ThomasWolfeMemorial images

🗣 Don't forget! 🗣 Join us this Saturday, May 18th, at 10am for Thomas Wolfe's Buried Lives: A Riverside Cemetery Tour, where you can meet many of the folks from Wolfe's mountain town of Altamont. Foreshadowing the material that would later become Look Homeward, Angel, and after the negative reception of his play Welcome to our City, Wolfe wrote: “I have written this play with thirty-odd named characters because it required it, not because I didn’t know how to save paint. Someday I’m going to write a play with fifty, eighty, a hundred people – a whole town, a whole race, a whole epoch – for my soul’s ease and comfort.” Thomas Wolfe to George Pierce Baker 1923 $5 per person- tickets can be purchased ahead of time at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial or the morning of at the Cemetery Gate. We hope to see you there! Wear comfy shoes and bring an umbrella in case there are sprinkles! #ThomasWolfe #LookHomewardAngel #Asheville #NorthCarolina #RiversideCemetery #tour #buriedlives #ThomasWolfeMemorial

#ThrowbackThursday to Thomas Wolfe wearing a funny hat outside of the Onteora Club in Tannersville, NY, 1931. 📸: Buncombe County Special Collections #ThomasWolfe #writer #author #LookHomewardAngel #YouCantGoHomeAgain #OnteoraClub #funnyhats #Asheville #NorthCarolina #ThomasWolfeMemorial

“Spring was full of cool dewy mornings, spurting winds, and storms of intoxicating blossoms, and in this enchantment Eugene first felt the mixed lonely ache and promise of the seasons.” - Look Homeward, Angel #ThomasWolfe #LookHomewardAngel #writer #author #Roses #blossoms #Spring #Asheville #NorthCarolina #ThomasWolfeMemorial

#concatenation #ThomasWolfe #WolfeDictionary #OfTimeandtheRiver #writer #author #novelist #interconnected #links #series #ThomasWolfeMemorial #Asheville #NorthCarolina

Posted @withregram • @wolfememorial On May 1st, 1938, Thomas Wolfe arrived in Burnsville, NC, just northeast of Asheville. He was on his way home after nearly eight years of self-imposed exile following the ruckus that Look Homeward, Angel had caused. It was his first time in Yancey County. At 10pm that night, upon leaving the Gem City Soda Shop where he bought a coke and pack of Chesterfields, Wolfe witnessed a shootout on the street. This mountain feud would become part of his story “The Return of the Prodigal.” #ThomasWolfe #BurnsvilleNC #YanceyCounty #Asheville #NorthCarolina #ThomasWolfeMemorial #ReturnoftheProdigal #writer #novelist #author #LookHomewardAngel

On May 1st, 1938, Thomas Wolfe arrived in Burnsville, NC, just northeast of Asheville. He was on his way home after nearly eight years of self-imposed exile following the ruckus that Look Homeward, Angel had caused. It was his first time in Yancey County. At 10pm that night, upon leaving the Gem City Soda Shop where he bought a coke and pack of Chesterfields, Wolfe witnessed a shootout on the street. This mountain feud would become part of his story “The Return of the Prodigal.” #ThomasWolfe #BurnsvilleNC #YanceyCounty #Asheville #NorthCarolina #ThomasWolfeMemorial #ReturnoftheProdigal #writer #novelist #author #LookHomewardAngel

Hmm, we wonder who could possibly be the Goulderbilts of Biltburn? 🧐🧐 “Clop-clopping slowly on the ringing street, Number Six, Mrs. Goulderbilt's powerful brown mare, drew inevitably on the bottle-clinking cream-yellow wagon, racked to the top with creamy extra-heavy high-priced milk. The driver was a fresh-skinned young countryman, richly odorous with the smell of fresh sweat and milk. Eight miles, through the starlit dewy fields and forests of Biltburn, under the high brick English lodgegate, they had come into the town.” - Look Homeward, Angel 📸: The Biltmore Company #ThomasWolfe #LookHomewardAngel #Asheville #NorthCarolina #Biltmore #BiltmoreDairy #ThomasWolfeMemorial #milk #milkman

Here at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, we are so very fortunate to have a roster of generous folks who dedicate their time to us. In addition to assisting with guest services and collections care, we are proud to say that our volunteers provide some of the BEST guided tours of the historic house. Their generosity and love are how we maintain our great reputation, and it's no secret we simply could not do all that we do without them - in 2023 our volunteers donated over 1000 hours of service! We had so much fun celebrating our wonderful crew with our Annual Volunteer Luncheon (Fiesta themed, this year!) as we kicked off Volunteer Appreciation Week. We <3 our Wolfe Pack! #Volunteers #VolunteerAppreciation #VolunteerAppreciationWeek #ThomasWolfeMemorial #ThomasWolfe #Museum #HistoricHouse #Asheville #NorthCarolina #Fiesta #WolfePack

