H.K. Edgerton, Asheville NAACP Leader and Confederate Activist, Dies at 77

Harold Kenneth "H.K." Edgerton, a longtime Asheville resident who led the Asheville branch of the NAACP and became known for promoting Confederate history, died at age 77. Edgerton passed away in his sleep on Jan. 18 at the Asheville Veterans Administration Medical Center, according to an obituary posted on Facebook. His survivors include brothers Rashad Hasan of Stone Mountain, Georgia, and Terry Lee Edgerton of Asheville, his sister Obra Elaine Hall of Asheville, and several nieces and nephews.

Edgerton was born in Asheville on Feb. 18, 1948, and served in the United States Army during the Vietnam era from 1969-72. He remained active in local life for decades, founding the Boys and Girls Golf Team at Shiloh Community Center and coaching basketball at Oakley School. Social media responses to his death described Edgerton as a kind, knowledgeable historian of the American South and an upstanding leader among friends and neighbors.

Edgerton served as president of the Asheville NAACP chapter from 1996 until December 1998 and sought municipal office several times, mounting campaigns for Asheville mayor in 1995, 1997 and 2001 and running for Asheville City Council in 1999. After his NAACP leadership, Edgerton became a highly visible proponent for preserving Confederate symbols. He frequently appeared around Western North Carolina carrying a Confederate flag and wearing a grey Confederate uniform, and he marched 1,385 miles between Asheville and Austin, Texas, between 2002 and 2003 to protest the removal of Confederate-seal plaques from Texas state buildings.

Edgerton's public profile included controversy. In February 1998 he met with lawyer Kirk Lyons, who had ties to prominent white supremacists, and was photographed alongside Lyons and white separatist Neill Payne with napkins over their heads in an imitation of Ku Klux Klan hoods. Edgerton characterized the meeting and his subsequent conversations with Lyons as efforts to find common ground across racial, political and ideological lines rather than an endorsement of white separatist calls.

For Buncombe County residents, Edgerton's life and death underscore ongoing local tensions around how history is remembered and who speaks for community values. His contributions to youth sports and veteran status connect him to civic institutions and to families who benefited from those programs. His public advocacy for Confederate symbols exposed deep divisions that shaped civic dialogue for years.

Edgerton's passing also highlights the role of the Asheville Veterans Administration Medical Center in serving an aging veteran population in Buncombe County. As local organizations and neighbors reflect on the mixed legacy of a figure who bridged civil rights leadership and Confederate advocacy, community groups may revisit conversations about public memory, social equity and how local institutions support veterans and youth programs going forward.