Appalachian Memory Project

03/12/2026

We have BIG things to support the SCCC this weekend! At our Spring Creek Community Center chili cookoff this weekend from 11 AM to 3 PM, we are fundraising to help support more programs for the community. Please come by and buy a raffle ticket and eat some chili!!

02/22/2026

We had a wonderful launch party yesterday at the Spring Creek Community Center! We are so grateful and proud to have published volume 1. Please purchase this volume so that we can produce Spring Creek volume 2!!!

02/17/2026

Join us for a special Book Launch Celebration at the Spring Creek Community Center this Saturday from 2-4 p.m.! 📚✨

📍 Location: 13075 NC 209 Hwy, Hot Springs, NC 28743

Come meet the contributors and organizers of the Appalachian Memory Project! Enjoy refreshments, and be part of this exciting event! Don't miss out on the chance to grab your copy and get it signed! See you there! 🎉

12/22/2025

Story preservation starts with listening. In this interview, Billy Allen shares how his time as Spring Creek’s UPS driver led to a deeper understanding of community, trust, and belonging—especially during the uncertainty of COVID. His reflections remind us why oral history and everyday lived experiences matter, and why preserving Appalachian stories now is essential. This conversation is part of our ongoing work with the Spring Creek Community Center to document and protect local history before it’s lost.

👉 Watch the full interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/uV8abMhfYlI

Pre-order The Spring Creek Project book: https://www.millionmemoryproject.org/spring-creek

Pre-order The Spring Creek Project book:https://www.millionmemoryproject.org/spring-creekBilly Allen reflects on his years delivering packages in Spring Cree...

11/10/2025

11/10/2025

11/10/2025

Western North Carolina’s stories are powerful because they’re told by the people who lived them. Today, we’re proud to share an in-depth WNC Heartbeat Podcast interview with our very own memory coordinator, 8th-generation ballad singer Donna Ray Swann, diving into why memory work matters and how the Spring Creek Book came to life.

This conversation highlights the heart of AMP: preserving authentic Appalachian voices, honoring local traditions, and ensuring the next generation can hear these stories exactly as they were spoken.

📘 Pre-order the Spring Creek Book: https://www.millionmemoryproject.org/spring-creek

▶️ Watch the full interview: https://youtu.be/wNCKPtwuMAw

🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4uQRVVHI524fihZAN5k4iv?si=XLa7bdDkSCSA4ndMHP8etg

Thank you for helping us protect and pass on the memories of the mountains.

WNC Heartbeat Podcast · Episode

11/05/2025

09/30/2025

Hurricane Helene didn’t just flood Hot Springs — it changed how a community would remember itself.

This WNC Heartbeat Podcast interview with Kevin Reese of Rebuild Hot Springs pulls back the curtain on Through Our Eyes, the community photo book documenting disaster, recovery, and hope. The book is published through Million Memory Project—the same initiative model that underpins our Appalachian Memory Project—empowering locals to preserve their stories and landscapes before time and disaster erase them.

By watching, sharing, and supporting projects like these, you help ensure the voices of Western North Carolina last beyond the floodwaters.

📖 Order the book here: http://rebuildhotsprings.org/book

▶️ Watch the full interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dYWMAHsEbc

Support Rebuild Hot Springs by purchasing the book: http://rebuildhotsprings.org/bookAnna and Ali sit down with Kevin Reese of Rebuild Hot Springs to documen...

09/29/2025

One year ago, Hurricane Helene forever changed our mountains. This week, we honor that anniversary by sharing “Rebuild Hot Springs: A Community’s Photographic Memory” — a new release from the Million Memory Project and Rebuild Hot Springs.

Featuring more than 200 images and oral histories, this open-access chronicle preserves the resilience, heartbreak, and hope of our Appalachian community for generations to come.

👉 Read the full release here: https://www.millionmemoryproject.org/news

On the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Helene, the community of Hot Springs is releasing a book unlike any other: Through Our Eyes: A Community’s Photographic Memory of Hurricane Helene. More than a traditional photo book, it is the collective story of a town battered by floodwaters, yet bound t...