On this day in Wolfe history, April 18, 1958, the Old Kentucky Home passed into city ownership from the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Association. Two of Thomas' older siblings, Fred Wolfe and Mabel Wolfe Wheaton, were present for the transfer. Thank you to our beautiful city of Asheville for loving us and keeping us safe, even after the State purchased us in 1974! ❤️ #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #Asheville #NorthCarolina #Altamont #OldKentuckyHome #HistoricHouse #Museum #Memorial #Boardinghouse

PHTHISIC #WolfeDictionary #ThomasWolfe #Phthisic #Tuberculosis #Asthma #sickness #LookHomewardAngel #writer #author #novelist #AshevilleNC #ThomasWolfeMemorial

Forever And The Earth by Ray Bradbury “They brought that great blazing writer three hundred years into the future. They gave him the stars and planets and all space for his hungry pen. Then they tried to put Thomas Wolfe back in his grave.” https://archive.org/stream/Planet_Stories_v04n06_1950-Spring #page/n25/mode/2up #ThomasWolfe #writer #author #novelist #LookHomewardAngel #AshevilleNC #ThomasWolfeMemorial #RayBradbury #ForeverandtheEarth

Did anyone get a decent glimpse of the eclipse? We hope everyone found their glasses in time. “A cloud-shadow passed and left no light but loneliness on the massed green of the wilderness! A bird was calling in a secret wood! And there was something going, coming, fading there across the sun—oh, there was something lonely and most sorrowful…” - Of Time and the River #ThomasWolfe #AshevilleNC #Eclipse #Eclipse2024 #ThomasWolfeMemorial #OfTimeandtheRiver

"... he soon had a--a subscription to the library and he got many books there, but I couldn't tell just uh, what kind of books. He read one nearly every day. The librarian said he didn't read altogether boys' books. He read the advanced books. And she--she told me that he'd read more books than any boy in North Carolina." - The Wax Cylinders: Julia Wolfe Interviews by John Skally Terry Happy #NationalLibraryDay! Thomas Wolfe was appreciative of the Asheville Public Library, located on Pack Square at the time, for the many books that offered him an escape from the chaos of his mother's boardinghouse. 📸: Asheville Public Library (1899-1926), Buncombe County Special Collections #AshevilleNC #AshevillePublicLibrary #Library #ReadaBook #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial

Today is #NationalWalkingDay! "Living in New York, Wolfe wore out the sidewalks walking, often deep into the night. He wrote, as always, prolifically. Perkins told the story of how, at two or three in the morning, a fellow New Yorker heard a commotion outside. She looked out the window to find the towering Mr. Wolfe, dressed in a black overcoat and chanting: 'I wrote ten thousand words today—I wrote ten thousand words today.'" A pair of Thomas Wolfe's shoes, which undoubtedly strode down several NY streets, are currently displayed in the Memorial's visitor center. Snippet courtesy of https://literaryamerica.net/thomas-wolfe/ #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #walking #takeawalk #NewYork #NYStreets #LiteraryAmerica

Seriously considering going hell for leather at incorporating this turn of phrase into my every day vernacular…I’ll be taking out the hyphens…Posted @withregram • @wolfememorial Hell-for-leather #WolfeDictionary #ThomasWolfe #HellForLeather #AsFastAsPossible #recklessness #greatspeed #OfTimeandtheRiver #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC

Hell-for-leather #WolfeDictionary #ThomasWolfe #HellForLeather #AsFastAsPossible #recklessness #greatspeed #OfTimeandtheRiver #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC

"April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain." - T.S. Eliot "Spring has no language but a cry; but crueller than April is the asp of time." - Thomas Wolfe, Of Time and The River #ThomasWolfe #OfTimeandtheRiver #TSEliot #TheWasteLand #April #CruellestMonth #Spring #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC

CALLING ALL THOMAS WOLFE BOOK COLLECTORS AND FANS! Do you have any older editions laying around you'd like to part with? Every October, in honor of Wolfe's Birthday, we have our annual used book sale and we'd love to bolster our offerings! In addition to Wolfe's works we also love his biographies and any other publications and older magazines pertaining to him. Call the Memorial at 828-253-8304, email Kayla at [email protected], or simply stop by if you have anything you'd like to donate! #UsedBooks #UsedBookSale #DonatedBooks #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC #writer #author #novelist #LookHomewardAngel #OfTimeandtheRiver #YouCantGoHomeAgain

