel is completed mainly by Blacks on chain-gang and free labor.
• 1930 – Asheville’s population is over 50,000. Early years of Great Depression. Asheville’s economy begins a long and slow decline for 30 years. Buncombe County experience a boom in tobacco production gave the local rural economy support.
• 1933 – The Homeowners Loan Corporation (HOLC) was created. Federal. Created to prevent foreclosures and expand homeownership.
• 1934 – HOLC created color coded maps to indicate credit worthiness of neighborhoods. These maps led to redlining – a discriminatory banking practice that denied Black people access to financing.
• 1934 – Albert E. Manley, Principal of Stephens-Lee High School received his PhD at Stanford. Becomes President of Morehouse College in Atlanta.
• 1936 – The Negro Welfare Council was organized and charged with the representation of Asheville’s Black community – which comprised nearly one-third of Asheville’s total population. Comprised of seven (7) Black citizens, the council was the forerunner of the Human Relations Council.
• 1938 – Eugene Smith created the Southern News, the only Black newspaper through six (6) states until 1966.
• 1939 – World War II begins.
• 1949 – Federal Housing Act created the Urban Renewal program with the intention of redeveloping areas of cities deemed blighted.
• 1950 – Lee-Walker Heights was the first low-income housing project began by Housing Authority. Named after W.S. Lee of Stephens Lee High School and Dr. J.W. Walker, tuberculosis specialist, the apartment complex was located off Biltmore Avenue.
• 1958 – Asheville Redevelopment Commission established to began Urban Renewal planning process.
• 1959 – Asheville Buncombe Technical Community College created as a vocational center for adults.
• 1959 – The Mountain Street School was renamed the Lucy Herring School in honor of Lucy Herring, a devoted Black teacher and community leader.
• 1959 – Years of 1959 – 1972 were years of controversy in Asheville. Integration was forced throughout the South. Stephens-Lee school, which represented Black accomplishments was closed down. Many Black students were bused out to other schools in White neighborhoods.
• 1963 – YWCA holds a series of workshops on “The Challenge of Integration.”  A report recommended adult education and job training for both Negro and White.
• 1963 – Asheville-Buncombe Technical Institutes opened doors to provide industrial education and training for all local area students.
• 1964 – National Civil Rights Act is passed
• 1965 – East Riverside (Southside) Urban Renewal project implemented through 1988 (click on link below)
• Asheville Archives: The East Riverside Urban Renewal project | Mountain Xpress
• 1966 – Public hearing on the East Riverside Urban Renewal project
• 1968 – Aston Park Towers (High Rise for elderly) and Housing Authority Administration building built on South French Broad Avenue
• 1968 – Full integration of the Asheville YWCA occurs.
• 1971 – East End Valley Street Urban Renewal project implemented through 1980.
• 1974 – Where Black Means Unity (WBMU) Radio Station became the first Black-Owned Radio Station.  Founder, James Robinson.  (click on link below)
• WBMU Jamz – The Best Music from Yesterday provides the Best Sounds for Today.
• 1987 – Montford (Stump Town) Urban Renewal projected implemented through 1993.
• 2005 – Terry Bellamy elected as first Black Mayor. (Grew up in East-End Resident)
• 2007 – Press release reports boxes of acquisition files representing East Riverside (Southside) Urban Renewal Implementation are housed at University North Carolina-Asheville Ramsey Library Special Collections for archiving. MHO.  Mayor Terry Bellamy. Reed Fornoff
• 2010 – Mountain Housing Office (MHO) opened new “affordable” housing units on Depot Street. (Read More)
• 2010 – Some community members mistakenly believe the James Keys Hotel was part of the Glen Rock Depot building rehab and neighborhood revitalization project.
• 2010 – New community center opened on Livingston Street (location of community’s ballfield) Southside.
• 2011 – Housing Authority City of Asheville acquired W.C. Reid Center (formly Livingston Street School) through a $4m HUD grant. Government dollars were to be used to renovate building for community use.  A stipulated in the grant required 10-year possession before selling.
• 2018 – Quentin Miller became first Black Buncombe County Sheriff.  Grew up in East-End.
• 2020 – Local and National public discussions of Slavery, Urban Renewal, and Reparations began (click link below)
• Black residents discuss lasting injustices of urban renewal – ABC News (go.com)
• 2020 – Asheville City Council passed Resolution 20-128 supporting community reparations for Black Asheville.
  • Resolution 20-184 passed that put a hold on selling any city-owned properties that came from Urban Renewal until a Reparations Commission is formed and policies are put in place.
  • List of Urban Renewal properties still owned by Asheville City generated.

