Hickory – Join Catawba County Museum of History’s Historian in Residence Professor Richard Eller for the second in a six-part series about Western North Carolina furniture at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, December 14th
at Patrick Beaver Memorial Library. The series will be offered as both an in-person presentation and a virtual presentation and will be held the second Tuesday of each month through April. Each session will examine a different aspect of the furniture industry in Western North Carolina and will highlight material from Professor Eller’s upcoming book Industry in the Wood – The History of Furniture in Western North Carolina.
This month’s session will focus on the establishment of Hickory, Morganton, and Lenoir as the nucleus of the Western North Carolina furniture industry. How did factories first come to those cities? What were the initial efforts of important companies like Hickory Chair, Drexel, Bernhardt and Broyhill, as well as a number of other companies in Statesville and Marion. This session will explore the foundation of an industry that defined the region.
Richard Eller is a historian who focuses on Western North Carolina, its people and traditions in an effort to understand the role the area has played in creating its own vibrant and unique culture. With books and documentaries on Piedmont Airlines, the 1944 Polio Epidemic and an upcoming volume on the western North Carolina furniture industry, he delves into much of what made the world of the foothills tick. He has written articles about local subjects for Foothills Digest, the Hickory Daily Record, and Focus, continuing to uncover unique tales about who we are as region. His recent works include Hickory Then & Now, Hickory: A Complete History and a documentary film and a book about the 1964 Ridgeview High School Panthers football team entitled The Untouchables: The Perfect Season of the 1964 Ridgeview High Panthers.
This presentation is available as an in-person and a virtual format. Registration is required to receive the Zoom link to the virtual session. To register for the virtual session, call 828-304-0050 or sign up online at www.hickorync.gov/calendar/events/category/library/. Registration is not required for in-person attendance; however, it is limited to 45 people first come, first served. For more information, call 828-304-0500. Patrick Beaver Memorial Library is located at 375 3rd Street NE on the SALT Block. All library programs are free and open to the public.