We had breakfast in Asheville, toured the Thomas Wolfe Memorial State Historic Site (old boarding house), went for a hike at the North Carolina Arboretum, toured Alex’s Wicked Weed brewery, and had dinner at the Wicked Weed Brewing Brewpub in Asheville. #earlygirleatery #thomaswolfememorial #northcarolinaarboretum #wickedweedbrewery #wickedweedwest #wickedweedbrewpub 🍻

Time to follow up on yesterday’s #TuesdayTrivia! Based on site records and artifacts from WO’s monument shop, we know that he often used marble and other varieties of stone largely from sellers in Vermont, Colorado, New York, and Georgia. A catalog and some of these samples are on display in our Exhibit Hall here at the Memorial. The marble for his angels was mined in Carrara, Italy, where a prominent quarry is located that has supplied marble around the world. Although the marble was mined there, it’s highly unlikely the marble itself was carved into angel statues in Italy. Marble from that region was often imported into New York City by Cameron and Co., and at that point it was most likely carved by Italian artisans and then made available on the market for purchase and resale. Although they are often most associated with WO as a stone mason, he didn’t carve the angels he sold from his shop- he did however, do the statues' inscriptions before they were placed on graves. #Marble #Monuments #Statues #Angels #WOWolfe #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC #Carrara #CarraraMarble #Italy

#TuesdayTrivia time! WO carved and sold many pieces- largely tombstones and cemetery markers- from his monument shop in Pack Square. Who knows where his marble came from? Who knows the source of his marble angel statues? #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #WOWolfe #Marble #Tombstones #Monuments #CemeteryMarkers #Angels #LookHomewardAngel #AshevilleNC

We will resume normal business hours on Wednesday, March 20th. Thank you for your understanding! #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #StaffDevelopment #AshevilleNC #museum #HistoricSite

And that's a wrap on 2024's Annual Short Story Discussions! What a great turnout for last night's discussion of "Names of the Nation" with leader Brandon Johnson. The Thomas Wolfe Memorial is forever grateful for the wonderful partnership we have with the Wilma Dykeman Legacy, and their dedication to keeping the works of Thomas Wolfe alive. "I will always remember Tom's eyes and hands. When he shook hands with you, you felt your hand sort of disappear in this great grasp. His eyes were so consuming--that solid brown that really sees you." - Wilma Dykeman #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #shortstories #writer #author #novelist #NamesoftheNation #AshevilleNC #WilmaDykeman #WilmaDykemanLegacy #shortstorydiscussion

#OnThisDay, March 8th, 1935, Of Time and the River by Thomas Wolfe was published. As a sequel to Look Homeward, Angel, this "novel of epic proportions” continues the story of Thomas Wolfe's titular character Eugene Gant, and the eternal seeking of the meaning of life. #OTD #OfTimeandtheRiver #ThomasWolfe #LookHomewardAngel #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC #Scribners

What a wonderful turnout for last night's Zelda Fitzgerald event "The Cruise of the Rolling Junk." A very special thank you to Mark Taylor, who gave a wonderful presentation highlighting Zelda and F. Scott's 8-day car ride from Connecticut to Alabama in search of biscuits and peaches. A warm thanks also to the Aurora Studio and Gallery for coordinating the events of Zelda Fitzgerald Week. #ZeldaFitzgerald #TheCruiseoftheRollingJunk #FScottFitzgerald #AshevilleNC #ZeldaFitzgeraldWeek #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial

Today's #TuesdayTrivia may be an easy one for some- but who knows just how tall Thomas Wolfe was? Give us your best guesses! #LiteraryGiant #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #writer #author #novelist #AshevilleNC

Today's #ArtifactFriday spotlight is the historic boardinghouse's Ice Box. This beautiful piece is often mistaken as a storage cabinet or cupboard, and in many ways it was. Designed in the Eastlake design that was popular in the late Victorian period, our ice box is made of yellow pine and dates to the turn of the 20th century. The top opens to reveal a tin-lined cupboard with shelf inside. Food or drinks stored within were cooled by large blocks of ice placed inside a compartment near the top. As ice melted, the water drained and collected in a drip pan underneath. Ice was a delivery service in Asheville at that time, and homes would have displayed Ice Cards in their kitchen windows, turned up to the amount of ice they needed, as a signal for the ice deliveryman. For more information on ice delivery in Asheville and the time that Thomas' mother Julia forgot to put the ice card out, check out our blog "Thomas Wolfe and the Ice Box" (link to Medium in our Bio). #Artifact #IceBox #IceCard #IceDelivery #AshevilleNC #Eastlake #HistoricHouse #Boardinghouse #ThomasWolfeMemorial #ThomasWolfe #TheWebandtheRock