SLAVERY TIMELINE

• “400 Years Since Slavery: a timeline of American history” from The Guardian

RESEARCH

As many have stated and I agree, Urban Renewal is a controversial program of land redevelopment. This process began as an intense phase in the late 1940s and continued into the late 1970s. Many community members believe remnants of the implementation continues today. Unaffordable increasing property taxes for the few Black homeowners left within redlined areas contributes to further loss of properties.

While journeying through my 14 years of exploratory research which begun in 2008. I found most people who were directly impacted to be distraught and with little to no trust in local government. Many community members’ expressed there were actions of broken promises and hidden agendas. Some  community members went to their graves without receiving the promised $1 lots to rebuild their homes.

During the journey, I have experienced a most important awakening moment. A historic opportunity to revisit Slavery and Urban Renewal is allowing nationwide conversation – such that will allow a more stable healing process. Most importantly, I am ecstatic to see and be a part of people uniting, communicating, and advocating for the greater good.

This endeavor have shown me that regardless of status, creed, or color, we are all human. In the midst of adversity, unity have more power to bring about change.  Unity adds value to the whole – especially when diversity connects. We, who have been impacted most by Urban Renewal thank you for standing with us to bring about resolution and to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.

Please take the time to click on the pictures below.  I am sure there is something that will spark your interest.

Twilight of a Neighborhood

Twilight of a Neighborhood: Asheville’s East End 1970 | Flickr

Community Discussions / Citizen-Led Crowdsourcing 

Rewinding Asheville’s Black History

Slave Deeds Video 

Slave Deed Article

REDLINE

ABC NEWS: Black residents discuss lasting injustices of urban renewal

Project Seeks to Recreate History of Asheville Southside HASTAC – University of North Carolina at CHAPEL HILL

CNN News Report (Video)  – North Carolina City Turns to Reparation to Heal a City Broken

Asheville Approves $2.1 M for Reparations

Black Home Ownership and the Promise of Reparations

COMMUNITY IMPACT

James Baldwin

Black community members experienced great loss – all in the name of Urban Renewal.

Asheville holds a community with a closed, but unhealed wound which festers with resentment, hurt, and great concern. When the Urban Renewal project was implemented, it resulted in a mixture of benefits, perceptions, and emotions. Jobs were created through Model Cities while a vibrant entrepreneurial spirt and business world was shut down. Public housing was built while homes were torn down. Some neighbors were reunited in the new living quarters while others neighbors were separated. History was made while history was lost.   

1.  Homeowners – Many homes were not blighted, but still were lost to the Urban Renewal implementation. Homes were purchased for as little as $200 – amounts that didn’t allow purchase or rebuilding of another home. Some homeowners were widows living on a fixed income. Other homeowners were promised $1 lots to rebuild and grieved to their grave because receipt of the $1 lot never happened. Most were placed in newly built public housing units scattered across Asheville.
2. Tenants – Some tenants were happy about moving into new apartment units due to living in substandard housing, small units that didn’t accommodate large families, and housing with no running water or heat.
3. Landlords – Some lost rental income. However, many were slum landlords which contributed to the blight. As a result of slum landlords, the Certificate of Occupancies, confirming safe living conditions, was implemented.
4. Generational wealth for the Black community members was broken. Home and business ownership drastically decreased – nearly to a halt. Trades could no longer be taught to the younger generations.
5.  Increased homelessness. Housing Authority of the City of Asheville presented rental agreements that often times banned children or spouses – based on unacceptable activities or simply for not being on the rental agreement.
6.  The close-nit communities deteriorated. A community where no one was homeless or hungry and everyone was respectful to the elderly and to one another vanished. The chain of wisdom from the elders was broken.
7. Much of the Black History was tucked away.

