African-Americans in western North Carolina helped create what we know today as home. The labors of women and men helped build our landmarks while the lives they lived helped create the mountain culture. Black children learned form their elders the skills needed to survive and prosper as Asheville and Buncombe County experienced and emerged from the Reconstruction Era. What we do with this remarkable inheritance is entirely up to us.

The students and educators responsible for this exhibit are to be commended for their excellent research and sustained commitment to the project. From scattered and fragmented sources, they have compiled a remarkable testimony to the heritage of African-Americans in Asheville.

What I have learned through this project, is that African-Americans lived complex, full lives—struggling to survive and thrive through whatever conditions. These final images are important to me because they show real people doing real things. The horror of slavery and racism is the consistent effort to make everybody believe that African-Americans were less than human. The poser of these images is that they prove this is a lie.

An Unmarked Trail tells the story of African Americans who made great contributions to our region despite hardships and while trying to overcome obstacles. This project gains even more value due to the fact that the research was done by children whose interest in their own heritage was great and was rewarded by their work. The history they uncovered of minority contributions to our culture impacts all people of all races. Shining the light of history brings African American contributions out of the dark recesses where they have languished for so long.