Description
Join us on Tuesday, November 18th, from 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM at the Asheville Museum of History (AMoH) for a special History Hour program: Stories of the Snowbird Day School, with Dr. Trey Adcock. Light refreshments will be available.
About the History Hour Program:
Dr. Trey Adcock will introduce attendees to the history of the Snowbird Day School that evolved from Quaker-led initiatives in the late 19th century to educate young Cherokee Indians living in Tuti yi, a Native community in Graham County, Western North Carolina. By the early 20th century, the school was administered by the federal government via the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and as with most federally-run schools for Native students, it sought to assimilate Indian youth into white, Anglophone culture. Over the course of nearly seven decades, an estimated 550 students attended the school before it was closed in 1963 due to federal desegregation efforts.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Trey Adcock has served as the Executive Director of The Center for Native Health since 2020. During his tenure, The Center has gone through a period of sustained growth, increasing the scope of funding by over $3 million dollars to support its mission. The Center has expanded from having no permanent employees to a highly-skilled staff of nine and cultivated local community collaborations to now include regional and national strategic partnerships. Rooted in the commitment to the revitalization and strengthening of traditional Cherokee culture, The Center's programs have expanded to include: land & wellness, art, language & healing, weaving Indigenous pathways and relational health.
Dr. Adcock is Professor Emeritus of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of North Carolina Asheville. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, his scholarship and public engagement focus on preserving and promoting Indigenous history, education, and culture. Recognized as a Whiting Foundation Public Engagement Fellow (2018–2019), Dr. Adcock documented the history of a Bureau of Indian Affairs day school in the TutiYi “Snowbird” Cherokee Community. In 2024 Dr. Adcock was awarded a Board of Governor's award for Excellence in Teaching. He earned his Ph.D. from UNC Chapel Hill as a Sequoyah Dissertation Fellow, with research centered on technology integration in American Indian boarding schools.
Dr. Adcock’s work has been featured in Anthropology & Education, Journal of Thought, Journal of American Indian Education, Teaching Tolerance, and Readings in Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration. Trey lives in Whittier, North Carolina, and when he’s not working, enjoys gardening, fly fishing, and paddle boarding the waterways of WNC with his friends and family.
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, Nov 18, 2025 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Venue Details
Asheville Museum of History
283 Victoria RoadAsheville, North Carolina 28801