Because #zeldafitzgeraldweek #asheville #thomaswolfememorial #myoldkentuckyhome #ashevillenc #828isgreat #historynerd

SCROFULOUS ... Have you ever heard of tuberculosis being referred to as scrofula? #WolfeDictionary #Scrofulous #Scrofula #Tuberculosis #LookHomewardAngel #ThomasWolfe #writer #author #novelist #AshevilleNC #ThomasWolfeMemorial

In Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas Wolfe remembered one of the earliest Black businessmen in Asheville and a founder of the YMI, Benjamin James Jackson (1866-1924). Jackson began providing produce to local patrons and boardinghouses in 1894. Wolfe wrote: “Beneath the City Hall, in the huge sloping cellar, the market booths were open . . . J. H. Jackson, stood in his square vegetable-stall, attended by his two grave-faced sons, and his spectacled businesslike daughter. He was surrounded by wide slanting shelves of fruit and vegetables, smelling of the earth and morning--great crinkled lettuces, fat radishes still clotted damply with black loam, quill stemmed young onions newly wrenched from gardens, late celery, spring potatoes, and the thin rinded citrous fruits of Florida.” 📸: Photo of BJ Jackson Produce, circa 1922, courtesy of @avlhistory #ThomasWolfe #AshevilleNC #ThomasWolfeMemorial #LookHomewardAngel #AshevilleHistory #BlackHistory #YMI

#YouCantGoHomeAgain #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #author #writer #novelist #orbit #quotes

In response to yesterday's True or False #TuesdayTrivia . . . yes! It is true that Thomas Wolfe witnessed the birth of a baby. And if you were ever curious about his thoughts on the matter, today is your lucky day! According to his pocket notebook from the time, he jotted days after the event, “the birth of the child stays with me yet. . .” In July of 1927, Wolfe visited old UNC classmate and fraternity brother Dr. Donald MacRae, who was interning at the Manhattan Maternity and Dispensary in NYC. While there, the doctors allowed Wolfe to witness the birth of a baby. In a letter dated July 10th, 1927, he writes to his sister Mabel describing the account. He wrote he “stayed until four o’clock in the morning watching a baby get born. The doctors dressed me up in a long surgeon’s dress (they laughed like hell!) and took me in to the operating room. I saw everything; they explained everything. It was one of the most terrible and beautiful things I have ever seen. I shall never forget it. . . the chief doctor kept coaxing her along by saying: ‘Come on, momma! Do your stuff now! Give us some help, momma!’ . . . when I saw the little skull begin to come, and then the little body, and the doctor held him up by the heels and spanked him, and he screwed his face up and let out his first yell (a good loud one), I could restrain myself no longer: I gave a yell of my own and said, ‘Come on, baby, come on!’” The Manhattan Maternity and Dispensary opened at 327 East 60th Street in 1905. As the New York Hospital and Cornell University became affiliated in 1913, many other smaller, local hospitals became a part of that system. In 1928, just a year after Wolfe’s visit there, the Manhattan Maternity and Dispensary became a part of the OB/GYN and pediatrics department of the New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center. 📸: Courtesy of the Manhattan Maternity and Dispensary Annual Report. 1) operating room, 2) exterior of the Hospital, 3) the nursery. #ThomasWolfe #LookHomewardAngel #novelist #author #AshevilleNC #WNC #ThomasWolfeMemorial #NCHistoricSites #childbirth #baby #birth #NYC #Manhattan #hospital #pocketnotebook #letter

Today's #TuesdayTrivia is a simple True or False - Did Thomas Wolfe ever experience the shock of witnessing someone give birth? 📸: A candid shot of Wolfe in 1938 from an interview in Denver. #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #childbirth #TrueorFalse #AshevilleNC

#OnThisDay Julia Elizabeth (Westall) Wolfe was born, February 16th, 1860. “…she whispered huskily, faintly: 'We must try to love one another.' The terrible and beautiful sentence, the last, the final wisdom that the earth can give, is remembered at the end, is spoken too late, wearily.” - Look Homeward, Angel Forever immortalized in her son's writings as Eliza Gant, Julia Wolfe was, in many ways, one of the first curators of the historic boardinghouse as she worked to keep Thomas' memory and works alive. Cheers to 164 years! Pictured: Julia Wolfe celebrating her 82nd Birthday with (Left to Right) daughter Effie, son Fred, son-in-law Fred Gambrell, and son Frank Wolfe. #OTD #JuliaWolfe #Westall #AshevilleNC #OldKentuckyHome #Boardinghouse #Birthday #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #Altamont

