PSABC Announces the Johnny Baxter Award
PSABC has partnered with the UNCA History Department to offer an annual award from $500-$1000 to a student furthering the study of African American contributions in Asheville and Buncombe County.
This award was developed to honor Johnny Baxter, a native Asheville preservationist, historian and founding Board member of PSABC. Johnny led the efforts to have the YMI Cultural Center listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Johnny Baxter was born in Chunn’s Cove and in a 1975 oral history he recounts his family’s long connection to the cove:
“Well, the grandparents on my father’s side, I have studied them back to 1790; I have a record of them back to 1790, and they were born in and around Chunn’s Cove. They were held by slaveholders in Chunn’s Cove, namely Chunn. The cove was named after Chunn. He owned most of the property there, and then there was the Baxters, who were the last ones to hold my parents. That’s where we get our name.”
This fall, we will be awarding the first Johnny Baxter Award of $1000, to Brook Mundy who will be conducting a survey of archival and historical repositories in Buncombe County, to gather information on collections that relate to the history and contributions of African American women in Asheville and Buncombe County.
Laura “Brooke” Mundy is a lifelong resident of Black Mountain, North Carolina and is currently a senior at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. She is a History major and Political Science minor and will graduate in December 2019 with her Bachelor’s degree. Brooke plans on attending graduate school the following spring, where she will pursue a Master’s degree in American History. She is specifically interested in North Carolina and Southern Appalachian history, with a focus on Western North Carolina.
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ABOUT THE PRESERVATION SOCIETY OF ASHEVILLE AND BUNCOMBE COUNTY (PSABC)
The Preservation Society of Asheville and Buncombe County is a 501c3 non-profit organization whose mission is to sustain the heritage and sense of place that is Asheville and Buncombe County through preservation and promotion of the unique historic resources of the region.