Mitford is Now at Home in Hudson
Advancing the common good through literacy, creativity, and community
Our Purpose
WE SEE YOU.
WE HEAR YOU.
WE SUPPORT YOU.
The Mitford Museum recognizes that everyone has a story. And we’re here to ensure that your stories are heard, appreciated, and passed along. We do that by seeing, hearing, and supporting our community in a variety of ways.
WE SEE YOU.
-Our annual Candace Freeland Photography of Merit Award debuts in September 2023. Photographers up to the age of 18 are invited to enter black and white photos based on a specific theme. Distinguished jurors select the annual winner of a $5,000 cash prize.
-Throughout the year, the museum hosts workshops, art and photography exhibitions, readings, and performances that celebrate creators of all ages while entertaining and edifying audiences.
WE HEAR YOU.
-Starting in 2023, the museum will partner with StoryCorps in building an Oral History Library. The museum will become a place where YOUR history is collected, documented, and preserved with the StoryCorps Archive and the American FolkLife Center at the Library of Congress.
-GetLit! our annual Mitford literary weekend, features bestselling authors offering readings, workshops, and signings along with a writing contest offering $750 cash prizes in youth and adult categories. All to inspire you to tell YOUR story.
WE SUPPORT YOU.
-Our annual Mitford Spring Tea partners with a non-profit working to improve literacy—especially those working to support youth battling dyslexia. Currently, we are partnering with the NC Branch of the International Dyslexia Association.
-The museum serves as an economic driver for the region by attracting visitors from throughout the United States as well as abroad. In its first six months the museum drew guests from 50 states, Canada, Scotland, and Australia to the WNC foothills.
Our Objectives
To deliver learner-centered programs and projects that support literacy, stimulate creativity, and build a community that fosters respect for the dignity of all people.
To enrich both reading and writing appreciation and enhance literacy skills in youth and adults.
To serve as a physical and online worldwide gathering place for fans of the Mitford series.
To develop and strengthen a financial support base that will aid in giving annual awards to outstanding young writers; photographers, artists and musicians; growing an annual southern literary event; attracting a greater economy to the small town of Hudson, North Carolina; and preserving the security and integrity of the artifacts, materials, and documents within The Mitford Museum.
To join the endeavors of North Carolina literary landmarks, such as the Thomas Wolfe Memorial and the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site, in promoting awareness of the fiction, non-fiction, and poetry works of authors connected by birth or circumstance to North Carolina’s renowned literary heritage.
Board of Directors
Jan Karon, Founder ♥
Jan is the founder of The Mitford Museum, and the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 23 books, including 14 Mitford Novels.
R. David Craig
BALTIMORE, MD – David earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Design at the University of Gerogia in 1990. He joined Dalgliesh Gilpin Paxton Architects in 2004 where he directs interior design services for a range for projects.
Dale Hamby
HICKORY, NC – Dale Hamby is an attorney in Granite Falls, NC, where he practices with his wife Penelope at Hamby & Hamby, P.A. A native of Caldwell County, he is active in the local community serving on several non-profit boards as well as volunteering at his church.
Ann Lucas
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Ann Lucas is Senior Historian Emerita at Monticello, where she worked for more than three decades. Ann led Monticello’s Research Department and was NEH research fellow for the landmark exhibition and catalog of the same name, The Worlds of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello.
Ann Everhardt Smith
HUDSON, NC – Ann is a lifelong resident of Caldwell County, NC, and a retired business banker who serves on several boards in the community.
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The Mitford Museum
The Mitford Museum is North Carolina’s newest literary landmark.
Founded by #1 New York Times bestselling author, Jan Karon, the museum narrates the ways in which the small town of Hudson, NC, helped influence her life and work. Often called Jan’s ‘book without covers,’ the museum is a place of common ground, where people from varied backgrounds can come together to feel welcomed, cared for, and at home.