Excerpt from: “The 5-cent Angel” by Marshall Morgan, published in the Nashville Tennessean Magazine, 1946. _________________________________________ [October 1938: At the grave of Thomas Wolfe with Mabel Wheaton Wolfe] The Wolfe family plot, at the top of a rolling green knoll, …only a step from the automobile. The flowers were gone. It had no tombstone; only a temporary headboard with the stenciled name: Thomas Clayton Wolfe. Stooping. I picked up from the center of Thomas Wolfe’s raw mound of earth a tiny flutter of scarlet. It was a paper rose, one such as five-and-tent cent stores sell for a nickel. Tied to it, with a bit of string, was a folded fragment of cheap tablet paper. I looked at the minute packet, and at Mabel. “Open it.” She said. A brief message was written on one thick blue line; a message written, painfully, in an almost childish scrawl. It was “Sleep forever in my heart.” Mabel and I looked at each other in silence, and together, I think, saw the living form of the Angel who had here looked homeward to a dead man. A waitress? A shop girl? It did not matter, nor could we know. But I can see her now, as the two of us could see her that day. Some how I feel that Thomas Wolfe had never known her; I think that long ago, perhaps as a child, this anonymous women has first loved him: a dark-haired boy destined for heights beyond her reach. I could see her as she walked up the hill, alone, clutching in one slightly worn pocket the cheap red flower and the flaming tender words. Sleep forever in my heart, Tom Wolfe, man who never knew me. I am not the far, shining, forever-impossible Angel of your dreams; I am the five-cent Angel. #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC #Angel #LookHomewardAngel #ValentinesDay

THANK YOU to the wonderful, full audience of folks who came last night for the Reader's Theater and Talkback component of "Exile from Altamont? Race and Belonging in Thomas Wolfe's Asheville." What an amazing and moving performance by the cast as they presented select scenes from Thomas Wolfe's play "Welcome to Our City" and a reading of Andrea Clark's play "The Road." Thanks also to our Friends at @avlhistory for spearheading these events, and for our friends of the Mountain History and Culture Group (@vancebirthplace) for their support as well! We hope everyone can join us for the mini-symposium this Saturday, 2/17 as Dr. Darin Waters (Deputy Secretary of Archives and History for North Carolina) and Dr. Kevin Young (Appalachian State University) present short lectures on Thomas Wolfe’s examination of race in his works "Welcome to Our City" and "Child By Tiger," with a facilitated Q&A to follow. #ThomasWolfe #WelcometoOurCity #play #ReadersTheater #Altamont #RaceandBelonging #BuncombeCountySpecialCollections #AshevilleNC #ThomasWolfeMemorial

"... and now that I was riding in one, it all seemed unbelievable and yet gloriously real and strange, as every beautiful thing is when it first happens to you." Come take a ride and join us this evening to discuss Thomas Wolfe's short story "In the Park," with discussion leader Ellen Apperson Brown and the Wilma Dykeman Legacy. The discussion starts 7pm here at the Memorial, or join us via Zoom by emailing [email protected] for a link! #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #ShortStories #ShortStoryDiscussions #InthePark #WilmaDykeman #AshevilleNC #writer #author #novelist

“The sun had reddened slightly, there was a cool flowing breath from the hills, a freshening relaxation over the tired earth…in slow pulses the thick plume of fountain rose, fell upon itself, and slapped the pool in lazy rhythms. A wagon rattled leanly over the big cobbles; beyond the firemen, the grocer Bradley wound up his awning with slow creaking revolutions.” - Thomas Wolfe, "An Angel on the Porch" #ThomasWolfe #AshevilleNC #PackSquare #AnAngelonthePorch #ShortStories #writer #author #novelist #LookHomewardAngel #ThomasWolfeMemorial

At the Memorial, we often receive many comments on the beautiful antique Ansonia clock on display in the historic boardinghouse's dining room. We thought we'd highlight it again for #ArtifactFriday! The Ansonia Clock Company made many different styles of clocks, but ours, known as the Mercury (because of the figure of Mercury on the left), was patented on June 14, 1881 in New York. Although dropping out of popularity in the post-WWI era, they were well known for their popular black iron mantel clocks, china cased clocks, and statue clocks. It appears our guy is missing the left wing on his helmet. On the face of the clock, above the 6, there is a tiny A in a diamond. This was a signature trademark of Ansonia Clocks. This Mercury model of the clock also came in other finishes, like bronze. For more information on Ansonia clocks, check out our blogpost! (link to Medium in our bio) #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #Museum #HistoricHouse #Artifact #Ansonia #AnsoniaClock #AntiqueClocks #Mercury #AshevilleNC

