Western Carolina University has joined forces with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the latest addition to its digital photograph collections, housed at Hunter Library on campus.

“Picturing Appalachia” is a collection of more than 1,000 early 20th-century photographs that provides a glimpse into the life, culture and natural landscape of the Southern Appalachians. Functioning as an open-access database and interactive, educational web-based resource, the images are part of a growing online archive resulting from the library’s digital initiatives program.

The “Picturing Appalachia” project was made possible through an award from the State Library of North Carolina. The digital collection has grown in large part through partnerships with entities including the WCU Mountain Heritage Center, John C. Campbell Folk School, Southern Highland Craft Guild, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual and the N.C. Office of Archives and History.

www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections or 828.227.2499 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..