Interview with Taylor Schenker
Dublin Core
Title
Interview with Taylor Schenker
Description
Taylor Schenker was interviewed by Friends of Buncombe County Special Collections volunteer Gretchen LeMaistre on May 30, 2025. This interview took place over Zoom and was conducted as part of the Come Hell or High Water Oral History Project for Buncombe County Special Collections, Pack Memorial Library.
Schenker describes her experience of Helene from her home in Canton, which regained power and water more quickly than most and became a place of refuge for friends [00:06:14]. She explains how a previous career in urban design and flood planning impacted her perspective [00:17:02], the challenges she faced as a self-employed person who lost work time [00:24:20], and her ongoing work as the founder of Photos from Helene, a personal volunteer project she has undertaken to reunite photographs lost in the flood with their owners [00:26:44].
Narrator portrait and additional photos taken October 23, 2025 by Bill Green, at the original site where Taylor found the first photos, Asheville, NC. Photographs depict Taylor on the bank of the Swannanoa river looking across at the abandoned condos; rusted tray cart in front of the abandoned condos; empty mailboxes beneath the abandoned condos; Taylor looking down at the river bank; and Taylor inspecting books and magazines embedded in the river bank.
Schenker describes her experience of Helene from her home in Canton, which regained power and water more quickly than most and became a place of refuge for friends [00:06:14]. She explains how a previous career in urban design and flood planning impacted her perspective [00:17:02], the challenges she faced as a self-employed person who lost work time [00:24:20], and her ongoing work as the founder of Photos from Helene, a personal volunteer project she has undertaken to reunite photographs lost in the flood with their owners [00:26:44].
Narrator portrait and additional photos taken October 23, 2025 by Bill Green, at the original site where Taylor found the first photos, Asheville, NC. Photographs depict Taylor on the bank of the Swannanoa river looking across at the abandoned condos; rusted tray cart in front of the abandoned condos; empty mailboxes beneath the abandoned condos; Taylor looking down at the river bank; and Taylor inspecting books and magazines embedded in the river bank.
Date
Rights
Interview copyright Taylor Schenker and Buncombe County Special Collections. Narrator portrait and additional photos copyright Bill Green Photography.
Format
Language
English
Identifier
MS456.001S
Extent
1 digital video recording (00:49:22); 1 transcript (23 pages); 8 digital photographs
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Duration
00:49:22
Interviewer
Gretchen LeMaistre
Interviewee
Taylor Schenker
Location
Collection
Tags
Citation
Friends of Buncombe County Special Collections, “Interview with Taylor Schenker,” Come Hell or High Water Community Memory Project, accessed December 4, 2025, https://helenehistory.omeka.net/items/show/1323.