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Mars Hill Historian, Richard Dillingham, Retires
by Richard Carrington
Dillingham holds a tea kettle in front of the museum's fireplace. A local African-American girl, the great-grandmother of Curriculum Library Coordinator Charity Ray, hand-carried the kettle 18 miles to Mars Hill when her family moved to the area from Yancey County around the turn of the century. The kettle is a gift to the college from the family.
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After 28 years of service to Mars Hill College, Richard Dillingham plans to retire in May. Dillingham has done a lot for this school and the area, but his legacy at Mars Hill College will always be the Rural Life Museum.
The Rural Life Museum is full of area artifacts, and each of these artifacts has a story, including the building itself. In 1918 Colonel Montague wanted to give the college its first library. Rocks were hauled off Bailey Mountain to create the structure. During construction Montague ran out of funds, so the community came together and raised the money needed to complete the library.
That would not be the building's only run-in with near disaster. College trustees wanted to tear the building down throughout the 1960's and 70's in order to modernize the quad. However, student opposition saved the old building and the history that goes with it.
College historians came to Dillingham in 1979, and they asked him to be the Rural Life Museum director. Dillingham accepted and began creating his museum. Many area artifacts had been collected over the years, so Dillingham had something to work with. However, many more items had to be gathered to capture a true history of the area.
Dillingham, with student and staff aid, went to work creating the museum's west wing. "I was given $2000 to make the museum, and $1800 was spent on the lighting, so we only had $200 that could go towards collecting items for the museum," said Dillingham.
Luckily, the Mars Hill community came to the Montague Building's aid once again. The community donated artifacts from their barns, kitchens, and cabins. Dillingham envisioned the museum's west wing to capture the feel of the area before industry hit the mountains. An authentic cabin complete with shingles and a hearth is recreated inside the museum, making Dillingham's vision a reality.
Practical genius for using your roots
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Outside of the museum's indoor cabin is a farm-like setting. There is a pitchfork in this section of the museum, and that pitchfork comes with one of Dillingham's favorite stories. "An area man pulled a sassafras tree from the ground; roots and all," said Dillingham. "He took a look at the tree and saw another use for it. That man transformed the tree into this pitchfork." That pitchfork is just one example of the area's practical genius. The museum's east wing contains even more evidence of the area's brilliance.
The museum's east wing was constructed in 1985. This section takes a look at the area in its post-industrial phase and the coming of the railroad in the 1880's. It contains a photo gallery, which shows the progression of farming and the life of children in the area.
The wing's wooden structure is a piece of mountain heritage as well. At one time this area was rich with great chestnut trees. However, most of those trees died out. Chestnut wood is so rare today that it is called brown gold, and the museum's east wing is made up of this brown gold.
The east wing also features a small device which forever changed life in the mountains. This device was called a rug shuttle, and it was used to cut down on the time it took to create an original hook rug.
The photo shows Sarah Owen and her husband making rugs.
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The shuttle came to the area via Sarah Owen, a younger relative of Mars Hill's Reverend Owen. Sarah attended the college and eventually fell in love with Ned Anderson. Once Ned and Sarah began to make a family, Sarah would recycle worn-out clothes, and transform them into hook rugs with the use of her shuttle. Then Sarah could trade her rugs for baby clothes.
Sarah's rugs put three of her son's through college. The rugs were also used in the White House under three U.S. presidents. Sarah's neighbors thought she was genius, and they copied her shuttle.
The second floor of the museum's east wing includes a photograph that shows hook rug production at the Buckner Mill, which used to stand just past the Mars Hill College campus. The hook rug industry affected everyone in the area, and even brought Mrs. Roosevelt to Mars Hill during the 1930's.
Dillingham estimates that as many as 20,000 families may have been involved in this close to $5,000,000 industry. However, the industry died in the early 1950's because factories built in Asheville led to cheap labor and mass production.
The hook rug is just another example of the area's genius and innovation. "I never tested well in school," said Dillingham. "That's because I.Q. tests and other standardized tests cannot measure the practical intelligence we use in the mountains every day."
Dillingham might not have been a great test-taker, but he's certainly an overachiever. Dillingham grew up on a tobacco farm just four miles from the college. Both of his parents, his grandmother, and his great grandfather have attended Mars Hill, and Dillingham has received two diplomas from the college.
Dillingham is mostly known for his work with the Rural Life museum, but this Vietnam vet has also helped to create the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre (SART), managed the annual Lunsford Festival, and served as the director of Mars Hill's Appalachian Room.
In many ways Dillingham is also responsible for the success of the Bailey Mountain Cloggers. "We had eight dancers when I inherited the program," said Dillingham. "I hired Jay Ledford the day after he graduated from Mars Hill, and I am very proud of the work he's done and the Emmy he won for his program at the winter Olympics."
Dillingham outside the Montague Building, his hand on a quote from Shakespeare's Henry VI - "Ignorance is the curse of God, Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven."
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Dillingham looks forward to retirement. He plans to do more research, travel, and write. Dillingham also believes that the future of his museum looks bright, because this summer the Mars Hill Visitor Center is moving to the Rural Life Museum.
This move is an effort to give Mars Hill a national niche and showcase the area to visitors traveling along the new I-26 interstate. The new and improved visitor center is funded $100,000 by the state, and that money will go towards air conditioning, heat, and historic window preservation.
All this work will be completed by August, but until then, Dillingham encourages students to come see the Rural Life Museum before the school year ends. "This museum was created for the students," said Dillingham. "The museum connects to their heritage no matter where they're from, because much of this museum is about the land, and the land gives all mankind a brotherhood and a common interest."
Dillingham also explained that the museum is beneficial to students of every academic major. Senior Ryan Mulligan recently visited the museum for the first time and called his experience amazing. Another first timer, freshman Jessica Bettini said, "This place is great. Most students have no idea about this area's past and how they used to function."
Dillingham plans to stay in touch with the college and encourages anyone wishing to speak with him to send an email to rdillingham@mhc.edu.
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