Description
Join us on Tuesday, October 21st, from 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM at the Asheville Museum of History (AMoH) for a special History Hour program, Moon on the Mountains: Moonshining in Western North Carolina, with Dr. Dan Pierce. Light refreshments will be available.
About the History Hour Program:
Dr. Dan Pierce will introduce attendees to the origins of moonshining in this area and its long and storied history. Topics will include legendary moonshiners in the area like Quill Rose and Lewis Redmond, women moonshiners, moonshine and the African American community, popular culture (music, movies, crafts and souvenirs) and moonshine in the region, and the varied relationships between moonshiners and law enforcement.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Dan Pierce is the author of four books on the Great Smoky Mountains, The Great Smokies: From Natural Habitat to National Park (UT Press, 2000), Corn From a Jar: Moonshining in the Great Smoky Mountains (Great Smoky Mountains Association, 2013), Hazel Creek: The Life and Death of an Iconic Mountain Community (Great Smoky Mountains Association, March 2017), and An Illustrated Guide to Great Smoky Mountains National Park (co-authored with Joel Anderson and Nathan Anderson, Anderson Design Group).
He is also the author of Tarheel Lightnin’: How Secret Stills and Fast Cars Made North Carolina the Moonshine Capital of the World (UNC Press, October 2019) and the first truly comprehensive history of early NASCAR and the May 2025 selection for the Our State Magazine Book Club, Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France (UNC Press, 2010). He has also recently collaborated with renowned Nashville, Tennessee poster artist Joel Anderson to produce an Illustrated Guide to the Grand Circle: Utah and Arizona.
His work has been published in The New York Times, Southern Cultures, Smokies Life magazine, and numerous encyclopedias including the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. He has appeared on NPR’s Talk of the Nation, The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, CMT, HBO Canada, North Carolina People with William Friday, North Carolina Bookwatch, and the South Carolina ETV Emmy Award winning program “Take on the South.”
In 2020, Dan co-founded the RAIL Memorial Project to better commemorate the lives and deaths of the incarcerated workers (90+ % African American) who built the railroad into Western North Carolina in the 1870s. RAIL has constructed three memorials since 2020 and has a continuing mission to educate the public on the hardships faced and sacrifice made by these, often unjustly incarcerated and largely forgotten, laborers. https://therailproject.org/
He is a Professor Emeritus of History at the University of North Carolina Asheville where he taught courses in Appalachian, North Carolina, Southern, and Environmental History. He is an avid hiker, biker, and pickleball player and sings a mean baritone in his church choir.
Tickets:
$10 General Admission / FREE for Asheville Museum of History (AMoH) members. We also have no-cost, community-funded tickets available. We want our events to be accessible to as many people as possible. If you are able, please consider making a donation along with your ticket purchase. These donations are placed in our Community Fund, which allows us to offer tickets at no cost to those who could not attend otherwise. Tickets are limited for in-person lectures, so don't miss your opportunity to secure a spot!
Location:
The historic Smith-McDowell House, home to the Asheville Museum of History (AMoH), 283 Victoria Road, Asheville, NC, 28801
For questions about this event, email education@ashevillehistory.org or call the Asheville Museum of History (AMoH) at 828-253-9231.
Date & Time
Tue, Oct 21, 2025 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Venue Details
Asheville Museum of History
283 Victoria RoadAsheville, North Carolina 28801
