The exhibits from the UNC Asheville Center for Diversity Education are known for telling the diverse stories of Western North Carolinians throughout history. These exhibits were largely based on the research of students at UNC Asheville using the methodology of Facing History and Ourselves. Through the use of primary and secondary source materials, including first-person stories from local citizens, our exhibits amplify the emotional impact of world events and strengthen students’ understanding of history. The exhibits were a great way to start a conversation in schools, community organizations, and businesses and were created to complement the North Carolina Essential and Standard Course of Study and to the benefit of citizens of all ages. This is a digital archive of CDE exhibits and educator resources, but may not be available currently as a physical resource for check out. Visit our ‘Available Resources’ page to find exhibits that are still in circulation.
Claxton Elementary Centennial Celebration, 2024
In honor of Claxton Elementary School’s Centennial Celebration, the CDE curated a historical timeline and oral histories that help tell the story of this 100 year old public elementary school in Asheville City Schools. This exhibit recognizes the school’s history within the context of the greater community, including its acknowledgment of Stephens-Lee High School, the school for Black students prior to integration whose architect, Ronald Greene, designed both Claxton Elementary and Stephens-Lee High.
Education for Liberation: African American Education in Macedonia Rosenwald School 1925-1963, 2017
This exhibit features early educational access for African Americans and the Rosenwald Foundation’s influence in establishing these schools in Mississippi.
Health Care Parity: Bending the Arc for Equality in Buncombe County, 2015
The history of health and health care for African American/Black citizens in Buncombe County represents over a century of inequity. Except for the determination of a few African American/Black medical professionals and too few White allies, this exhibit offers a historical context that has influenced the contemporary structures of health care delivery.
Mi Historia: Contemporary Latinos in WNC, 2015
This exhibit provides a glimpse into the varied and important stories of Western North Carolina’s Latino immigrant population.
Potential Unlimited Disability, 2009
This exhibit features photos and interviews with twelve local citizens whose lives have been affected by disability in some way, including personal, family, and professional experiences. The exhibit was developed through UNC Asheville undergraduate student research and addresses a variety of issues associated with disability, such as Universal Design, adaptive technologies, access, and respect.
Pecking Order: Bullying and the Power Continuum, 2008
This exhibit explores the continuum of interactions from targets, bullies, bystanders, and upstanders. The experience does not end in childhood, but is repeated in the workplace, neighborhoods and the politics of the world stage.
With All Deliberate Speed: School Desegregation in Buncombe County, 2007
This exhibit looks at the actions of individuals and institutions and the role they played in the integration of the community from the early 1950’s to the turn of the century. In particular, the exhibit features the activities of the Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality (ASCORE) who worked to desegregate Asheville from 1960-1965.
WNC Goes Global, 2007
This exhibit shares the words of wisdom from local entrepreneurs. Diverse business people share their perspectives on our changing economy, our relationships with countries around the world, and our ways of educating for success in this 21st century.
Choosing to Remember: From the Shoah to the Mountains, 2006
This document shares the experiences of residents of WNC who are personally connected to the Shoah (Hebrew word for the Holocaust). Their stories create a timeline from the beginning of the Holocaust in the early 1930s to the impact survivors and their families continue to face.
Loving Families: Conversations with the GLBT Community in WNC, 2006
This document centers LGBT voices in WNC through interviews and pictures in various aspects of daily life to help define ‘family.’
Coming to the Mountains: Immigration & Western North Carolina, 2006
This exhibit shares the stories of immigrants who began moving to WNC in the early 1800s through the present. The focus of “Coming to the Mountains” is on the businesses, both historic and contemporary, that immigrants to our community have established.
Mi Historia: Latinos Today in Western North Carolina, 2005
This exhibit shows the historical context of Latinx migration in its influence on WNC in the early 2000s and provided a space to showcase the Latinx diaspora that existed, and continues to exist, in Asheville.
In the Footsteps of Pilgrims, 2005
This document demonstrates the various ways people complete religious pilgrimages, including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto, Islam, and other holy sites in Israel.
An Unmarked Trail, 2005
This exhibit gives local history and can be split between 1850-1900 and 1900-1950. The research for this exhibit was conducted by students from AC Reynolds, Asheville, and Roberson High Schools under the leadership of the Center and local educator, Tori Leslie.
WW II Mountain Memories: Home Front to the Frontline, 2003
This exhibit is based on interviews from over 75 local veterans and civilians and presents the issues of diversity that were central to World War II, including the Holocaust, the internment of the Japanese, the changing role of women, the segregated army, and much more.
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Educator Resources
Seasons of Gratitude Teacher Packet, 2016
This document offers various cultural ways groups of people give gratitude including Cherokee Fall Festival, the Harvest Festivals of West Africa, and Pongal.
Festivals of Light Teacher Packet, 2015
This document offers an introduction to various religious holidays with its connection to NC Standard Course of Study. For reference only as many links are no longer active and the NCSCoS has newer standards as of 2021.
Good Fortune: The Lunar New Year Teacher Packet, 2015
This document explores the Lunar New Year celebrations among Asian countries and their influences upon each other.
Lesson Plan for Use of Buncombe County Slave Deeds as Primary Sources, 2014
This document offers suggested strategies when introducing slave deeds as primary sources in a classroom or professional development.
“It’s Only a Game” Harmful Stereotypes in Sports, 2000
This small laminated poster set comes with an educator guide that centers the harmful depiction of Native Americans as mascots.