“Urban Renewal told people it was going to be better living. Most houses were dilapidated. Beech Hill had nice homes…Ms. Virginia Holloway…Ben Hall. There was a man who would not sell his property.  His water and lights were cut off. Once he left his house, the house was burned down to the ground. The homeowner was sent an apology letter from the city. The Southside community was a village/family. The whole community took care of the children. We used to sleep with doors opened. Can’t do that now. The system has a lot to do with all of it.  When we relocated we were happy at first. After a while, it seemed like a concentration camp. Streets were block off in Erskine Street. Living at 477 South French Broad was much nicer than living in public housing.”                                                Robinson Sisters

______________________________________________________

Reparations

• [@ceciliabrown4529] Root Shocked-Official Trailer

• [Racial Justice Coalition] Reparations Commission asks for more time (updated)

• [Tribune Papers] Whitesides: Reparations Committee Insults My Ancestors

• [Asheville Citizen-Times] Reparations architect for Black Asheville residents gets Soros fellowship to spread idea

• [The Moguldom Nation] 10 Things to Know About Conrad Worrill And His Fight For Reparations

• [The City of Asheville] Community Reparations Commission

• [Greater Diversity News] Justice Dept. initiative secures $107 million in relief for redlining victims

• [Mountain Express] Reparations commission releases initial recommendations

• [Citizen Times] Asheville Reparations project manager steps down; what happens now?

• [Carolina Journal] Asheville human relations lawsuit could become class-action case

• [CBS News] 40 Acres and a Mule

• [Racial Justice Coalition] Reparations Are Due

• National Reparations Convention 2023 at Georgia State University October 7th and 8th

• [@YourBlackWorld] Dr. Claud Anderson drops the bomb on reparations

• [Rutherford GOP] Asheville Reparations Plan Nixed

• [Minnesota Spokesman-recorders] St. Paul joins a national movement to explore reparations for America’s original sin

• The Legacy Of Urban “Renewal” – A Conversation With Priscilla Robinson, Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church, July 9, 2023

• [HASTAC, Social and Political issues] Measuring The Impact Of Urban Renewal

• [The Urban News] Reparations For Land Taken From The Black Community, Apr 14, 2023

• [University of Maryland, College of Information Studies] Unearthing The Hidden Legacy Of Urban Renewal: Asheville’s Southside Neighborhood Reveals Intergenerational Impact, Apr 7, 2023 

• Presentation at The Asheville City Reparation Commission  - 30 minutes, Mar 20, 2023

• [Spectrum News] Pool And Park In Asheville Receives Historic Designation, Feb 16, 2023

• [WLOS] Half Of Asheville’s Black Population Were Displaced By Urban Renewal, Dec 12, 2022

• Presentation at The Asheville City Reparation Commission – 3 minutes, July 18, 2022

• [Advanced Information Collaboratory] Measuring The Impact Of Urban Renewal, June 18, 2022

• [WLOS] By The Numbers:Taking A Look At Homes Sold During Asheville’s Urban Renewal Projects, Sep 22, 2021

• [Advanced Information Collaboratory] The Fourth Thursday – Urban Renewal Impact In Asheville, NC, June 24, 2021

• Multi-Generational Stories Of Urban Renewal: Preliminary Interviews For Map-Based Storytelling, Myeong Lee, 2021

