As a child, Louise Howe Bailey traveled the unpaved and rough back roads into the coves, hollows and valleys, meeting the Southern Appalachian Mountain people of Henderson County.

Her father, Dr. William Howe, was one of a handful of country doctors in the 1920s. Child Louise often traveled with him as he went to cabins and weather-board houses to treat the sick and injured.

Later, as the wife of Dr. Joseph Bailey, Louise collected more memories of the county and its people.

Bailey’s 42 years of columns in the Times-News brought to life a proud mountain people with a distinct culture. The names and dates did not matter. It was the way of life, the personality, and the traits of the people that she so beautifully described in her writings.

Her memories of the people and the land spanned more than 90 years, from the 1920s into the 21st century. Her columns preserve those memories of the people and the natural beauty that surrounded them.

The mission of the Henderson County Heritage Museum is the same, to foster an appreciation for the rich multi-ethnic heritage, history and culture of Henderson County, its people and institutions, and to preserve Henderson County’s heritage for the benefit of present and future generations.

Three rooms at the museum are divided into time periods: Wilderness to 1860, 1860 to 1920 and 1920 to the present. Louise Bailey’s memories spanned the time period from 1920 to 2009.

Before the museum opened, a fundraising campaign offered room-naming opportunities. Donors who gave or raised $50,000 or more had museum rooms named in their honor. Rooms are currently named for the League of Women Voters, “Bo” Thomas, the Perry Rudnick Foundation and the Champion Hills Club. The second-floor Community Room is named for Carolina First bank.

One room is still unnamed, the room spanning the time period from 1920 to the present.

With permission from the Bailey family, the Heritage Museum Board of Directors has voted to name that room the Louise Howe Bailey Room. The room will be dedicated in April at the second anniversary of the opening of the Henderson County Heritage Museum.

The story of the history and heritage of Henderson County is too vast to display in a permanent exhibit. The museum’s plan is to rotate exhibits based on themes.

Funds are needed to change the current exhibit “Let Freedom to Ring” to the next exhibit that will focus on the lifestyle of the people, their homes, clothing, furniture, etc., from the Cherokee into the 20th century.

The campaign is underway to raise $50,000 to name the exhibit room that spans the time period “1920 to the Present” in memory of Louise Howe Bailey.

Donations in honor of Bailey can be sent to the Henderson County Heritage Museum, One Historic Courthouse Square, Suite Four, Hendersonville, N.C. 28792.