Meet Jim Wolfe

Somewhere between three and seven years ago, Jim started sharing his love of storytelling, puppetry, music, and dancing with visitors to the Museum. When Jim moved to Boone ten years ago, he was not a stranger to the mountains of North Carolina. He left New York City in 1953 and hitch-hiked his way toward the southern Appalachians where he found Berea College in Kentucky. Two years later, he left a job at Radio City Music Hall to return to Berea as a recreationa worker for the College and for the Council of the Southern Mountain. His work in recreation throughout the southern Appalachians took him to many communities where he taught dances and games through churches and schools. When Jim was in "our" mountains during those years, he'd happen across Boone every now and then, but he spent most of his time around Beech Mountain with Richard Chase and Baxter Presnell. He led recreation programs and activities in the mountains until 1962, when he moved to Chicago for social work. There, he led a revival of square dancing that continues to this day. He says that watching these mountains change since the 1950s, as he traveled to and fro, has had a profound impact on his life.