Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Nancy Conseen

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  • Nancy Conseen (1929-1997) was born in Cherokee, North Carolina on the eve of the Great Depression. When she was just six years old, she learned to weave white oak and honeysuckle baskets from her mother, Caroline Conseen. In school she learned to make rivercane baskets from Lottie Stamper. In this photograph, Conseen is weaving a basket for Joan Mondale (second from left), wife of Vice President Mondale. The photograph was made on June 7, 1977 when Mrs. Mondale attended the ground breaking of the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville, NC. Mondale was accompanied by the wife of the U.S. Senator from North Carolina, Robert B. Morgan, and Mrs. Lana Gudger, wife of Vonno Lamar Gudger a U.S. Congressman from North Carolina's 11th District. Looking on are Cherokee craft advocates Molly Blankenship (third from left) and Betty DuPree (fourth from left). The photographer's name is unknown.