Downtown in Asheville in Buncombe County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
The YMI & William and Georgia Roland
Civic Leadership and Youth Mentoring
| | Black Cultural Heritage Trail | |
Photographed by Mark Parker, March 4, 2025
1. The YMI & William and Georgia Roland Marker
W.E. Roland Jewelry Company sat just across the street at 24 South Market Street. William Ernest Roland and Georgia Evelyn Harling owned the store. Mr. Roland led the Asheville-Buncombe County Citizens Organization, protecting voting rights and advocating for equal opportunities. Mrs. Roland was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star and the League of Women Voters.
The Rolands offered strategy, training, and meeting space to the Black teenagers who founded the Asheville Student Committee on Racial Equality (ASCORE) in 1960 and fought for equal rights.
[Captions:]
Left: The YMI is a cultural institution and an anchor in the Black business district known as The Block (ca,1960). Isaiah Rice Photograph Collection, D. Hiden Ramsey Lbrary Special Collections, Unlversity of North Carolina Asheville, Asheville, NC
1929 This candy store was just one of the many Black-owned businesses located within the YMI over the past 131 years. D. Hiden Ramsey Library, Special Collections, University
this page online
1955 Children gather at the Market Street Branch Library inside the YMI for Music Hour in 1955. Photo by Ewart M. Ball Jr., Staff Photographer for the Asheville Citizen-Times, 1955. Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, NC
1959 Young children gather to hear Mrs. Elizabeth Howze read to them during Story Hour at the Market Street Branch Library in the YMI. The Asheville chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, founded in 1955, sponsored the bimonthly event. Asheville-Citizen Times, 1959. Buncombe County Speciai Collections, Pack Memorial Library, Asheville, NC (Marker Number D-4.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Charity & Public Work • Education. A significant historical year for this entry is 1892.
Location. 35° 35.62′ N, 82° 33.014′ W. Marker is in Asheville, North Carolina, in Buncombe County. It is in Downtown. It is on South Market Street south of Eagle Street, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 42 Market St, Asheville NC 28801, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Mountains. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, in Appalachia, and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: "The Block" (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Historical Black Churches in Asheville
Photographed by J. J. Prats, May 17, 2025
2. The YMI & William and Georgia Roland Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on June 2, 2025. It was originally submitted on March 5, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 208 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on March 5, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. 2. submitted on June 2, 2025, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
Editor’s want-list for this marker. A wide shot of the marker in context. • Can you help?