• [Citizen Times] AVL Watchdog:Black Home Ownership and The Promise Of Reparation, March 2, 2021

• [Mountain Xpress] Reparations, Six Months Later — So Far Empty Promises, Feb 2, 2021

• [ABC News] Black Residents Discuss Lasting Injustices Of Urban Renewal, Sep 17, 2020

• [CNN] North Carolina City Turns To Reparation To Heal “A Community Breakdown”, July 24, 2020

• Promoting Archival Engagement through Computational Interventions

• [The Urban News] Reparations for Land Taken from the Black Community 

• [CNN] Inside the first US city to award reparations to Black residents

• [NPR] A task force in California considers how to compensate the descendants of slaves

• [NPR] Why most Americans oppose reparations for slavery

• Presentation at the Reparations Commission, March 21, 2023, Asheville, NC

• Community Reparations Commission Presentation PDF

• [CNN] San Francisco leaders show early support for $5 million reparation payments for eligible Black residents

• [City of Asheville] Community Reparation Commission homepage

• [BBC news] Reparations: The US town paying its black residents

• 2023 Community Reparations Commission Meeting Schedule

• [ABC News] Reparations for slavery: Is Asheville a national model?

• [News13] Reparations Program Gets Annual Funding from Buncombe County

• [Buncombe County Government] Board of Commissioners Regular Meeting July 19, 2022

• [City of Asheville] Asheville City Community Reparations Commission Meeting July 18, 2022

• Priscilla Robinson Public Comment at Asheville City Community Reparations Commission Meeting July 18, 2022

• [City of Asheville] Community Reparation Commission

• [Asheville.com News] Members of Reparations Commission Describe Systemic Racism in Asheville

• [Asheville Watchdog] In Their own Words: Members of Reparations Commission Describe Systemic Racism in Asheville

• [LAist] County Returns Bruce's Beach — Now Worth $20 Million — To Black Family It Belonged To Nearly 100 Years Ago

• [LAist} LA County Returns Bruce's Beach — Now Worth $20 Million — To Black Family It Belonged To Nearly 100 Years Ago

• [City of Asheville] Reparation Commission Meeting June 27, 2022 

• [City of Asheville] Reparation Commission Meeting June 6, 2022

• [Asheville Watchdog] 2 Years in Making, California Reparations Report Offers Ideas For Asheville-Buncombe Commission

• [Asheville Watchdog] An Open Letter to the Asheville Community

• [NBC News] California Reparations Report Details 150 Years Of 'Moral And Legal Wrongs'

• [The Urban News] Reparations Commission Members Named

• [Citizen Times] Asheville Natives, Professors, Businesspeople. Who Will Lead Historic Reparations Process? 

• [The Urban News] The State of Black Asheville and Reparations

• [AP News] North Carolina City Commits $2.1M for Reparations

• [PBS News Hour] What Would Reparations for Black Americans look like? An Expert Does the Math

• [PBS Origins] The History of Reparations

• [The New York Times] North Carolina City Approves Reparations for Black Resident

I am thankful for the individuals below.  They have been the wind beneath my wings. Each individual have contributed tremendously to my dream. Their knowledge, skills, ability, and encouragement added value to my goal of telling the story, remapping community, and preserving Black history.

HARRY HARRISON AND PRISCILLA ROBINSON

Priscilla, a native of Asheville, NC, loves her community and has always been people-centered with an interest in helping, empowering, advocating for, and educating others. In 2008, after having a conversation with the late Harry Harrison, former Executive Director and Curator for the YMI Cultural Center, Priscilla began her journey, her quest for knowledge, and to the creation of this website. Mr. Harrison asked me “What is the pulse of your city? Why are the Black people so angry here? What happened?” Working toward her Master of Science in Management and Leadership as a student at Montreat College gave way to an opportunity to find answers for the presented questions.