"He was a stranger, and as he sought through the house, he was always aprowl to find some entrance into life, some secret undiscovered door--a stone, a leaf,--that might admit him into light and fellowship. His passion for home was fundamental . . ." #ThomasWolfe #LookHomewardAngel #writer #author #novelist #AStoneALeafADoor #home #door #ThomasWolfeMemorial

We hope everyone is heading into the weekend with as much confidence as Thomas Wolfe had on the day he wrote this in a letter to his mother. Toot your horn! #ThomasWolfe #Genius #writer #author #novelist #LookHomewardAngel #JuliaWolfe #AshevilleNC #ThomasWolfeMemorial

Following up on yesterday's #tuesdaytrivia- Turns out it's a little challenging to tell the difference between a chamber pot and a soup tureen! If you're ever at an estate sale and think "gosh that's a nice soup tureen," here are a couple of key distinctions between the two: Soup tureens almost always have a lid, and 2 handles. Chamber pots, on the other hand, usually have one or no handles, and may not have a lid at all (which seems unfortunate, depending on the situation at hand). Here are the answers- did you guess correctly? A: chamber pot B: soup tureen C: soup tureen D: chamber pot E: soup tureen F: chamber pot G: Julia Wolfe's chamber pot! It's currently tucked just under her bed in the Old Kentucky Home Boardinghouse - - - - Photos courtesy of Etsy.com and Inessa.com. #ThomasWolfeMemorial #ThomasWolfe #ChamberPot #SoupTureen #DontConfuseThem #AshevilleNC #HistoricHome #Boardinghouse

“He saw that the great figures that came and went about him, the huge leering heads that bent hideously into his crib, the great voices that rolled incoherently above him, had for one another not much greater understanding than they had for him..." - Look Homeward, Angel #ThomasWolfe #LookHomewardAngel #writer #author #novelist #greaterunderstanding #viewfromthecrib #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC #Altamont

Today for #TuesdayTrivia, we're bringing back a fun little quiz we like to call "Is this a Chamber Pot or a Soup Tureen?" We've labeled the pictures A - G. Give us your best guesses in the comments! Bonus points if you know which one is Julia Wolfe's chamber pot, still on display in her bedroom in the historic boardinghouse. #ChamberPot #SoupTureen #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC #becarefulwhatyoueatyoursoupoutof

The Thomas Wolfe Memorial will remain closed today, Saturday 1/20, due to icy road conditions and persistent frigid temperatures. Normal business hours will resume on Tuesday, 1/23. We hope everyone stays bundled up and warm! #ThomasWolfeMemorial #ThomasWolfe #snow #ice #sweaterweather #AshevilleNC

Due to inclement weather with the growing risk of icy roads and increasingly frigid temperatures, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial will close today, 1/19 at Noon. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please check our social media pages for any further weather-related schedule changes. Stay safe and warm out there! #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #Snow #SnowDay #weatherclosure #AshevilleNC

We hope you will join us for this excellent mini-symposium! To register, visit the @avlhistory website, and click on upcoming events. #ThomasWolfe #BuncombeCountySpecialCollections #Asheville #AshevilleHistory #ExileFromAltamont #Race #PackMemorialLibrary #ThomasWolfeMemorial

ADYT #WolfeDictionary #ThomasWolfe #writer #author #novelist #LookHomewardAngel #Adyt #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC #Dictionary

Like many of our sister cultural institutions here in the mountains, we are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our friend Connie Bostic. Along with countless other projects and works, Connie was responsible for designing and creating the patchwork mural that hangs in the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Visitor Center today. Painted on birch slats, each panel represents a scene or quote from Thomas Wolfe's writings. She was a rich, vibrant soul, and will be deeply missed by many, especially here in the Asheville Community. https://www.conniebostic.com/obituary 📸: Connie's artwork at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial. Photo of Connie courtesy of conniebostic.com #ConnieBostic #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #artist #AshevilleNC

