Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies at Mars Hill University

Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies at Mars Hill University The Ramsey Center preserves and explores Southern Appalachian culture, heritage, and natural history through programs, events, and archives.

The Ramsey Center, named after four-time speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, Liston B. Ramsey, is located on the main floor of Renfro Library on the Mars Hill University campus. It houses archival resources for teaching and scholarship in its Southern Appalachian Archives and Appalachian Reading Room. Our extensive holdings—photographs, manuscripts, sound recordings, and artifa

cts—document aspects of mountain life and culture of interest to scholars here and abroad, holdings that have been called some of the finest in the southeastern region of the United States. These materials have been and continue to be collected by mountain people dedicated to the preservation of local culture. The Ramsey Center is central to the university’s regional studies emphasis, and it offers a venue in which the surrounding community and faculty and students come together for a variety of regional programs. At the Ramsey Center, Southern Appalachia’s rich history and culture come alive through events, festivals, and exhibitions, as well as the ongoing work of dedicated scholars, teachers, students, and community members. Ramsey Center Mission Statement: The Liston B. Ramsey Center for Appalachian Studies at Mars Hill University connects the campus with the wider community to explore the history, culture, and environment of the Southern Appalachian region. The Ramsey Center preserves and provides access to resources for this study through its Southern Appalachian Archives. The Center shares Mars Hill University’s commitment to local and global engagement, to service, and to experiential learning. An endowment in support of the Ramsey Center's Southern Appalachian Archives has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities : Exploring the human endeavor.

Pat Franklin was a wonderful friend to the Lunsford Festival, and a fierce proponent of the traditional arts of Madison ...
08/28/2026

Pat Franklin was a wonderful friend to the Lunsford Festival, and a fierce proponent of the traditional arts of Madison County in general. She was strong and good-hearted and worked hard for what she believed in. She will be so missed

Our hearts are heavy as we process the loss of Pat Franklin. Pat was a previous MCAC Board chair and for many years hosted the Soiree at Kalamazoo (her home) for MCAC. She was a voracious fundraiser and supporter of our Junior Appalachian Musicians program and raised the money to establish The Franklin Project to protect and sustain our musical traditions. Her impact on our organization cannot be overstated and can likely never fully be known or recognized, and this assessment fails to even start considering her impact on the community and the countless individuals she championed, loved, supported, mentored, and lifted up. We will carry her legacy and her example with us forever.

(Pictured: Pat with current MCAC Executive Director, Brandon Johnson, and former MCAC Executive Director, Laura Boosinger, at the NC Music Hall of Fame Induction ceremony for Bobby Hicks in 2024)

The school year has officially started! We're so excited to have returning students back on campus and to be welcoming n...
08/25/2026

The school year has officially started! We're so excited to have returning students back on campus and to be welcoming new students to Mars Hill University.

Appalachian Studies students are learning about heirloom seeds this year, as well as how to conduct oral history projects!

The Ramsey Center has all sort of fun things going on! Check this page for updates and also consider signing up for our eNews to find out about upcoming events: https://mhu.us15.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=6c5c85d6d18788816314b9eaf&id=a0f07952e0

(We don't have any photos from this year, yet, so here is a photo of awesome alum Taylor Zima [Biology/Appalachian Studies] with a freshly-dug ramp!)

Have you seen Singing Mary at Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre yet?
06/16/2026

Have you seen Singing Mary at Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre yet?

The Ramsey Center had a big time hanging out with Song to Seed at the Fiddle and Fork Festival up at the Blue Ridge Musi...
06/15/2026

The Ramsey Center had a big time hanging out with Song to Seed at the Fiddle and Fork Festival up at the Blue Ridge Music Center in Galax, Virginia, this past weekend. The event was part of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival's “Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals,” a series of programs and exchanges marking the 250th anniversary of the United States and showcasing the nation’s remarkable cultural landscape. We shared ballads from Western North Carolina, seeds from MHU's Heritage Garden, and agricultural images from MHU's Southern Appalachian Archives James G.K. McClure, Jr. Collection.

Big thanks to the Blue Ridge Music Center for having us!

The Ramsey Center is a proud site on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.

Ballads on the SART stage!
06/10/2026

Ballads on the SART stage!

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Karen Paar, Director of Mars Hill University's Southern Appalachian Archives, who h...
06/05/2026

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Karen Paar, Director of Mars Hill University's Southern Appalachian Archives, who has been awarded the prestigious Thornton W. Mitchell Service Award by the Society of North Carolina Archivists. The Thornton W. Mitchell Service Award is the organization's highest honor and the highest award for an archivist in the state.

Dr. Paar was presented with the award by MHU alum and former Southern Appalachian Archives Archival Associate Patrick Cash at the Annual Meeting of the Society of North Carolina Archivists on May 28, 2026. Cash is now manuscript curator at Eastern Carolina University's Special Collections and is the outgoing president of the SNCA.

Our friends over at the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre are putting on a play all about Mary Sands, one of the ba...
05/27/2026

Our friends over at the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre are putting on a play all about Mary Sands, one of the ballad singers from whom Cecil Sharp collected songs during his 1916 trip to Madison County. It's coming up soon!

The Ramsey Center is a proud site on the Blue Ridge Music Trails of North Carolina.

Address

P. O. Box 6706
Mars Hill, NC
28754

Telephone

828.689.1115

Website

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