DR. RICHARD MARCIANO

Richard Marciano is a professor in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland and founder of the Advanced Information Collaboratory (AIC), whose goals are to unlock the hidden information in massive stores of records using the latest advances in technology and train current and future generations on information professionals to think computationally in order to meet increasingly large and complex workloads.

His research interests center on Computational Archival Science (CAS).  He is also the 2017 recipient of the career Emmett Leahy Award for innovation in records and information management.

“The strength of the team is each individual member.”

DR. MYEONG LEE

Dr. Myeong Lee is an Assistant Professor of Information Science and Director of Community Informatics Lab at the George Mason University. His research interests are in understanding the dynamics of local communities, technology-enabled local groups, and information inequality.

Dr.  Lee also designs and implements technological systems that demonstrate geographically-embedded structures of information and associated issues. Through research, he aims to help reduce information inequality in local communities and contribute to community well-being, policy-making, and information access.

ARTHUR “RAY” McCOY

https://www.stpaul.gov/department/city-council/city-council-reparations-efforts

PORTIA EVANS

ROBERT PARKER

Robert Parker is a researcher and advisor to collectors, museums, and foundations regarding acquisitions, collections management, and provenance issues.  Having conducted research with primary resources for years, he has recently become interested in the importance of digital curation and the digitization of archival records.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, thank you to the Asheville community for your support, your stories, pictures, and the encouragement you have given me. Thank you to Deborah Miles, UNC-Asheville Center for Diversity Education, Andrea Clark -Photographer – Historical Collection , DeWayne Barton – CEO Hood Huggers Tours, Karen Loughmiller of the Buncombe County West Asheville Library, Drew Reisinger – Buncombe County Register of Deeds who exposed the slave deeds.  You all have been exceptional in your knowledge which transitioned me to a greater depth during my exploratory research. It truly allowed me to walk through a remapped Southside community.

I have experienced a journey of a lifetime. I have had the privilege to work with diverse Professors. UNC-Asheville, Dr. Kenneth Betsalel transitioned and held class at the YMI Cultural Center to hold community discussions and collect stories referencing Urban Renewal.  Dr. Richard Marciano and I started our collaboration during his tenure at the University of North Carolina (UNC) – Chapel Hill.  We continued to collaborate after his transfer to the University of Maryland.  He has made the research and Asheville a case study.  Dr. Cathy Davidson of Duke University joined Dr. Marciano and my collaboration creating an independent study class.  Dr. Myeong Lee joined the collaboration of Dr. Marciano and I and continues to work on the project as a case study.  I participated in Information Studies on diverse projects such as Citizen-Led Crowdsourcing Roadmap for the CI-BER “Big Data” Project, Southside Remapping Project, Digital Curation, and HASTAC Project Recreate History of Asheville’s Southside. In addition, I have collaborated with Scholar Emeritus Dr. Harland Gradin and the North Carolina Humanities Council in the publication of Twilight of a Neighborhood. As a result, the team received the Harlan Joel Gradin Award for Excellence in the Public Humanities from the North Carolina Humanities Council. What an unforgettable experience and honor to serve on a panel at the University of Maryland with Dr. Mindy Fullilove, Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Public Health at Columbia University. Dr. Fullilove defines this Urban Renewal process as “root shock” in her groundbreaking Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America and What We Can Do About It. Dr. Fullilove later published Urban Alchemy: Restoring Joy in American’s Sorted-Out Cities. It was also an honor listen to the presentations of The State of Black Asheville  from Dr. Dwight and Dolly Mullen.

I am also thankful for all of the diverse media who have interviewed me referencing Asheville’s Urban Renewal Impact, Slavery, and Reparation. Asheville Citizen Times, The Urban News, WLOS-TV, CNN News, ABC News-Dateline, Spectrum News 1, Ben & Jerry Podcast, Mountain Express, Asheville Watchdog, and the Asheville Blade. Last, but not least, I am thankful for the Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County. Thank you for your support, encouragement, and the grant that helped fund this website – which is a continuous endeavor.