“During the winter he rented a little shack at one edge of the town's public square, acquired a small stock of marbles, and set up business. But he had little to do at first save to think of the prospect of his death. During the bitter and lonely winter, while he thought he was dying, the gaunt scarecrow Yankee that flapped muttering through the streets became an object of familiar gossip to the townspeople.” - Look Homeward, Angel #ThomasWolfe #LookHomewardAngel #writer #author #novelist #WilliamOliverWolfe #stonecutter #marble #gravestones #monuments #AshevilleNC #Altamont #ThomasWolfeMemorial

Thanks to all those who participated in last night's Thomas Wolfe short story discussion on "The Winter of Our Discontent." Back in 2020, the Wilma Dykeman Legacy worked hard to continue these discussions through Zoom, and over the last few years we have enjoyed watching folks chime in from all over the United States and abroad. Last night, we were so happy to offer our first Short Story "hybrid" discussion back here at the Memorial, with both in-person and Zoom attendees ("Roomers and Zoomers"). Special thanks to our wonderful discussion leaders, Dan and Ana Clare, to Jim Stokely of the Wilma Dykeman Legacy for providing us with the opportunity to discuss Thomas Wolfe far and wide, and to our wonderful board member Andrew Layton for managing many of the technical aspects of the hybrid event. We hope everyone comes out and joins us for the next in our series with leader Ellen Brown- "In the Park," February 8th at 7pm. To register for Zoom, email [email protected] *"The Winter of our Discontent" was published in the June 1939 edition of the Atlantic Monthly. #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #shortstories #TheWinterofOurDiscontent #AtlanticMonthly #writer #author #novelist #WilmaDykeman #WilmaDykemanLegacy #discussion #AshevilleNC

#ThomasWolfe #YouCantGoHomeAgain #writer #author #novelist #home #AshevilleNC #ThomasWolfeMemorial

#TuesdayTrivia time! Pictured here is one of our more famous, early visitors to the Memorial back in 1967. Does anyone know who she is? - Hint - Think about the beautiful landscaping along our national highways. #ThomasWolfeMemorial #ThomasWolfe #visitors #HistoricHouse #Museum #LookHomewardAngel #AshevilleNC

#orkotravels to the #thomaswolfememorial #avl

#ThomasWolfe #OfTimeandtheRiver #snow #ThomasWolfeMemorial #author #writer #novelist #AshevilleNC

Today's #ArtifactFriday spotlight is a piece we get asked about often- our Pickle Caster! Leaving nothing to the imagination, these beautiful cut-glass canisters sat on dining tables and held pickles. As noted in a 1908 Sears and Roebuck, Co. catalog, you could have one similar to ours on your very own table for the low price of $1.18. #artifact #picklecaster #pickles #SearsRoebuck #cutglass #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #OldKentuckyHome #HistoricHouse #AshevilleNC

Don't forget! We are kicking off the Wolfe Short Story Discussions for 2024 with "The Winter of Our Discontent," next Thursday, January 11th! Partnering with the Wilma Dykeman Legacy, this event can be attended in person here at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial or via Zoom. For Zoom registration, email [email protected]. See you there! #ThomasWolfe #writer #author #novelist #AshevilleNC #shortstories #TheWinterofOurDiscontent #discussions #ThomasWolfeMemorial #WilmaDykemanLegacy

Make your mistakes, take your chances, look silly, but keep on going. Don’t freeze up. -Thomas Wolfe #thomaswolfememorial #thomaswolfememorialstatehistoricsite #thomaswolfe #lookhomewardangel #oldkentuckyhome #ashevillenc #ashevillenorthcarolina #northcarolina #thomaswolfeisright

#thomaswolfe #thomaswolfememorial #thomaswolfehouse #asheville #ashevillenc #americanwriters #20thcenturywriters #boardinghouse #americanvoices #americanhistory #americanfiction #lookhomewardangel

In a letter to Julia shortly after the publication of Look Homeward, Angel, Thomas wrote that the mother's character of Eliza “was . . . a very strong, resourceful, and courageous woman, who showed great character and determination in her struggle against the odds of life. That is certainly the way I felt and feel about her, and since I wrote the book my opinion ought to be as good as any one’s.” #ThomasWolfe #LookHomewardAngel #JuliaWolfe #ElizaGant #ThomasWolfeMemorial #AshevilleNC

Following up on yesterday’s #TuesdayTrivia- Did you know the woman in the marble frame is Cynthia Hill Wolfe, a prior wife of WO Wolfe? After a tumultuous divorce from his first wife, Hattie, WO began taking meals at a boardinghouse owned by Cynthia Hill’s mother, where the two met and began a relationship. WO and Cynthia faced criticism for their marriage because of WO’s previous divorce, and, coupled with Cynthia’s tuberculosis, they decided to move to Asheville for good health and a fresh start. Settling here by 1879, Cynthia’s illness progressed and she passed away in 1884- a year before WO would go on to marry Julia Wolfe. When the Wolfe family purchased a plot at Riverside Cemetery, other family members' graves were moved there from another cemetery- including Cynthia's. #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfeMemorial #RiversideCemetery #WOWolfe #Cynthia

