Summer 2026 Highlight: “Our Common Ground”—Warren Wilson Faculty Perform at the Library of Congress

A folk song, a scroll and a trip to the nation’s capital: Warren Wilson College (WWC) faculty brought a hyperlocal Appalachian story to a national stage this summer, performing at the Library of Congress (LOC) as part of a symposium marking America’s 250th birthday.

In May, the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the LOC hosted a public symposium titled “Our Common Ground” to celebrate the United States’ semiquincentennial and individuals’ connection to the American landscape. Former Warren Wilson faculty member and Asheville, N.C., studio artist Jessica C. White gave a presentation. She performed with current college faculty members Professor of Music and Director of the Swannanoa Gathering Kevin Kehrberg and Professor of History and College Archivist Jeffrey A. Keith. 

White originally hails from Taiwan, but moved to the United States when she was nine years old. During her time in graduate school, she produced work inspired by Chinese and Japanese narrative scrolls. Later, she discovered crankies, a storytelling device featuring a moving scroll with visuals, while attending an Anna & Elizabeth show during her time teaching at the College. 

“The crankie they [Anna & Elizabeth] played was the first time I’d seen anything like it, and it was like a eureka moment—I knew that my unwieldy scroll needed to be put in a cranking box just like theirs,” White said.

White received an invitation to participate from Ashley Rose Young, the curator of American history in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the LOC. 

“It was important for me to participate in this bipartisan event as it became clear to me that the organizers were specifically looking for ways to heal and uplift during this time of political

turmoil and divisiveness,” White said on her involvement.

The symposium opened with White’s presentation titled “We Create,” where she spoke about how Appalachian landscapes, folklore and traditional Japanese woodblock printing act as muses for her work.

The performance centered around Kehrberg and Keith’s research article, “Somebody Died, Babe,” and the art White made inspired by it. 

In 2012, Kehrberg and Keith taught a course centered around work and music in Appalachia. As part of that class, they decided to teach about the local folk song “Swannanoa Tunnel,” a commemorative piece about a long railroad tunnel in Swannanoa, N.C. That decision grew into a desire to tell the full story of the song’s origin and creation. After eight years of work, the article was published in The Bitter Southerner. 

“Working at WWC has allowed me to explore deeply the relationships between music and culture that are rooted in this particular place, which has a rich history of diverse people and diverse music,” Kehrberg said. “These are fascinating and complex stories involving both beauty and tragedy, such as the story behind the song ‘Swannanoa Tunnel.’”

In 2024, White approached them about creating a crankie based on the article. 

“We were very excited,” Kehrberg said. “The three of us met and bounced around ideas of how it might work for us to perform the song and weave in the archival recording while she presented the crankie.” 

In September 2025, the trio performed at the End Paper event hosted by the North Carolina Museum of Art. This performance featured an early version of the crankie, and White gave a keynote address.

“We knew it was a story that needed a wider audience, but it keeps being retold by different people and in new ways,” Keith said about the influence of his and Kehrberg’s article. “I have found each iteration to be fascinating, and it was an honor to play a role in making the project a collaboration that incorporated book making and visual art.”

According to Keith, the LOC took notice of the performance after an audience member reached out to them. 

“I felt like this was such a powerful story [Kehrberg and Keith] uncovered, and I wanted to create a crankie that could be played to tell the history of the Swannanoa Tunnel but also to give voice to their many years of research,” White said. “I’ve always thought of my Swannanoa Tunnel crankie as a support for their work, so it made sense to me to have them come with me to present their research at ‘Our Common Ground,’ along with playing the music for the crankie performance.”

“It was a true honor to present our research at the Library of Congress as part of this special event,” Kehrberg said. “To me, the event was like a crazy snapshot capturing a tiny morsel of the incredible breadth and depth of the library: crankies, old-school print magazines and board games.”

Keith also spoke on his time at the LOC.

“This experience reminded me of the potential that local research has for national audiences,” Keith said. “We worked with White…to share a hyperlocal story in a way that reflected this place, and we did so within view of the U.S. Capitol Building. It was equal parts stunning, humbling, and thrilling.”

With summer wrapping up, Keith and Kehrberg will continue their work at WWC through educating, mentoring, and organizing. 

“WWC invites collaboration between colleagues and between professors and their students,” Keith said. “[Kehrberg] and I often play music together, but we also play music with students–especially at the weekly jams held on campus. In a similar spirit, this research project grew from a team-taught class that Kevin and I put together as a way to learn alongside our students…WWC made all of this possible.”