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It is a primary goal of the Memorial to keep Wolfe’s writings alive. We are actively working to tackle many topics, including those of a sensitive nature, to help fulfill this goal. Our newest blog post, “Thomas Wolfe and the Lost Cause,” highlights portions of Wolfe’s writings that show an overall rejection of this myth. Throughout, we have quoted various sources and worked to retain the authenticity of Wolfe’s writings, even when sensitive language is used. Because we cater to a wide audience, and in an effort to give these words less agency, we have replaced select words with [redacted]. We believe readers will still understand the full context without the inclusion of these words. We will continue to help bridge the gap between Wolfe and modern

The Old Kentucky Home, 1908Tucked into the heart of downtown Asheville at 48 Spruce Street stands a house that might look ordinary at first glance with its gabled roof, wraparound porch, two stories of clapboard siding, and Victorian charm. But this structure, affectionately known as “The Old Kentucky Home,” is far more than a relic of an older Asheville. In 1972, it was designated a National Historic Landmark- not just because it once housed literary great Thomas Wolfe, but because it is an exceptional example of early 20th-century boarding house architecture and an incredible case study in historic preservation.Front gable and Queen Anne characteristicsInitially constructed in 1883 and purchased by Julia Wolfe in 1906, the house reflects the kind of turn-of-the-century domestic

“…he lay the night-long through within his berth, watching the shadowy and phantom South flash by, sleeping at length, and waking suddenly, to see cool lakes in Florida at dawn….” Thomas Wolfe, Look Homeward, AngelCourtesy of Buncombe County Special Collections: Julia with children Frank, Effie, Mabel, Ben, Grover and Fred Wolfe, March 1897.Visitors to the Thomas Wolfe Memorial who tour the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse see sea shells and coconuts in the house. In Look Homeward, Angel, remembering his father’s house, Eugene Gant recalls “the sea-sound in Gant’s parlor shells….” The Wolfe family was fond of souvenirs from their visits to Florida. A March 1897 family photograph captures Julia Wolfe and six of her children standing in front of the historic City Gate at

“…they were the symbol of his babyhood to her, and her sad heart, so keen in marking departures, refused to surrender them.” Look Homeward, AngelThomas Wolfe, ca. 1908Upon seeing a photograph of Thomas Wolfe at age 7 or 8, with long hair styled into thick curls, one might be forgiven for thinking the photograph is of a little girl. The image will surprise those who view historic fashions through a modern lens. Tom sported these curls until age 9 when he got head lice, and they were begrudgingly trimmed off by his mother Julia. She stored the curls as keepsakes just as she did with two of her other sons, Ben, and Fred. These curls reside today in preserved storage at the Thomas Wolfe Memorial and shed light on the complexity of gender norms in family history.Long, curly hair was a

Remnants of the Thatcher Coal Furnace in the basement of the Old Kentucky Home“…the great chill tomb of Dixieland, particularly in winter, since Eliza was most sparing of coal.” — Look Homeward, AngelW.O. Gant grumpily observes in Look Homeward, Angel “Your mother has let the Old Barn to Mrs. Revell until she gets back. I went in the other day and found it warm for the first time in my life. She keeps the furnace going and she’s not afraid to burn coal.” The “Old Barn” is Eliza Gant’s Dixieland, aka Julia Wolfe’s Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse. At one time, in the cellar, heat rose from a coal furnace manufactured by the Thatcher Furnace Company of New Jersey. Long abandoned, it once roared with fire as it sent hot air into vents throughout the sprawling house.

Where was Thomas Wolfe on the evening of December 1st, 1937? Accounts vary about the party he attended in New York City, the argument that ensued, and how a book title was born. Wolfe had been invited to a dinner party by author Sherwood Anderson at the apartment of a friend of Anderson in Manhattan. Wolfe later wrote, “…it was an ugly party…I don’t know where it came from.” At the party, there was a good deal of conversation about liberal and radical causes. This is not a surprise, as Anderson had publicly endorsed the Communist Party in the United States. And, during this period Wolfe found himself bombarded with pressure to endorse political causes, sign petitions, and serve on protest committees for various factions.Sherwood Anderson by Alfred Stieglitz,

“…he hated most at Dixieland — the dim fly-specked lights, the wretched progress about the house in search of warmth…” — Look Homeward, AngelWhen Julia Wolfe bought The Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse in 1906, later immortalized as Eliza Gant’s Dixieland boardinghouse, there was already electric wiring installed. However, there is no specific documentation as to when electricity was installed in the house. There is enough evidence to cobble together an educated guess. The original seven-room core of the house was constructed in 1883. The author of the 1883–1884 city directory noted Asheville was “at present still lighted with the old-fashioned kerosene lamp….,” so the house was not built electrified. While Thomas Edison’s lightbulb was patented in January

“Four years later, when he was graduated, he had passed his adolescence, the kiss of love and death burned on his lips, and he was still a child.” – Look Homeward, AngelAdvertisement from the 1913 Asheville City DirectoryIn 1906 at the age of five, just shy of the typical school starting age, Thomas Wolfe was allowed to attend school. All the Wolfe children attended the public school in Asheville on Orange Street. Moving to Asheville from Tennessee with his wife Margaret, John Munsey Roberts became the principal of the Orange Street School in 1911. The Roberts soon planned to open a private boarding school to prepare students for college. Roberts looked to the current roster of students at the Orange Street school to select potential candidates for their first classes. Reading a

Folding Bed in the Old Kentucky Home parlorToday, Julia Wolfe’s Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse displays a dozen bedrooms containing a variety of beds. Yet another bed is hidden in plain sight in the front parlor. To the casual viewer, it looks like a cabinet or wardrobe. Open the door and you will find a folding bed, often called a “Murphy Bed” after William Murphy became well-known for his invention of an “in a wall” bed around 1908. Our folding bed likely held little sentimental value to the Wolfe family and is not the center of any dramatic tales in Thomas Wolfe’s work, though it does offer us some clues about the history of his childhood home. Exploring the furniture’s function and style also provides a fuller story of how life evolved in the boardinghouse.Phoenix

“Thus did he see first, he the hill-bound, the sky-girt, of whom the mountains were his master, the fabulous South.” — Look Homeward, AngelFor twelve-year-old Thomas Wolfe, President’s Day came in early March of 1913. He wrote at school, “I have in my life seen two Presidents within the lapse of an hour.” Biographer Elizabeth Nowell describes Thomas Wolfe’s many travels with his mother between 1907 and 1913. They had been to New Orleans, St. Augustine, Daytona, Palm Beach and St. Petersburg, Knoxville, Hot Springs, and finally to Washington, DC. Over the objections of his teacher, because he was doing poorly in Algebra, and his father, who was a staunch Republican, Thomas Wolfe’s mother took him out of school for a few days to attend the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson.

While the Soviet Union (USSR) only existed from 1922 to 1991, it has had an enduring reputation as an oppressive regime that controlled everything its citizens could do, say, and

An April 2020 issue of The New York Review of Books recently reminded us of the friendship between Korean born Younghill Kang and Asheville’s native son Thomas Wolfe. The article

Thomas Wolfe’s “Oktoberfest” By Ellen Apperson Brown *Ellen was scheduled to appear at Thomas Wolfe Memorial for the monthly discussion of a Thomas Wolfe short story on April 9th, 2020

Several efforts have been made to bring a major work by Thomas Wolfe to the movies. October 4, 1953, on NBC, the Hallmark Hall of Fame series aired a portion

Thomas Wolfe grew up in Asheville, North Carolina but spent many years of his adult life in various hotels and apartments throughout New York City. Tom visited New York City