The Western Regional Archives (WRA), located at the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources’s Western Office at 176 Riceville Road in Asheville, N.C. will officially open Monday, Aug. 13. Administered by the State Archives of North Carolina, the WRA collects, preserves, and makes publicly accessible archival materials reflecting the culture and history of western North Carolina.
“With this long-awaited opening of the Western Regional Archives, we will be even better able to serve as a resource to historians, researchers, students and visitors,” said state archivist Sarah Koonts. “The archives will continue to grow and expand its holdings, and will complement the work already being done by the Department of Cultural Resources in western North Carolina.”
The WRA will focus its collecting efforts on organizational records, private collections and photographic collections. Several significant collections have been moved from the State Archives in Raleigh to form the core archival collection in Asheville, among them:
• The Black Mountain College Papers and private collections related to the college
• The Blue Ridge Parkway Photograph Collection
• The Appalachian National Park Association Papers
For more information, contact Heather South at 828-296-7230, ext. 240, or heather.south@ ncdcr.gov.
– article submitted by the N.C. Dept. of Cultural Resources