Allene Highsmith, a community activist and wife of UNC Asheville’s first chancellor, has died, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.
Read the oral history register from UNCA’s Ramsey Library:
Allene Highsmith has been one of Asheville’s most influential women, working alongside her husband for the development of UNCA as an accredited, 4-year university. She has been involved in many aspects of the community, from working to create day care centers for the poor and being active in Head Start and the YWCA, to serving on the Board of Education. In her years of service to the community, she has been an integral part of the growth and development of UNCA, and has shown an active interest in progress, education and in breaking the cycle of poverty.
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[2/125] She refers to article in UNCA Today Fall 1992 referring to the standing of the University. The philosophy has been challenged but it still stands. This is a teaching institution – not a publish or perish one – the professors stay because they like to teach and they like the community.