John B. Stephenson Center for Appalachia and Comparative Highland Studies

Lees-McRae College has always had a deep connection to its location, from its beginnings as a school established for local children to its current position as a leader in place-based experiential learning. In this spirit, the John B. Stephenson Center for Appalachia and Comparative Highland Studies is committed to promoting understanding and appreciation of the Southern Appalachian region through education, outreach, scholarship, and artistic activites. 

For far too long, the cultural contributions of Appalachia have been undervalued and ignored. While they are often dismissed and stereotyped by those outside of the region, Appalachians have created and continue to produce diverse and complex forms of music, dance, folklore, food, literature, and art. The Stephenson Center celebrates these achievements while correcting misconceptions about the region and its people. 

The Stephenson Center engages the college and local community with a variety of events that explore Appalachian history, culture, ecology, craft, art, writing, music, and more. The crowning event each year is Appalachian Heritage Week, a five-day celebration of the people and traditions endemic to the Southern Appalachian region that takes place in April. The event schedule for 2026 is below. 

 Monday, April 6 

Appalachian Makers
Swank Park
11 a.m.–2 p.m. 

Appalachian Makers will gather in Swank Park from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Come out to admire the work of artists working in traditional Appalachian mediums like quilting and basket weaving.

Holler and Strum Old Time Jam Theater Arts Building  
Theater Arts Building
6:30 a.m.– 8:30 p.m.

That evening, come out to the Theatre Arts Building for Holler and Strum Old Time Jam from 6:30–8:30 p.m. and enjoy some live old-time music.

 Tuesday, April 7 

Junaluska Gospel Choir
Banner Elk Presbyterian Church 
7 p.m.

Junaluska Gospel Choir, the resident choir at Boone Mennonite Brethren Church, will perform at Banner Elk Presbyterian Church at 7 p.m. The choir and the church are cornerstones of the African American community in the High Country and are integral parts of local history.

 Wednesday, April 8 

Barn Quilt Painting
Swank Park 
11 a.m.–1 p.m.

Join Student Affairs for a Barn Quilt Painting workshop in Swank Park, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Barn quilts are an American folk-art tradition that may represent a farm’s focus or symbolize a family’s heritage. 

 Thursday, April 9 

Prairie Preacher Documentary and Expert Panel Discussion
Evans Auditorium
7 p.m.

Gather at 7 p.m. in Evans Auditorium for the Prairie Preacher Documentary and Expert Panel Discussion. A screening of the documentary—which follows Dwayne Estes, a botanist and grassland conservation activist who is the co-founder and executive director of Southeastern Grasslands Institute—will be followed by an expert discussion panel. 

The panel will feature Estes himself, along with Chief of Ecological Restoration and Stewardship at the Southern Grasslands Institute Jeremy French and Jennifer Geib, associate professor in the Department of Biology at Appalachian State University. 

 Friday, April 10 

Front Porch Gathering
Pinnacle Patio
11 a.m.

In the morning, come out to Pinnacle Deck at 11 a.m. for the Front Porch Gathering, a social event featuring porch games like checkers, dominos, and horseshoes, and refreshments like sweet tea, lemonade, and cobbler. 

Nature Walk
Old Rock House
2:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m.

Continue the celebration that afternoon with an hour-long Nature Walk departing from the Rock House at 2:30 p.m. 

 Ongoing 

Don’t forget to stop by installations that will be on display throughout the week, including the Family Tradition Wall and the Where is Your Appalachian Interactive Map in Shelton Learning Commons, and the Looking at Appalachia Photo Exhibit in the May School of Natural and Health Sciences gallery.

Family Tradition Wall
Shelton Learning Commons

Where Is Your Appalachian Interactive Map
Shelton Learning Commons

Looking at Appalachia Photo Exhibit 
May School Gallery

John B. Stephenson began his academic teaching career at Lees-McRae College in 1961. In the small town of Banner Elk he honed his teaching skills and found the two great loves of his life, Jane Ellen Baucom, who became his wife, and the mountains, which became his life. In a letter he wrote:

"I love the mountains and their people. I have felt a completeness, a sense of fulfillment here that I haven't known in other places. . . . There is a sense of doing something that needs doing. It needs doing worse here than in the flatlands. And it needs to be done by people who want to change things without changing them, if you know what I mean. Part of a way of life needs to be preserved and not sacrificed on the altar of progress."

John left the college in 1964 to pursue his doctoral degree at UNC Chapel Hill. Then with his PhD in medical sociology in hand, John moved to Kentucky in 1966 to work at the University of Kentucky. He spent the rest of his too-short life in the Bluegrass State, rising from scholar-teacher, to Appalachian Center director, dean, and eventually president of Berea College.

Scholar, teacher, humanist, administrator and caretaker of Southern Appalachia, John B. Stephenson left an enduring legacy of devoted stewardship of the mountains. 

Catherine Pritchard Childress, MA
Director of the Stephenson Center for Appalachia