Announcing the upcoming season of our Thomas Wolfe short story discussions, in partnership with the wonderful Wilma Dykeman Legacy. Join us on the 2nd Thursday of each month, January- March at 7pm. Discussions are held both in person at the Memorial, and via zoom. Register for Zoom participation by emailing [email protected] We hope to see you there! #ThomasWolfe #writer #author #novelist #AshevilleNC #ThomasWolfeMemorial #WilmaDykeman #WilmaDykemanLegacy #shortstories #discussions

When you have #ADHD and you want to read the writings of Thomas Wolfe you buy “Return”…photo taken while I was “packing” to head to GA. #thomaswolfememorial #souvenirs

Close up of the quote part of my new poster from @wolfememorial #officedecor #thomaswolfe #thomaswolfememorial #herestothecreatives

New office decor from @wolfememorial. I’ll post a close up of the Thomas Wolfe quote. I couldn’t get thumbtacks through this wall and I couldn’t reach the top easily so packing tape it was. I like to just go for it dorm room style with my decor. #officedecor #thomaswolfe #thomaswolfememorial #herestothecreatives

I almost broke my leg taking this picture so it’s getting a moment. Uneven sidewalk + fall leaves + being on my phone 🙀. I actually take an average of 100+ pictures/videos when I go on an excursion. This is one of many. #thomaswolfe #thomaswolfememorial #asheville #ashevillenc #828isgreat #historynerd #thesocialstudieswhisperer

It seems like it’s always overcast during my excursions. This facial expression brought to you by me doing a class at the gym and then an excursion and at this point I was very tired. Why yes, I did wear a Pearl Harbor shirt under a Library of Congress hoodie. That might’ve been a clue I’m into history. I haven’t read “Look Homeward, Angel” because my ADHD attention span could never but I do own the movie “Genius.” I learned a lot about “Old Kentucky Home” and the Wolfe family Friday. Had no idea Thomas was at the 1936 Berlin Olympics whooping it up for Jesse Owens. #historynerdexcursion #nerdthings #historynerd #thomaswolfe #shopwwii #asheville #thomaswolfememorial #828isgreat #ashevillenc

My new bestie. Spent Friday afternoon together. #thomaswolfe #thomaswolfememorial #828isgreat #asheville #ashevillenc #herestothecreatives

Thanks to a comment on a recent post featuring our parlor, we thought we'd reintroduce one of our favorite pieces from the historic house for #ArtifactFriday- our Murphy Bed! Nestled into the corner of the parlor, at first glance it’s hard to tell what this piece is. Made mostly of oak, it looks like a traditional wardrobe with a mirrored front, but folds out to reveal a bed inside. As noted in the second picture, ornate cast iron legs fold down to support the bed frame. “Patented/Sep-7-1886” is stenciled on the bottom of the case, and marked on the back is “Manufactured by/ Phoenix Furniture Co./ Grand Rapids, Mich.” We love this piece and how it represents the boardinghouse- beds, beds, beds everywhere! Although lacking in privacy, we are certain this bed would’ve been nice and cozy next to the fireplace! For more information on this piece, check out our blog post (link in bio)! #ThomasWolfeMemorial #OldKentuckyHome #parlor #murphybed #foldingbed #PhoenixFurnitureCo #GrandRapids #Michigan #boardinghouse #historichouse

Ahoy hoy! This week’s #artifactfriday features the historic boardinghouse's telephone. Circa the early 1910s, our telephone is made of black metal in a candlestick shape with a hanging receiver, with a very timeworn, frayed brown cord. The object is stamped “923/Made in the U.S.A. PAT. JAN. 14 1913.” The small round piece of paper on the bottom displayed the telephone number- #769, now very faded and almost illegible. We wonder how many times this phone rang over the years. For more information on Asheville's early telephone lines and the boardinghouse's telephones, check out our blog post on Medium (link in bio!). #ThomasWolfeMemorial #HistoricHouse #OldKentuckyHome #telephones #backwhenphoneshadcords #phonenumbers

Today we're cheering on the participants of this year's annual @ThomasWolfe8k ! #ThomasWolfe #ThomasWolfe8k #KickItEvents #ThomasWolfeMemorial