Historian in Residence Richard Eller Presents Fifth in Series on the Origins of Western North Carolina Furniture at Patrick Beaver Memorial Library

Join Catawba County Museum of History’s Historian in Residence Professor Richard Eller for the fifth in a series about Western North Carolina furniture at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 12, at Patrick Beaver Memorial Library. The series will be offered as both an in-person and as a virtual presentation on the second Tuesday of each month through May. Each session examines 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.

The furniture manufacturing business hit a high in the 1960s that it could not maintain. The national economy fluctuated, outside money took over factories across western North Carolina and the beginnings of imports created uncertainty for both workers and management. To add to the turmoil, the battle between Hickory and High Point culminated with a mass migration east, leaving showrooms empty and cash registers silent during what used to be boom times each April and October. These trials challenged the furniture industry’s survival in a rapidly changing world.

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. He has written books on Piedmont Airlines, the 1944 Polio Epidemic, and is writing an upcoming volume on the western North Carolina furniture industry. Professor Eller has also written articles about local subjects for Foothills Digest, the Hickory Daily Record, and Focus. His recent works include Hickory Then & Now, Hickory: A Complete History, and a documentary film and book about the 1964 Ridgeview High School Panthers football team entitled Untouchable: The Perfect Season of the 1964 Ridgeview High Panthers.

This presentation is available in 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.