This is the story of a street railway operator and his family moving from a small rented house (their home for 16 years) on an in-town estate in downtown Asheville…
Read moreThe Down Side of the Land of the Sky: The Whisnants and Rudisills in Asheville and West Asheville, 1922-1951
This post is lovingly and admiringly dedicated to my father-in-law Frank Joseph Mitchell (February 12, 1927 – July 25, 2017). Lifelong student, prodigious reader, indefatigable writer, fearless preacher and unforgettable…
Read moreFamily Challenges in the ‘Teens: A Strike, a Flood, and an Epidemic
This post focuses on the Asheville Street Railway Strike of 1913; the great Asheville flood of 1916; and the influenza pandemic of 1918-1920, in which my father nearly died.
Read moreA Document Answers Some Questions (and Raises New Ones)
In writing this blog so far, I have consulted and presented many kinds of documents: photographs, census records, newspaper articles and advertisements, printed catalogs, maps, postcards, government reports–whatever I have been able…
Read moreGlimpses into the Daily Lives of the Whisnants
My previous post conveyed as much as I have been able to discover about the “little house behind the big house” setting of the Whisnant family’s life on Asheville’s South…
Read moreWorking Class Family Behind the Big House: Asbury, Ella, and Their Children: 1907-1918
Living Large and Small: Class and Difference on an In-town Estate This post examines the place where Asbury and Ella lived with their family for fifteen years after 1907, and seeks to employ the…
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