Community-Based Archives & Projects
Buncombe County Special Collections is dedicated to actively collecting and preserving the history of Buncombe County and its people by arranging, describing, and protecting archival material related to the region. In recent years, BCSC staff have worked with other branch libraries and community organizations to create community-based archives.
What is a Community-Based Archive?
A community-based archive is one that is (generally) intentionally crafted by a group of people who share some kind of identity and work together to accumulate documentation in an effort to preserve the history of their community. The archived material can come in the form of photos, documents, and in the case of most community archives, oral histories.
You can browse our community-based archives via our online special collections catalog. Click the links below to explore our collection of community-based archives.
Are you Interested in creating an archive or volunteering as an interviewer orf transcriber with the oral history collection? Perhaps you would like to be interviewed or know someone with a story to tell? Contact us!

Fairview Community Archives Project

North Asheville Community Archives Project

Stephens-Lee Alumni Project

Black Asheville Communities Project
