AVONDALE - Robin S. Lattimore, upper campus librarian and student research coordinator, was honored by the North Carolina Society of Historians with two of that organization’s highest awards during a ceremony in Wilkesboro, NC, on Saturday, November 8, 2025.
Lattimore received the North Carolina History Book Award for his book Rutherfordton-Spindale Central High School: Home of the Hilltoppers 1925-2025, and the Paul Green Multi-Media Award for the companion, hour-long documentary film R-S Central High School: A Centennial Celebration.
“Mr. Lattimore has a reputation for producing first-rate, scholarly books and related materials,” said Dr. Maxine McCall, president of the NCSH. “He is one of this state’s most accomplished and prolific writers. His books are real treasures. It is an honor to recognize him for his incredible work.”
Lattimore is the author of more than 45 books and scholarly monographs that celebrate the people, places, and traditions of the American South. His publishers include the University Press of Mississippi, Shire Books (Bloomsbury Publishing) of London, England, and the University of North Carolina Center for Public Media. In addition to his printed works, Lattimore served as the chief historian and commentator for the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary film “Gold Fever and the Bechtler Mint,” produced by UNC-TV and released nationally in 2012.
Lattimore has served as a staff member at TJCA since 2011. He serves as an Official Historian of Rutherford County, Official Historian of Rutherfordton, NC, and as president of the Rutherford County Historical Society. He was the founding chairman of the Rutherford County Historic Preservation Commission, and is a past chairman of both the Rutherford County Library Board of Trustees and the Norris Library Foundation. He has served on the Appalachian State University Foundation Board of Trustees, was appointed to the N.C. Regional Economic Development Commission (NC-REDC), by Gov. James G. Martin, in 1992, and served as Rutherford County’s liaison to the North Carolina Library Commission from 2002-2006.
Lattimore was named the North Carolina Historian of the Year by the NC Society of Historians in 2009, and in 2013, he was bestowed the Legendary Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest civilian honor.