Our exhibitions illustrate the natural world and mountain societies, past and present. Temporary exhibits have been produced around such themes as blacksmithing traditions, Cherokee myths and legends, the history of an Appalachian watershed, and the southern Appalachian handicraft movement.
Gallery Exhibits
The Center maintains three major galleries. Gallery A houses the Center's only permanent exhibit while Galleries B and C house traveling or temporary exhibits. Smaller photographic and thematic displays are exhibited along the wormy chestnut-lined lobby areas.
Gallery A
Migration of the Scotch-Irish People
Permanent Exhibit
This exhibit recently went through a "renewal", so please come out to see the newest changes.
Gallery B
Collecting for Community.
through August, 2012
Featuring stories of community members and WCU faculty, staff and alumni whose donations of personal collections and family heirlooms have created an important regional museum collection.
Gallery C
Stiches in Time: HIstoric Quilts of western North Carolina
June 1, 2012 - September 14, 2012
Exhibit presented in conjunction with the North Carolina Quilt Symposium, a look at people and stories behind the quilts in the Mountain Heritage Center's collection.
South Lobby
A Craftsman's Legacy: The Furniture of Jesse Bryson Stalcup
Ongoing
This exhibit showcases woodworking tools and hand made furniture, used or made by Jesse Bryson Stalcup (1860-1931) a master carpenter who lived in western North Carolina. Born in Swain County, Jesse grew up as a skilled carpenter. In 1881, Jesse Stalcup married Alice Florence Kelly (1862-1948), daughter of Rufus Pierce and Dorothy Edmonston Kelly. The Stalcups settled in Macon County, where Jesse worked as a carpenter, millwright, and Baptist preacher.
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North Lobby
Western Carolina University: The Progress of an Idea
Ongoing
Music at WCU
March 2011 - August 2012
This exhibit traces how Robert Lee Madison's "Cullowhee Idea" in 1893 became the seed that sprouted "normal schools" across North Carolina and resulted in WCU and its mission of service to the region. In addition, the exhibit includes a changing section that will highlight various aspects of university life. The first changing section will focus on the rich legacy of formal and informal musical activity at WCU.
WCU emeritus history professors H. Tyler Blethen and Curtis W. Wood, authors of "A Mountain Heritage: The Illustrated History of Western Carolina University," headed the exhibit team. Blethen, Wood and MHC director Scott Philyaw also have colaborated on a Web-based university history, which will become part of WCU's website later this year.
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Lobby Cases
Two of our lobby cases feature a Civil War Mystery! They tell the story of a Union army badge belonging to Captain George S. Orr of the 77th Infantry Regiment of the NY State Volunteers that ended up in a Jackson County flea market in 2010. You can become a "history detective" as we trace the badge's journey from New York to North Carolina.
Two other cases feature the Mountain Heritage Award winners for 2011, Lloyd Arneach and the Stecoah Valley Center.
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Online Exhibits (open in a new window)
- After the War: Conflict and Domestic Change in the NC Mountains
- Craft Revival: Shaping Western North Carolina Past and Present
- Horace Kephart: Revealing an Enigma
- Mountain Heritage Center Quilts at The Quilt Index
- Nantahala Power & Light
More Online Content Including......
Click on DigitalHeritage.org for:
Digital Heritage Moments
WCU's Adventure of the American Mind
WCU student contributions
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Traveling Exhibits
"Bartram's Journey: The 1775 Journey of William Bartram to Western North Carolina"
- Currently Available -
"Our State Dog: North Carolina's Plott Hound"
North Carolina Museum of History
Raleigh, NC
September 9, 2011 - September 30, 2012
Catawba County Museum of History
Newton, NC
June 20, 2012 - July 20, 2012
"Decoration Day in the Mountains"
Mountain Gateway Museum
Old Fort, NC
June 1, 2012 - September 20, 2012