At home in the Mitford Museum

Working through inventory in an upstairs storage room at the Mitford Museum in Hudson, N.C., intern Ethan Craig ’30 came across an unlabeled box among the personal items of bestselling author Jan Karon. Most objects in the collection carried identifying information, but this one offered no clue about what was inside. Craig opened it and discovered a bundle of hair.

“It startled me because I didn’t know this used to be something families did. Then I took a deep breath and looked closely,” Craig recalled. “There was a tag underneath, and I had to pick up Jan Karon’s baby hair to read it.”

Craig, a Lenoir, N.C., native, begins his first year at Lenoir-Rhyne this fall as an art major with a minor in photography. His summer at the Mitford Museum gave him hands-on experience in museum curation, a field he is considering as a career.

While exploring his college options, Craig discovered LR through an online scholarship search. Although the university initially seemed financially out of reach, the Tuition-Free Guarantee made attending LR possible for him. He visited during an open house in fall 2025.

That day, Craig saw how easily he could fit into academic and social life on campus. After seeing the Playmakers’ production of “Cabaret,” Craig encountered Jennifer Heller, Ph.D., dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, whom he had met earlier.

“Dr. Heller said, ‘Hey, I remember you from this morning. Do you want to meet my colleagues?’” Craig recalled. “Then she actually walked me over and introduced me to a few of them! That’s when I knew LR was the place for me.”

That early sense of belonging continued as Craig prepared to begin his first semester. At orientation, he quickly connected with other incoming students, including the classmate who would become his roommate and a close friend. 

“I’ve had a lot of challenges leading to this point, but now I’m actually going to college,” he said. “I’m about to move into my dorm room, and I can’t wait to get involved and be part of this community.”  

Creativity has long been one of Craig’s primary ways of connecting with others. His uncles Ryan and Buck were his earliest artistic influences, and he vividly remembers Ryan, who studied graphic design, sitting down with him and offering to teach him to draw.

“That moment changed the entire trajectory of my life,” Craig said.  

At the Mitford Museum, Craig learned that creative work also meant connecting with people, as visitors travel to Hudson — Karon’s hometown — from all over the country to celebrate her famous series of books about small-town life. As the museum’s first intern, he assisted the museum’s curatorial manager with cataloging, photographed visitors and events, and helped with a multigenerational summer reading program.

“We’ve benefited immensely,” said Amy Milne, executive director of the Mitford Museum. “He’s set us up to have high expectations for future interns.”

Craig hopes to continue building those creative and community connections at LR. In addition to his art studies, he will join the Fritz Honors College, where he is especially looking forward to his first-year experience (FYE) course in belonging, purpose and global responsibility.

As he begins his college career, Craig is less focused on knowing exactly where it will lead than on being open to what he discovers along the way.

“I just want to go in with curiosity,” he said. “I want to learn as much as I can. I want to improve as much as I can.”